Preface

This book presents recent research developments in three major, challenging aspects of biodiesel: (i) feedstock, (ii) biodiesel production methods, and (iii) strategies for enhancing biodiesel properties. It is well known that biodiesel has become one of the most reliable alternative fuels produced from green and waste sources, such as biomass, animal fats, and industrial waste. While researchers and industrialists understand biodiesel from its origins to its final form, real-time large-scale biodiesel implementation is limited worldwide owing to the challenges associated with the aforementioned trio. For instance, as a result of ongoing research into feedstocks, we are currently working on fourth-generation feedstock sources for biodiesel production. However, only the first-generation feedstocks are still being used for biodiesel production owing to the various challenges involved with the other three generations of feedstock sources. Similarly, in addition to the conventional industrial homogeneous/enzymatic catalytic approaches, alternative methods such as heterogeneous, supercritical, and non-catalytic approaches for biodiesel production have been developed. Furthermore, various techniques have been established for treating biodiesel using organic, inorganic, and biomaterial- and nanomaterial-based additives to enhance its fuel properties by reducing viscosity and exhaust emissions. Therefore, considering these three crucial aspects of the biodiesel sector, this book delivers recent research developments and potential advances in these three scenarios.

The motivation for compiling this book primarily stems from several key factors: (i) a lack of comprehensive books covering all three topics simultaneously, (ii) the need to provide a comprehensive overview of recent developments in the field, (iii) the aim to attract the attention of industrialists by showcasing research progress in these topics in a single resource, (iv) the desire to motivate both researchers and industrialists to focus on all three phases of biodiesel, and (v) the goal of bridging the gap between recent research discoveries and the traditional practices currently used in the biodiesel industry. Notably, the incorporation of nanotechnology in the biodiesel field represents a new and exciting development across all of the above three phases.

Existing books on biodiesel primarily cover the general aspects of biodiesel production and properties and do not provide a comprehensive overview of the biodiesel field, encompassing recent research developments in feedstock modifications, various biodiesel production methods, and strategies for enhancing fuel properties as mentioned. Therefore, this book, in particular, illustrates the state-of-the-art in the field, including topics such as genetically modified feedstocks, advanced algae, nanomaterials, nanotechnology, computational aspects, and techniques for property enhancements using various additives, including nanoadditives. These subjects typically are not discussed in the existing biodiesel literature. Therefore, this book has been meticulously structured to encompass all the key concepts related to biodiesel research and development. It also delves into economic analyses of biodiesel production, life-cycle assessments, reactor designs, and fourth-generation feedstocks for biodiesel production. Our goal in writing this book was to provide high-quality content that will be immensely beneficial for researchers, industrialists, and newcomers in the field of biodiesel. We believe that this book will contribute significantly to the advancement of biodiesel research and development.

R. Geetha Balakrishna

Sakar Mohan

Tamer Zaki Sharara