Production of biodiesel from waste fish fat through ultrasound-assisted transesterification using petro-diesel as cosolvent and optimization of process parameters using response surface methodology.

Biodiesel is a highly promising and viable alternative to fossil-based diesel that also addresses the urgent need for effective waste management. It can be synthesized by the chemical modification of triglycerides sourced from vegetable origin, animal fat, or algal oil. The transesterification reaction is the preferred method of producing biodiesel. However, the non-miscibility of alcohol and oil layer causes excessive utilization of alcohol, catalyst, and a substantial reacting time and temperature. In the current investigation, transesterification of waste fish oil was performed with petro-diesel as cosolvent, under the influence of ultrasound energy. The combination of both techniques is a unique and efficient way to minimize the mass transfer limitations considerably and hence reduces the parameters of the reaction. It is also a sincere effort to comply with the principles of green chemistry. The optimum reaction conditions were obtained using response surface methodology (RSM) that were as follows: molar ratio of methanol to oil 9.09:1, catalyst concentration of 0.97 wt%, cosolvent concentration of 29.1 wt%, temperature 60.1℃, and a reacting time 30 min. Under these listed conditions, 98.1% biodiesel was achievable, which was in close agreement with the expected result. In addition, the cosolvent removal step from the crude biodiesel was also eliminated as it could be employed as a blended fuel in CI engines.

Forcasting of an ANN model for predicting behaviour of diesel engine energised by a combination of two low viscous biofuels.

This study is focused on artificial neural network (ANN) modelling of non-modified diesel engine keyed up by the combination of two low viscous biofuels to forecast the parameters of emission and performance. The diesel engine is energised with five different test fuels of the combination of citronella and Cymbopogon flexuous biofuel (C50CF50) with diesel at precise blends of B20, B30, B40, B50 and B100 in which these numbers represent the contents of combination of biofuel and the investigation is carried out from zero to full load condition. The experimental result was found that the B20 blend had improved BTE at all load states compared with the remaining biofuel blends. At 100% load state, BTE (31.5%) and fuel consumption (13.01 g/kW-h) for the B20 blend was closer to diesel. However, the B50 blend had minimal HC (0.04 to 0.157 g/kW-h), CO (0.89 to 2.025 g/kW-h) and smoke (7.8 to 60.09%) emission than other test fuels at low and high load states. The CO2 emission was the penalty for complete combustion. The NOx emission was higher for all the biodiesel blends than diesel by 6.12%, 8%, 11.53%, 14.81% and 3.15% for B20, B30, B40, B50 and B100 respectively at 100% load condition. The reference parameters are identified as blend concentration percentage and brake power values. The trained ANN models exhibit a magnificent value of 97% coefficient of determination and the high R values ranging between 0.9076 and 0.9965 and the low MAPE values ranging between 0.98 and 4.26%. The analytical results also provide supportive evidence for the B20 blend which in turn concludes B20 as an effective alternative fuel for diesel.

Performance and emission reduction characteristics of cerium oxide nanoparticle-water emulsion biofuel in diesel engine with modified coated piston.

In the present scenario, the utilization of petroleum fuel is expanding forcefully worldwide in the vitality store and plays a highly hazardous role in the ecological system. Biofuel stands out among the most tenable keys for this issue. The lemongrass oil is used as a biofuel because of low density and viscosity when compared with diesel. The lemongrass oil is extracted by steam distillation process. In the present investigation, partially stabilized zirconium, due to its higher thermal conductivity, is selected as coating material. The top surface of the piston and the inlet and exhaust valves are coated up to the preferred thickness of 500 µm by the plasma spray technique. The lemongrass emulsion fuel is prepared in the proportion of 94% of lemongrass oil, 5% of water, and 1% of surfactant span 80. The nanoparticles of cerium oxide were used with lemongrass oil (LGO) nano-emulsion in the measurement of 30 ppm. The four-stroke diesel engine execution, ignition, and the outflow extent were contrasted in the diesel and lemongrass oil (LGO) compared with the base diesel engine. The performance characteristic curves of lemongrass-cerium oxide nano-emulsion fuel show the increase in brake thermal efficiency of 17.21% when compared with the mineral diesel fuel. The emission characteristics of lemongrass-cerium oxide nano-emulsion fuel show a drop in hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emission by 16.21% and 15.21%, respectively, when compared with base diesel fuel and also there is a decrease in oxides of nitrogen and smoke emission by 24.1% and 6.3%, respectively, when compared to mineral diesel fuel.

Investigating the combined effect of thermal barrier coating and antioxidants on pine oil in DI diesel engine.

The present study presented an inclusive analysis of engine exhaust emission characteristics of direct injection diesel engine fuelled with diesel and biofuel. Biofuel used in this investigation was obtained by steam distillation from pine oil. A single-cylinder, four-stroke diesel engine was used for this purpose. In this work, performance characteristics like brake thermal efficiency (BTE) and brake-specific fuel consumption (BSFC) were analysed. The engine pollutants, namely nitrogen oxide (NO), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbon (HC), and smoke, were examined. In addition, combustion characteristics like in-cylinder pressure and heat release rate were presented. Two engine modification techniques, namely thermal barrier coating and the addition of antioxidant to biofuel, were attempted. The advantage of thermal barrier coating is to reduce heat loss from the engine and convert the accumulated heat into useful piston work. In this work, partially stabilised zirconia was used as the coating material. The usage of antioxidant-treated biofuel in a diesel engine was said to be the prominent approach for NOx emission reduction. Three different antioxidants, namely butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), tertiary-butyl hydroquinone (TBHQ), were exclusively dissolved at a concentration of 1% by volume with PO fuel. The obtained performance and emission characteristics of the uncoated engine were compared with the thermally coated engine. From the results, it was observed that the PO biofuel may be a promising alternative in the near prospect with the thermal barrier coating technique to enhance the performance, combustion and emission characteristics of diesel engine. The PO+TBHQ blend was considered as more beneficial than PO+BHT and PO+BHA on account of its performance, combustion and emission characteristics. The effectiveness of the antioxidant was shown in the order of TBHQ>BHA>BHT.

Influence on the effect of titanium dioxide nanoparticles as an additive with Mimusops elengi methyl ester in a CI engine.

The current investigation has been aimed at the effective utilization of the alternative renewable feedstock towards propelling the diesel engine. A novel alternative feedstock, which is abundantly present in the south of India, Mimusops elengi was identified for this present investigation. The study was initiated with 20% of Mimusops elengi and methyl ester (B20) was blended with fossil diesel fuel on a volume basis. Moreover, it was observed that on the trade-off between the performance characteristics; the emission quantity was marginally higher. Concentrating on the environmental pollution caused by the diesel engine, an oxygenated nano additive, titanium oxide, was doped with the base fuel at different mass fractions of 25, 50, 75, and 100 parts per million (ppm). The result observed states that B20 with 25 ppm of titanium oxide nanoparticle (B20 + 25 ppm) established a 3.60% improvement in BTE (brake thermal efficiency) as equated with B20; furthermore, it resulted in 14.2% and 17.4% reduction in hydrocarbon and smoke emission, respectively, though it resulted in a marginal penalty of 14.72% in NOx.

A numerical study on the effect of various combustion bowl parameters on the performance, combustion, and emission behavior on a single cylinder diesel engine.

A numerical study was carried out to study the effect of various combustion bowl parameters on the performance behavior, combustion characteristics, and emission magnitude on a single cylinder diesel engine. A base combustion bowl and 11 different combustion bowls were created by varying the aspect ratio, reentrancy ratio, and bore to bowl ratio. The study was carried out at engine rated speed and a full throttle performance condition, without altering the compression ratio. The results revealed that the combustion bowl parameters could have a huge impact on the performance behavior, combustion characteristics, and emission magnitude of the engine. The bowl parameters, namely throat diameter and toroidal radius, played a crucial role in determining the performance behavior of the combustion bowls. It was observed that the combustion bowl parameters, namely central pip distance, throat diameter, and bowl depth, also could have an impact on the combustion characteristics. And throat diameter and toroidal radius, central pip distance, and toroidal corner radius could have a consequent effect on the emission magnitude of the engine. Of the different combustion bowls tested, combustion bowl 4 was preferable to others owing to the superior performance of 3% of higher indicated mean effective pressure and lower fuel consumption. Interestingly, trade-off for NO x emission was higher only by 2.85% compared with the base bowl. The sensitivity analysis proved that bowl depth, bowl diameter, toroidal radius, and throat diameter played a vital role in the fuel consumption parameter and emission characteristics even at the manufacturing tolerance variations.