Paper details

Title:

From Crop to Biofuels: a Case Study of Sunflower Crude Oil Production in Tuscany

Author(s):

Barontini, F., Simone, M., Ragaglini, G., Mancini, A., D'Alvano, S., Triana, F., Nicolella, C.

Document(s):

Abstract:

A chain for the production of crude oil from sunflower, comprising field set­up management and seeds processing, was developed at the Interdepartmental Centre for Agro­Environmental Research "E. Avanzi" (CIRAA) of the University of Pisa, Italy. This paper reports agronomic and technical data for evaluation of the main performance indicators characterizing the chain. A field trial comparing two high oleic hybrids (PR64 H31 and PR65 H41, hereafter named H31 and H41) was conducted during 2009 and 2010. Grain yield ranged between 4,300 kg ha­1 and 3,600 kg ha­1.Grain of a traditional sunflower cultivar (Coralia) grown at CIRAA was also used in the processing phase for further comparison. Seeds, previously sieved to eliminate contaminants (dust, ground, leaves etc.) were used to produce crude oil in a pilot plant consisting of a press and a filter. Seeds, crude oil and press cake were characterised in terms of proximate composition, elemental composition and heating values. The yields on crude oil for the H31 and H41 cultivar were similar, respectively of 35 % and 35.5 %, while Coralia oil yield was 27.5%. For all cultivars, the crude oil showed a negligible moisture content and a lower heating value of about 37.2 MJ/kg. The press cake had a residual oil content of 18.8 % for H31 and H41 and 17.2 % for Coralia, and a heating value of respectively 20.7, 21.4 and 20.4 MJ/kg. The energy yield in the crude oil is 46%, 48% and 40% for H31, H41 and Coralia, respectively. Field data and process data allow the evaluation of key performance indicators for the production chain. In particular the chain is assessed in terms of chain biofuel yield (1150 and 1170 kg ha­1 respectively for H31 and H41) and the chain bioenergy yield (42.8 and 43.6 GJ ha­1 respectively for H31 and H41).

Keywords:

agroindustrial residues, cultivar, sunflower, biofuels, oil seeds

Topic:

Processes for Fuels from Biomass

Subtopic:

Production and supply of first generation liquid biofuels

Event:

19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition

Session:

VP3.3.10

Pages:

2062 - 2069

ISBN-13:

978-88-89407-55-4

ISBN-10:

88-89407-55-7

Paper DOI:

10.5071/19thEUBCE2011-VP3.3.10

Price:

FREE