Working with biofuels
Biofuels are more “sensitive” than conventional petroleum-based fuels. You can store petroleum for years, but biofuels degrade and need to be sold and used within six months of production. If not, the fuel oxidizes, creating corrosive by-products.This is bad news for car engines, especially for injection components vulnerable to acids. Ethanol poses its own problems: the fuel is very attracted to water, so it’s hard to handle
in humid climates like that of West Africa. In order to meet the specification required, the ethanol blending must be done by adding it into a gasoline blendstock (BOB). Micro-organisms can also grow around biofuels,
which means more frequent cleaning of storage tanks; and because biofuels act as solvents, they can dislodge sludge which then blocks pipes and delivery nozzles. Biofuels can also contaminate other fuels, and pose a particular threat to jet fuel used in airplanes. These problems are all soluble, however; and the ARA believe that with good quality management, testing, certification, and monitoring, biofuels could work well in many African countries. Existing service stations are mostly already adequate for storage and consumer sale, and transporting biofuels presents no real problems – apart from the ethanol-water issue. Because it is biologically- based, the hazard from accidental spills is less than from conventional fuels. There
is one known safety issue with FAME – the primary biofuel in biodiesel: fuel-saoked rags may spontaneously combust, and need to be disposed of with care.
Biofuels are more “sensitive” than conventional petroleum-based fuels. You can store petroleum for years, but biofuels degrade and need to be sold and used within six months of production. If not, the fuel oxidizes, creating corrosive by-products.This is bad news for car engines, especially for injection components vulnerable to acids. Ethanol poses its own problems: the fuel is very attracted to water, so it’s hard to handle
in humid climates like that of West Africa. In order to meet the specification required, the ethanol blending must be done by adding it into a gasoline blendstock (BOB). Micro-organisms can also grow around biofuels,
which means more frequent cleaning of storage tanks; and because biofuels act as solvents, they can dislodge sludge which then blocks pipes and delivery nozzles. Biofuels can also contaminate other fuels, and pose a particular threat to jet fuel used in airplanes. These problems are all soluble, however; and the ARA believe that with good quality management, testing, certification, and monitoring, biofuels could work well in many African countries. Existing service stations are mostly already adequate for storage and consumer sale, and transporting biofuels presents no real problems – apart from the ethanol-water issue. Because it is biologically- based, the hazard from accidental spills is less than from conventional fuels. There
is one known safety issue with FAME – the primary biofuel in biodiesel: fuel-saoked rags may spontaneously combust, and need to be disposed of with care.
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