Biomass

Biodiesel is produced by transesterification of vegetable oils. Vegetable oils are a mixture of many different triglycerides, but since one of the most common fatty acids found in vegetable oils is palmitic acid, C16H3202, we will assume that our raw material is a pure triglyceride consisting of three palmitic acid groups. Usually, the glycerin in the oil is replaced by methanol. Thus, the final productthe biodieselwill be methyl palmitate. Fuel Density (kg/m3) Higher heat of comb. (MJ/liter) Diesel Biodiesel Methanol 850 885 792 40.0 36.6 18.0 a. Stoichiometrically, how many kg of methanol are required for each kg of the vegetable oil? b. If the above methanol, were used directly as fuel, how much energy would be released? Please use the given values in the above table for your calculations. C. If the produced biodiesel (from 1 kg of vegetable oil) is used as fuel, how much energy is released