Study of Performance and Emissions of C I Engine With Pongamia Based Biodiesel

Abstract

Biodiesel, an alternative fuel is derived from the fats of animals and plants. As energy demands increase and fossil fuels are limited, research is directed towards alternative renewable fuels. The main advantages of using this alternative fuel are its renewability, biodegradability and better quality of exhaust gases. It is a technically competitive and environmentally friendly alternative to conventional petro diesel fuel for use in CI engines. The use of biodiesel reduces the dependence on imported fossil fuels which continue to decrease in availability and affordability. Vegetable oils for biodiesel production vary considerably with location according to climate and feedstock availability. Generally the most abundant vegetable oil in a particular region is used as the most common feedstock. Nowadays, most of the commercial biodiesel comes from the transesterification of vegetable oil using a basic catalyst such as NaOH or KOH, because a basic catalyst acts faster than an acidic catalyst. Fuel of bio-origin is generally biodiesel obtained from edible or non-edible vegetable oil through the transesterification process. Most of the properties of biodiesel compare favorably with the characteristics required for the CI fuel. Due to the relatively high costs of edible oils, the cost of producing methyl or ethyl esters from edible oils is currently more expensive than hydrocarbon based diesel fuels. The cost of biodiesel can be reduced if we can consider non-edible oils instead of edible oils. Non-edible oils from plants such as Pongamia, hemp and neem are easily available in many parts of the world and are less expensive, as compared to edible oils. Furthermore, the use of non-edible vegetable oils is of significance because of great need for edible oil as food and they are too expensive to be used as fuels. The experimental work presented in this thesis is mainly divided into three main parts. In the first part, transesterification process is used to prepare methyl ester from non-edible oil and testing of fuel pro