Biodiesel fuel is produced from new and used vegetable oil and animal fats, typically through a base-catalyzed esterification process. Much of the attention has been focused on use in engines and the transportation sector. Another end use with strong potential for biodiesel is the stationary heating market. Relative to transportation, this market has the advantages of simpler equipment and a controlled end-use temperature environment. Recently, the heating oil industry has decided to transform this market sector, replacing all petroleum-based heating oil with biofuels by 2050. The technical questions which will need to be addressed and potential solutions are presented. With petroleum heating fuel, current practice is to manage cold flow properties through fuel selection to match the application requirements. While a similar approach will be taken, the cold flow parameters are more challenging with biodiesel. Options include moving tanks, tank enclosures, tank and line heaters, additives, and adjustment of blend levels to specific customers. The air/fuel ratio requirements of biodiesel are different than those of petroleum heating fuel. There is a concern that rapid shifts in the delivered blend biodiesel content could lead to combustion performance issues. The cleaner flame of biodiesel has less light emission and this is important relative to flame sensing for safety control. Results of considerable testing on these questions are presented. Concerns have been raised about the interaction between “yellow metals” and biodiesel. These can potentially attack the fuel and accelerate the oxidative degradation of these fuels. Results of studies on these questions are presented.
