Biofuel Extraction Techniques

13Biofuel Applications: Quality Control and Assurance, Techno-Economics and Environmental Sustainability

Sameer Ahmad Khan^*, Dushyant Kumar, Subodh Kumar, Adya Isha, Tinku Casper D’ Silva, Ram Chandra and Virendra Kumar Vijay

Centre for Rural Development and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, India

Abstract

The application of biofuels has become a booming topic across the world as an alternative to conventional fuels. However, a biofuel’s quality control and assurance is a necessity before introducing it to real-world application. This is a mandate to ensure biofuel quality meets the standards, achieving performance almost equivalent to conventional fossil fuels. Different countries adopt varied standards for a specific biofuel. For example, in the U.S.A, the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) designs the specific standard protocol for testing procedures and specifications for various products. Similar organizations around the globe include BSEN (British Standard European Norm), ISO (International Organization for Standardization), and BIS (Bureau of Indian Standard).

In this chapter, various types of biofuels have been enumerated and classified based on their properties and nature. Depending upon the physical state, biofuels can be classified into solid, liquid, and gas. Solid biofuels include briquettes of biomass and briquetted biochar, liquid biofuels include bioethanol and biodiesel, and gaseous biofuels like biomethane are emphasized. ...