Compared to biofuel produced trough transesterification （biodiesel）or deoxygenation process, the yield of decarboxylation/decarbonylation should be much lower since one carbon is removed ….. For example, 1ton vegetable oil can give about 1 ton (even a little bit more) biodiesel; how about the yield of this process?? Even compared to the process of deoxygenation, the yield of decarboxylation/decarbonylation should be lower.
The yield issue needs to be taken into consideration since the cost of renewable oils accounts for the major part in biofuel production.
Which process gives highest yield of biofuel production from vegetable oils?
what are the merits and demerits of these processes?
When you prepare biodiesel with transesterification, the most typical alcohol is the methanol. Three mols of methanol reacts with one triglyceride, three mols of esters are formed and one mol of glycerol. Since the molecualr weight of 3 MEOH is a bit higher (but almost the same, 3CH3OH=96 g, 1 HOCH2CHOHCH2OH is 92 g) as one mol of glycerol, formally a bit more biodiesel would be formed than the starting oil. Due to impurities, free acids, etc. in the starting oils, and the technolgoical losses in the practice a bit less biodiesel are formed as the starting oil (some amoiunt of soap is also formed as byproduct). IF you use higher alcohols, e.g. butanol, the formed butyldiesel will be better fuel parameters than the FAMEs, and the weight will be higher than the starting vegetable oil, but the mass increments will come from the amount of BuOH used. 3 mols of BuOH have higher weight than three mols of MeOH. Therefore, you have to use more starting alcohol.
IF you use decarboxylation, a CO2 is removed, the weight decreses substantially, however, the specific ignition heat increases.
Therefore, I suggest taking into consideration the fuel equivalence of the formed biodiesel. It will take into consideration the mass and the specific combustion heat as well.
Your question would be better if you says: how many kg-s of diesel fuel can be substituted witht he formed biofuel starting from 1 kg of triglyceride oil, if we use transesterification or decarboxylation. But, it depends on the technology, byproducts, use chemicals, etc., because the cost of these have to take also into consideration.
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