inform March 2009, Vol. 20 (3) 153
supplied RP-1 grade kerosene. Based on a
6-second burn, B100 produced 820 lb (3.64 Corn oil biodiesel develop Jatropha curcas as a crop for bio-
diesel in the state. Working with engineers,
kN) of thrust compared with the RP-1’s
840 lb. Flometrics (San Diego, California, claimed to plant scientists, and geneticists, the three-
year program will focus on plant domes-
USA), a fluid dynamics and product engi-
neering specialist, suggested that the reduc-
outperform tication, yield improvements, and harvest
optimization.
tion in performance may have been caused
by the larger droplet size associated with
soybean biodiesel The first year of the study is nearly
complete. Points considered so far include
the more viscous B100. The cold flow properties of NextDiesel™ (i) how to dispose of the plants’ remnants
branded corn oil-derived biodiesel are after oil is extracted from the seed: fuel to
Disneyland
superior to those of biodiesel produced power electricity generation and fertilizer
from soybean oil, according to manufac- manufacture are being considered; (ii) how
restaurants fuel turer GreenShift Corporation (New York,
USA). GreenShift extracts crude corn
to develop mechanical harvesting methods;
(iii) how to determine the effect of growing
Park’s trains oil from distillers’ grain, a co-product of
ethanol production, through a patent-pend-
environment and genetic diversity on seed
yield; (iv) how to deal with seed toxicity;
Biodiesel created from waste oil discarded ing technology for conversion into biodie- (v) how to identify whether jatropha will
by Disneyland Park’s various hotels and sel. The company says the cloud points of be invasive in California; and (vi) how to
eateries is being used to fuel five trains in their NextDiesel range between –3°C and modify the plant genetically so that fruits
operation at the Park, located in Anaheim, –5°C. mature simultaneously: this would make
California (USA). Philip Bollheimer, former AOCS pres- mechanical harvesting easier.
Disneyland’s first attempt to use bio- ident, is the director of process design for
GreenShift.
diesel in the Park in 2007 failed when
biodiesel from soybeans grown in the Mid- The company estimates that 6.5 School buses
western United States developed storage
problems. Also, the Park now prefers the
million gallons of crude corn oil could be
extracted for every 100 million gallons of allegedly stall on
idea of using waste oil in favor of soybean
oil that could have been used for food.
ethanol produced from corn.
biodiesel
The Orange County (California) Register
reported that, if the biodiesel made from Growing jatropha Schools in the Bloomington School Dis-
trict (Minnesota, USA) were closed on
waste oil is successful, the management of
Disneyland plans to use the new biofuel in
in California January 16, when temperatures fell to
–20°F (–29°C), because 12 of 109 buses
its Mark Twain paddlewheel steamboat ride Chevron is sponsoring a project with the stalled. The school district initially claimed
and other on-site equipment. University of California-Davis (USA) to that elements in the biodiesel fueling the
buses had gelled, thus clogging the engine