—Nakhoil is a word invented by Oasis Ltd. coining the words “Nakheel,” which in Arabic means “palm trees,” and “Oil”.

Nakhoil is the bio-ethanol fuel from date groves—either through fermentation or through conversion of palm tree biomass into bio-ethanol.

Nakhoil (C2H5OH; 46.07g/mol; boils at 78oC, freezes at -112oC) has a range of beneficial effects. Thus using five per cent bio-ethanol in fuels reduces carbon monoxide by around 30 per cent in the atmosphere. The CO2 given off by the ethanol production as by-product of the fermentation process is merely the carbon dioxide released by the plant. Bio-ethanol gives off no greenhouse gases other than those produced by the earth’s ecological balance.

Using Nakhoil into fuels increases the octane rating, which improves engine performance. Nakhoil increases the combustion of patrols, causing less pollution. A two per cent blend of bio-ethanol improves fuel lubricate and, more over, it doesn’t contain sulphurs. In addition, the use of anhydrous bio-ethanol in petrol means that any traces of water in fuel tanks are soaked up.

The main disadvantage of bio-ethanol is its lower energy content. One litre of ethanol holds 67 per cent of the energy of one litre of petrol, and 59 per cent of that of diesel. One and half litres of bio-ethanol are needed to replace one litre of petrol, and 1.7 litres to replace one litre of diesel. However, when bio-ethanol is blended with isobutylene or with petrol, the impact of these disadvantages disapears, while the advantages (reduction of CO emissions and improved lubrication) are maintained. From our point of view the bioethanol has to be used in the pools of fuels as an enhancer to boost octane indice content of the fuels we are using nowadays with obvious environmental benefits.

—Why do we use dates for Nakhoil production?

The Arab World is producing 6.5 millions tons of dates of which 30 per cent is an excess that is used to feed cattle. This excess is generally constituted of dates of low quality which has no market. Oasis Ltd. is aiming to transform this excess of dates into bio-ethanol to blend with fuels.

Sugar content of dates is very high (65 per cent on dry basis) compared to beets roots (18 per cent) or sugar cane (13 per cent). Even though we take into account the different crop’s per hectare yield (22.5 tons/ha for dates; 60t/ha for beets roots; 90 tons/ha for sugar cane), still the expression of sugar per hectare gives a slight advantage to the dates (14.6 per cent) compared to beets roots (10.8 per cent) and to sugar cane (11.7 per cent). (See Graph-1)

Contrary to beets roots or the sugar cane, which are secondary intensive crops, the palm tree is a primary crop but still highly efficient in terms of bio-ethanol transformation performance. Indeed one hectare of date palms gives 6300 liters of bio-ethanol whereas one hectare of sugar cane gives 5500 litres and one hectare of maize 3000 litres. Only the beets roots are doing better with a yield of 7000 litres per hectare. All these figures clearly indicate that a bio-ethanol industry based on dates at a first stage then on palm trees biomass on a second stage will have solid foundations. (See Graph-2)

—What are the trials Oasis Ltd conducted?

Nakhoil is not only a theoretical idea. Using batches of 300 to 500 kgs of dates, Oasis Ltd. has conducted intensive trials to demonstrate through a full efficient process the production of bio-ethanol. Those intensive trials have been conducted with a reputed German technologist and assessed by Foster Wheeler. On the following picture we can see the trials of date juice’s transformation into bio-ethanol using a pilot plant in a German university.

If transformation of date juice to 20 Brix into bio-ethanol is not that difficult, extracting sugars from dates is. After numerous trials, Oasis Ltd. set its own extraction process that takes into account all specific characteristics of the dates. More over, the Oasis process has solved the issue of processing a seasonal crop for 300 days without using refrigeration. We did so drawing our inspiration from other agro-process industries, like tomato industry for example.

— How did Nakhoil meet Leonardo Da Vinci?

Leonardo da Vinci designed a wooden bicycle in the 15th century for French king Francis I’s armies. This bicycle is strikingly modern compared to the version that was to come in the 19th century, particularly the one with a huge front wheel and a very small rear wheel. Da Vinci was convinced that his machine would help the infantry move around more quickly. The driving belt is positioned in a very modern way compared with those in the 19th century. It represents the heart of the Italian master’s engineering prowess.

Da Vinci was a brilliant precursor in all things. But what does da Vinci’s bicycle have to do with the desired model for the date sector and Nakhoil?

In fact, the palm tree model is like a man riding a bicycle. The front guiding wheel is the transformation industry; the rear guiding wheel represents the palm trees forests and the cyclist is the consumer. Nakhoil is the driving belt linking all the parties (the cyclist and his machine) and allowing the whole sector to move efficiently.