Experimental Investigation of metals and Antioxidants on Oxidation Stability and Cold flow properties of Pongamia Biodiesel and its blends

Abstract

Due to fluctuation in fuel prices in recent times the Indian economy is facing a heavy burden on the economic front to meet the energy supply demand. Due to large gap between the supply and demand of petroleum products. The government of India and various other organizations are working on the development of alternative fuel to petro diesel. Pongamia oil (PO) is being identified as second most important source of biodiesel production in India after Jatropha. But the poor stability and cold flow property associated with the Pongamia biodiesel make it difficult for using it as alternative fuel to diesel. The storage of biodiesel is the major issue for its long term utilization. The aim of current work is to investigate the storage impact of various metals on oxidation stability and cold flow property of Pongamia biofuel. The experimental results shows that oxidation stability of various metal varies in order of Iron>Aluminium> Zinc while all these material deteriorate the cloud and pour point of Pongamia biodiesel and make it unsuitable for its long term use. But the use of antioxidant Pyrogallol improves the oxidation stability of Pongamia biodiesel but it has no significant effect on its cold flow properties. The finding also reveals that Pongamia biodiesel can be stored in metal container only when there is addition of antioxidant to meet the standard of biodiesel.