INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING & RESEARCH ISSN: 2249 0019 Volume 3, Number 1 (2013), pp.

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PRODUCTION AND TESTING OF BIODIESEL

Aseem Kirt iman Chauhan Department of Mechanical Engineering Lingayas University, Faridabad

ABSTRACT
Biodiesel refers to a vegetable oil- or animal fat-based diesel fuel consisting of long-chain alkyl esters. Biodiesel is typically made by chemically reacting lipids with an alcohol producing fatty acid esters. This paper discusses about the Biodiesel Production Process and various experimental analysis (Viscosity, Calorific Value and Break Thermal Horse Power) of the produced Biodiesel and its blends from which it was concluded that Biodiesel is an excellent substitute for the conventional petroleum diesel. Keywords: Biodiesel, Transesterification, renewable, jatropha

1. INTRODUCTION
Energy consumption is increasing in various forms for various purposes. The intensity of consumption is directly proportional to a societys development. Today, more and more developing countries are prospering through economic reforms and are becoming industrially advanced. For any country, fuel is critical to any strategic plan for economic develop ment and national security. In developing countries like India, the fuel has assumed serious economic considerations in the form of budget deficits caused by oil imports and ecological degradation caused by pollution. With the exception of hydroelectricity and nuclear energy, the majority of the worlds energy needs are supplied through petrochemical sources, coal and natural. All of these sources are finite and at current usage rates will be consumed by the end of the next century. The depletion of world petroleu m reserves and increased environmental concerns has stimulated recent interest in alternative sources of petroleum-based fuel. Biodiesel has arisen as a potential candidate for a d iesel substitute due to the similarities it has with petroleum based diesel. The possibility of substituting cleaner-burning alternative for gasoline and diesel has drawn the attention of the automobile industry over the past decade. Fuels today have opened an interesting debate about the relative merits of conventional and non-conventional fuels. Conventional fuels have many advantages, the intrinsic energy content in gasoline and diesel is more per liter than in other fuels. Most importantly Indias transportation infrastructure has been designed and optimized for petroleu m fuels. Their drawbacks, h owever, include emissions of reactive hydrocarbons (HC), carbon mono xide (CO) and nit ric o xides (NOx), which contribute significantly to the air pollution that plague all the large Indian cities. Carbon dio xide (CO2) emissions add to the atmosphere build up of green house gasses and increase the potential for global warming. Renewable fuel sources hold the potential for many benefits for the environment and local economic development. Environ ment benefits can include lower tail pipe emissions from vehicles and a reduction in g reen house gases based on the overall Carbon dio xide balance. Economically, renewab le fuels offer the possibility to reduce dependence on foreign crude sources and imported fuel wh ile boosting local agriculture industry, alternative fuel vehicles are available now, and their widespread use in the near future is feasible. To enable the transition, technologies must be refined so vehicles can achieve optimu m perfo rmance and emission characteristics. These fuel benefits beyond air quality. New fuels in the market give consumers new choices and could decrease a dependence on imported oil. [4] Driving diesel vehicles on vegetable oil is not a new concept, Rudolph Diesel actually invented the engine to be used with a variety of oils, most notably peanut oil. Ho wever, due to the availability of cheap petroleum and its derivatives, the use of vegetable-based fuels was largely ignored. The worlds petroleum situation in the past years has lead to focusing attention on research and development of alt ernative fuels. Use of fossil fuels at a much mo re rap id rate that can be sustained by nature has led to degradation of environment and fast depletion in their reserves. As a result the world is facing an energy crisis and is looking for alternative source s of energy. Conventional diesel causes much pollution in the form of hydrocarbon and sulphur emissions. This is a problem associated with most fuels.[3] There is a strong environmental pressure to eliminate or at least greatly reduce these emissions, especially in areas of environmental sensitivity such as lakes and island waterways and in inner city areas. If alternatives ways could be found to produce diesel, this could help countries plan into the future, ensure that supplies of fuel can be obtained and hopefully provide a cheaper alternative than replacing the diesel engine with other

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING & RESEARCH ISSN: 2249 0019 Volume 3, Number 1 (2013), pp. 18 21
mechanis ms. Among the various sources, fuels derived from vegetable oils can fuel d iesel engine, but because of their h igh viscosity and poor cold flow properties, there is a need to search for their derivatives . Biodiesel is one of such candidates for the exploitation as an alternative to diesel fuel. [5] Biodiesel presents a suitable renewable substitute for petroleum-based diesel. The current process of the production of Biodiesel is through a batch wise reaction, which has disadvantages of high capital costs, labour intensity, difficult processes and difficult quality control. An obvious method to avoid or minimize these difficult ies is to use a continuous production process, to achieve this is it necessary to have a good knowledge of the transportation reactions and their kinetics. Underlying this is the requirement to be able to analyze the conversion on a dynamic basis. This therefore permits the reaction conditions to be optimized.

2. BIODIESEL PRODUCTION PROCESS

The production processes for Biodiesel are well known. There are three basic routes to Biodiesel production fro m o ils to fats: Base catalyzed Transesterificat ion of the oil. Direct acid cataly zed Transesterificat ion of the oil. Conversion of the oil to its fatty acids and then to Biodiesel. Most of the Biodiesel produced today is done with the base catalyzed reaction for several reasons: It is lo w temperature and pressure. It yields high conversion (98%) with min imal side react ions and reaction time. It is a direct conversion to Biodiesel with no inter med iate co mpounds. No exotic materials of construction are needed. The per unit cost for the production of Biodiesel is low. No harmfu l by-products are produced. The chemical reaction for base catalyzed Biodiesel production is depicted below. Fat or oil are reacted with a short chain alcohol in the presence of a catalyst to produce glycerin and Biodiesel. The short chain alcohol, signified by ROH (usually methanol but sometimes ethanol) is charged in excess to assist in quick conversion. The catalyst is usually sodium or potassium hydro xide that h as already been mixed with methanol. R , R, and R indicate the fatty acid chains associated with the oil or fat which are largely palmit ic, stearic, oleic, and lino leic acids for naturally occurring oils and fats.[6]

Figure 1: The Biodiesel Reaction

Figure 2: Biodiesel Production Process

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING & RESEARCH ISSN: 2249 0019 Volume 3, Number 1 (2013), pp. 18 21

3. EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS
Tests were conducted on the Biodiesel produced as well as its blends to determine the following values: 1. Viscosity 2. Calorific Value 3. Break Thermal Horse Po wer 1. The viscosity of Biodiesel was determined using Redwood Visco meter. Viscosity is the property of a fluid that determines its resistance to flow. It is an indication of flow ability of lubricating any fluid. The lower the viscosity the higher the flow ability. This property exists due to the forces of cohesion between the molecules of the fluid.
Table 1: Observations of Viscosity Test Kinematic Viscosity at Kinematic Viscosity at 20C (cS t) 40C (cS t) 48 46 6.931 8.848 13.8 10.41 15.12 9.03 5.87 6.27 11.1 7.37 13.2 7.87 1.9 6.8

Methyl Ester Diesel (B20) Jatropha (B20) (B30) S oyabean (B20) (Used) (B30) (Used) Sunflower (B60) (Used) Karanjia (B20) AS TM S tandard

Kinematic Viscosity at 80C (cS t) 3.8 3.93 5.13 6.56 5.82 8.80 5.34

Result: Jatropha B20 most closely resemb les the conventional Diesel. St ill a higher b lend of B30 can be used. 2. The Calorific Value of Biodiesel was determined using a Bo mb Calorimeter.

Calorific Value is the amount of heat produced by the complete co mbustion of a material or fuel.[1]
Table 2: Observations of Calorific Value Test Calorific Value 38694Kj/Kg 35327 Kj/Kg 33622Kj/Kg 29984 Kj/Kg 42026 Kj/Kg

S ource Jatropha Karanjia S oyabean Sunflower Diesel

3. As the load increases fuel consumption rate increases.[2] Biod iesel due to its high viscosity and high flash point cannot be used directly in the engine; however it can be used in blended form i.e. by mixing it with normal diesel in some fraction. Most suitable blended mixtures are 10%, 20%, 30% and 40%. In this experiment we used 20%, 30% and 40% b lended diesel and observed the changes on the fuel consumption.
mf in seconds 3ml 4.3ml 5ml mf in Kg/seconds 0.000135 0.000194 0.000225 Load (w) in Newtons 20 60 70 Table 3: Pure Diesel Radius (mm) R.P.M. 210 210 210 Table 4: B20 Radius (mm) 210 210 210 1545 1545 1545 T = wxR 4.2 12.6 14.7 B.P. (kW) 0.679 2.038 2.378

mf in seconds 3.2ml 4.5ml 5ml

mf in Kg/seconds 0.000144 0.000202 0.000225

Load (w) in Newtons 20 60 70

R.P.M. 1545 1545 1545

T = wxR 4.2 12.6 14.7

B.P. (kW) 0.679 2.038 2.378

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING & RESEARCH ISSN: 2249 0019 Volume 3, Number 1 (2013), pp. 18 21
mf in seconds 3.3ml 4.5ml 5ml mf in Kg/seconds 0.000149 0.000202 0.000225 Load (w) in Newtons 20 60 70 Table 5: B30 Radius (mm) 210 210 210 Table 6: B40 Radius (mm) 210 210 210 R.P.M. 1545 1545 1545 T = wxR 4.2 12.6 14.7 B.P. (kW) 0.679 2.038 2.378

mf in seconds 4ml 5.5ml 6.5ml

mf in Kg/seconds 0.000180 0.000247 0.000292

Load (w) in Newtons 20 60 70

R.P.M. 1545 1545 1545

T = wxR 4.2 12.6 14.7

B.P. (kW) 0.679 2.038 2.378

Result: It was found that B20 and B30 cause negligible change in fuel consumption for same Brake Power. However B40 causes an appreciable change.

4. CONCLUSION AND DEVELOPMENT NEEDS

It can be concluded from the experimental analysis that Biodiesel is an excellent substitute for the conventional petroleum d iesel. It can be used in the present day automobiles with minor mod ifications involving a very low capital investment. Biodiesel is a co mmodity in the early stages of development. For the market to grow and develop, it must attract private investment and Govern ment support, and it must meet regulatory and industrial requirements. Under the clean Air Act Amend ments of 1990 , Biodiesel must be approved by the EPA as substantially similar to diesel fuel. If not, then it would need a waiver fro m this requirement. EPA must also determine the acceptability of Biodiesel in its pending emissions standards for off-road vehicles and clean fuel regulations for fleet vehicles. Biodiesel must be included in the Depart ment of Energys definit ion of alternative fuels when it writes the regulations required. Most likely, Biodiesel would only be considered an alternative fuel in blends of at least 70% Biodiesel, although it will qualify as a replacement fuel at the lo wer levels of 20% or 30% in diesel fuel. The Engine Manufactures Association must designate Biodiesel an acceptable fuel so that engine manufactures will extend their requirements is a matter of completing the proper technology development and testing research and development efforts in engine testing, emission characteristics, materials compatib ility and durability and cold condition performance testing which would facilitate these approval processes, are well underway. [4]

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I would like to thank Prof. V. C. Jha (Lingayas University) for helping me conduct the research under his guidance. I would also like to thank the faculty and staff of Depart ment of Mechanical Engineering, Lingayas University for their guidance and support.

REFERENCES
[1] Anne M arie Helmenstine, Calorimetry & Heat Flow Problems (2000, 2 nd edn.). [2] M .L. M athur & R.P. Sharma, Internal Combustion Engines (2000, 7 th edn.). [3] M einschein et al., Origins of Natural Gas and Petroleum, Nature, 1968, 220, 1185. [4] Chauhan A.K., Biofuels The Fuel of the Future, 2012. [5] Chauhan A.K., Sustainable Production of Second Generation Biofuels,2012. [6] Goldstein and Waddams, The Petroleum Chemicals Industry, Spon(1967, 3 rd edn.).

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