Separator's Digest - GEA Westfalia Separator Group

Jatropha nuts - they are a potential
sustainable energy supplier of the
future. They are also a source for the
recovery of biodiesel.
o be an Alternative
the 150 th birthday of rudolf diesel fell in
mid-March 2008. on 10 August 1893, in other
words 150 years ago, the diesel engine which
he developed ran on its own for the first time.
diesel had not only invented an unusually
effective engine; he had also considered the
possibility of an organic fuel.
today, his vision has become reality; mineral-based diesel fuels as well as
vegetable-based biodiesel can both be used in the diesel engine. this is
an engine which has been constantly improved throughout the decades,
although it is in principle still “the old engine“, in which a virtually perfect
combustion process takes place in a piston engine; extremely efficient use
is thus made of the fuel, and resources are used efficiently.
Efficient use of resources
Efficient use of resources; this is a major topic nowadays. recovering
energy from sustainable raw materials is thus a topical issue. in its
organic fuel directive, the European union has specified a phased schedule:
all member states were expected to cover two percent of their fuel
consumption with organic fuels by the year 2005. the corresponding
figures for 2010 and 2020 are 5.75 percent and 10 percent respectively.
this can be achieved by using organic fuels in pure form or in the form
of an admixture. Germany has gone one step further. in october 2006,
the German Bundestag adopted the organic fuel Quota Act, which
specifies a minimum quota of 6.75 percent by 2010 and a minimum quota
of eight percent by the year 2015. indeed, a figure of up to 17 percent by
GEA Westfalia Separator Process 23
Separator’s Digest 3 | 2008