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Biomass Oil Analysis


Quiz Questions

1. The United States Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) invests in research to achieve the following goals:

  • Dramatically reduce, or even end, dependence on foreign oil.
  • Spur the creation of a domestic bio-industry.
True
False
2. Biomass oils are not hydrolyzed into fatty acids and glycerol, or are they converted into fatty acid methyl esters and glycerol.
True
False
3. _______________________are the cuts from a barrel of crude oil that have higher boiling points than most gasoline blend stocks but lower boiling points than heavy residual fuels.
Distillates
Biomass
4. None of the grades of distillates are used as boiler fuels, heating oil, aviation fuel, and diesel for marine, locomotive, military, forestry, mining, construction, farming, aircraft, and electricity generation.
True
False
5. The American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) sets fuel grade standards for petroleum distillates and biomass fuel.
True
False
6. _______________________falls into three basic categories: compression ignition (CI) engines, boilers, and turbines.
Petroleum equipment
Diesel equipment
7. The energy content of petroleum distillates and biomass oil fuels are close enough that fuel economy issues are minimized with blends up to 20%, which are the most common ways of introducing biomass oils into the marketplace.
True
False
8. Biodiesel processing does not improve the characteristics of biomass oils for CI engine applications but it reduces fuel costs to uncompetitive levels except in the case of the lowest priced feed stocks.
True
False
9. Feed stocks are generally not saturated, unsaturated, monounsaturated, or polyunsaturated which describes the majority of fatty acids present and their desirability for particular oleo chemical applications.
True
False
10. The most popular biodiesel blends in the marketplace today are:

  • B20 was approved by Congress in 1998 as an EPAct fuel for federal, state, and publicly owned fleets required to meet mandated alternative vehicle use targets,
  • B2 has been promoted at the state level and is the anticipated blend level if the Renewable Fuel Standard portion of the proposed Energy Bill is passed.
True
False
11. Biodiesel used as a neat fuel (B100) is too expensive for significant market penetration and presents technical barriers that limit its use in the near term.
True
False
12. All feed stocks cannot be used as a B2 or B5 blend stock, which maximizes both economic and technical barriers associated with biodiesel.
True
False
13. Biodiesel production creates glycerin. As biodiesel production increases growing supplies of glycerin will drive down its price and byproduct revenue for biodiesel producers, raising biodiesel costs.
True
False
14. Biomass oil supply is not vulnerable to disease, pests, drought, floods, and climate change. Bio-fuels may make incremental contributions to domestic energy supply but eliminate the risk of supply interruptions.
True
False
15. Fats and oils are consumed in food, animal feed, and oleo chemical production. A small amount (approximately 20 to 40 million gallons) is also currently used for fuel (converted to biodiesel or used directly as a boiler fuel), but no reliable statistics exist.
True
False
16. Figure 18 represents _______________________________.
Rendering Process Flow Diagram
Basic Overview of Vegetable Oil Production
17. A grease trap works by slowing down the flow of warm/hot greasy water and allowing it to cool. As the water cools the grease and oil separate and float to the top of the grease trap. The cooler water (less grease) continues to flow down the pipe to the sewer. The grease is actually trapped by baffles, which cover the inlet and outlet of the tank, preventing grease from flowing out of the trap.
True
False
18. The key place where bio refinery technology may benefit the biomass oil industry is in the ____________________________.
Crushing
Rendering mills
Both
None
19. Glycerol can never serve as a feedstock in biochemical transformations.
True
False