Cetane Research Articles

Bioprospecting wild South African microalgae as a potential third-generation biofuel feedstock, biological carbon-capture agent and for nutraceutical applications

Microalgae are among the few biological resources studied that are found to possess vast biotechnological potential. This study isolated, identified and investigated two wild green microalgal species with substantial potential as a bioresource and climate change mitigation importance. Two isolates, Chlorella sorokiniana and Tetradesmus reginae were cultivated in selected artificial media under laboratory conditions. The isolates were analysed for nutrient consumption, biomass productivity, CO2 biosequestration rate, elemental composition and fatty acid methyl profiles/composition. The outcome showed maximum daily biomass productivity of 0.128 ± 0.003 and 0.2 ± 0.004 g L−1 for C. sorokiniana and T. reginae, respectively. CO2 biosequestration rate of T. reginae was the highest among the isolates, indicating that it can act as a biological climate change mitigation agent. Moreover, T. reginae recorded a significantly higher (p < 0.05) total lipid and carbohydrate content than C. sorokiniana. The C/N ratio for T. reginae was significantly higher than the C/N ratio for C. sorokiniana. Tetradesmus reginae also demonstrated the ability to produce a considerable quantity of omega-3 oils; hence, the species is of nutraceutical importance. Furthermore, T. reginae demonstrated maximal carbohydrate content and is therefore considered a potential feedstock for bioethanol production. Chlorella sorokiniana, on the other hand, showed a remarkable (p < 0.05) protein content making it a potential source for human food and animal feed supplement. Finally, the two isolates met both European and American quality biodiesel standards with exceptional cetane (CN) and iodine numbers (IV).

Prediction of biodiesel physico-chemical properties from its fatty acid composition using genetic programming

This paper presents regression analysis of biodiesel physico-chemical properties as a function of fatty acid composition using an experimental database. The study is done by using 48 edible and non-edible oils-based biodiesel available data. Regression equations are presented as a function of fatty acid composition (saturated and unsaturated methyl esters). The physico-chemical properties studied are kinematic viscosity, flash point, cloud point, pour point (PP), cold filter plugging point, cetane (CN) and iodine numbers. The regression technique chosen to carry out this work is genetic programming (GP). Unlike multiple linear regression (MLR) strategies available in literature, GP provides generic, non-parametric regression among variables. For all properties analyzed, the performance of the regression is systematically better for GP than MLR. Indeed, the RSME related to the experimental database is lower for GP models, from ≈3% for CN to ≈55% for PP, in comparison to the best MLR model for each property. Particularly, most GP regression models reproduce correctly the dependence of properties on the saturated and unsaturated methyl esters.

Production of Diesel Fuel with Alternative Components Content from Various Wastes

The use of renewable energy sources is continuously growing worldwide. The demand for alternative fuel components from renewable sources in Europe is also increasing. To ensure economically sustainable transport and shipping, it is inevitable that the production of alternative fuels from waste sources will be increased. The aim of this research work was to produce high quality, alternative components containing diesel fuel and to study the hydrogenation and the interaction among the different compounds of the waste polyolefin cracking fraction (10 %), waste fatty acid fraction (10, 20 and 30 %) and the high sulphur gas oil. The catalytic conversion of the mixtures was carried out on a commercial, sulphided NiMo/Al2O3P catalyst. High-quality diesel fuel component with high hydrogen content (13.65 %), high cetane number (57.0) and reduced expected emissions was produced under the favourable process parameters (temperature: 360 °C, hydrogen/hydrocarbon volume ratio: 600 Nm3/m3, pressure: 50 bar, and liquid hourly space velocity: 1.0 h-1). The obtained product is more environmentally friendly than conventional diesel fuels and can contribute to reduce the amount of landfilled wastes.

Experimental investigation of the fuel properties of glidfuel, palm oil mill effluent biodiesel and blends

Biofuels derived from industry waste have potential to substitute fossil fuels (Diesel and Gasoline) in internal combustion (IC) engines. Use of waste streams as fuels would help to reduce considerably life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions and minimise waste processing costs. In this study an investigation into the fuel properties of two waste derived biofuels were carried out, they are: (i) Glidfuel (GF) biofuel - a waste stream from paper industry, and (ii) Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) biodiesel - biodiesel produced from palm oil industry effluent through various treatment and transesterification process. GF and POME was mixed together at various proportions and separately with fossil diesel (FD) to assess the miscibility and various physical and chemical properties of the blends. Fuel properties such as kinematic viscosity, higher heating value, water content, acid number, density, flash point temperature, CHNO content, sulphur content, ash content, oxidation stability, cetane number and copper corrosion ratings of all the fuels were measured. The properties of GF, POME and various blends were compared with the corresponding properties of the standard FD. Significance of the fuel properties and their expected effects on combustion and exhaust emission characteristics of the IC engine were discussed. Results showed that most properties of both GF and POME biodiesel were comparable to FD. Both GF and POME were miscible with each other, and also separately with the FD. Flash point temperatures of GF and POME biodiesel were 40.7°C and 158.7°C respectively. The flash point temperature of GF was about 36% lower than corresponding FD. The water content in GF and FD were 0.74 (% wt) and 0.01 (% wt) respectively. Acidity values and corrosion ratings of both GF and POME biodiesel were low compared to corresponding value for FD. The study concluded that optimum GF-POME biofuel blends can substitute fossil diesel use in IC engines.

COMPARISON OF FATTY ACID COMPOSITIONS AND FUEL CHARACTERISTICS OF BIODIESELS MADE FROM ISOCHRYSIS GALBANA LIPIDS AND FROM USED COOKING OIL

The fatty acid compositions and typical fuel characteristics of the biodiesels produced from Isochrysis galbana lipids and used cooking oil were analyzed and compared in this study. The experimental results showed that the major fatty acid compositions of the biodiesel made from the extracted Isochrysis galbana lipids were significantly different from those of the biodiesel made from used cooking oil. The biodiesel made from the microalgae lipids primarily comprised 35.34 wt. % myristic acid (C14:0) whereas the major compound of the used cooking-oil biodiesel was 47.51 wt. % oleic acid (C18:1). Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) at 4.67 wt. % was only found in the microalgae biodiesel. The fuel properties of the microalgae fatty acid methyl esters were more optimal, including a significantly lower iodine number, 71.0, and higher cetane number, 65.3. Isochrysis galbana is therefore a promising feedstock source for the production of biodiesel.

Synergistic effects of pulse light emitting diode on growth rate, lipid content & its carbon chain of Nannochloropsis sp. In fatty acid methyl ester production

Third generation biofuels which is biodiesel from microalgae has its share of problems such as high cultivation costs, expensive dewatering and drying process, lipid extraction and transesterification. Nannochloropsis sp. was cultivated indoor using pulse light emitting diodes LED, blue LED and red LED. Nannochloropsis sp. was cultivated for 12 d under LED pulsed at a constant frequency between 5and 100 kHz with various duty cycles (5 - 50 %) by changing the resistance compared with red and blue LED. The number of cells, lipid content and FAME composition were determined using cell counting, Nile red method and gas chromatography respectively. Results revealed that the pulse LED compared to other wavelength LED have a significant effect in the number of cell (pulse: 3.39; blue 2.83; red: 2.63 x 107 cell/mL) and exhibited a consistent lipid production stability curve compared with red and blue LED. The biodiesel produced under the pulse LED has the following characteristics: degree of unsaturation (80.41), density (881 kg/m3), viscosity (3.96 mm2/s), cetane number (61.03), iodine value (97.76), cloud point (7.1 oC), pour point (0.86 oC), CFPP (6.52 oC) and HHV (41.28 MJ.kg).

Improvement of microalgae lipid productivity and quality in an ion-exchange-membrane photobioreactor using real municipal wastewater

To improve the productivity and quality of microalgae-based biodiesel when using municipal wastewater (MW) as nutrients source, an ion-exchange-membrane photobioreactor (IEM-PBR) was used in this study to eliminate the negative effects of pollutants in MW on microalgae Chlorella vulgaris and Scenedesmus obliquus. In the IEM-PBR, the real MW and microalgae cultures were separated in two chambers by the ion-exchange-membranes (IEMs). Nutrients (N, P, etc.) in the MW permeated into microalgae cultures through the IEMs, while pollutants (suspended solids, competitors, etc.) in the MW could hardly permeate into microalgae cultures. As a result, the lipid productivity in the IEM-PBR was improved to 85.7 mg/(L•d) for C. vulgaris and 111.8 mg/(L•d) for S. obliquus, which was slightly higher than that in the traditional photobioreactor (T-PBR) with real MW after centrifugation (82.5 mg/(L•d) for C. vulgaris and 105.8 mg/(L•d) for S. obliquus), but much higher than that in the T-PBR with untreated MW and primary MW (with lipid productivity of 20-30 mg/(L•d)). Besides, the lipid quality obtained in the IEM-PBR had higher proportion of cetane number (ca. 60%) and lower linolenic acid content (ca. 8%), which showed a superior quality in the IEM-PBR to that in the T-PBR. It demonstrated that the IEM-PBR is an effective approach to improve the productivity and quality of microalgae biodiesel. Keywords: microalgae, photobioreactor, lipid productivity, real municipal wastewater, ion-exchange-membrane DOI: 10.3965/j.ijabe.20171001.2706 Citation: Chang H X, Fu Q, Huang Y, Xia A, Liao Q, Zhu X. Improvement of microalgae lipid productivity and quality in an ion-exchange-membrane photobioreactor using real municipal wastewater. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2017; 10(1): 97－106.

Performance Evaluation of Compression Ignition Direct Injection Diesel Engine on Dual Fuel Mode with Mango Oil Methyl Ester Biofuel

In this study, Mango seed Oil Methyl Esters (MOME) that is produced by base catalyzed transesterification method has been chosen as a bio-fuel. Experiments were conducted with fuels of known cetane number at various loads on a single cylinder, constant speed, air-cooled, four stroke, and direct injection vertical diesel engine with rated power of 4.4 kW. All experiments were conducted at injection pressures 200 bar. For the same engine, the performance, combustion and emission analysis was carried out for various blends(20% and 100%) of MOME, diesel with grain alcohol(ethanol 0.1pre-mixed ratio) on dual fuel mode. When the engine was operated with 20% of MOME and 0.1 pre-mixed ratio, the brake thermal efficiency was found to be very much closer to the BTE obtained with neat diesel due to more calorific value and more heat release rate during combustion. It is also observed that at this blend, Hydrocarbons (HC), Carbon monoxide (CO) and smoke density emissions were found to be less than that of diesel whereas NOx emissions were slightly more than that of diesel.

Experimental Investigation of Neem Oil Methyl Ester and its Blends with Diesel as an Alternative Fuel for a DI Diesel Engine

Vegetable oils offer almost the same power output with slightly lower thermal efficiency when used in diesel engines. Neem oil being non-edible could be regarded as an alternative fuel for compression ignition engines. Vegetable oils like neem oil are available in rural areas and have high cetane number and calorific value quite close to that of diesel fuel. The uses of any vegetable oils have some problems when subjected to prolonged usage in diesel engines. The problems are attributed to high viscosity, low volatility and poly unsaturated character of neat vegetable oils. Higher viscosity of vegetable oils causes improper atomization of fuels during injection and result in incomplete combustion. The viscosity of neem oil is reduced by transesterification to obtain neem oil methyl ester. Application of bio-fuel derived through trans-esterification of Neem oil is prevalent in diesel engines since it has fuel economy and reduction of emission of exhaust gases. In the present study necessary efforts have been made to prepare a bio-fuel through trans-esterification from raw neem oil to study the performance, combustion analysis and emission characteristics. The derived fuel called “NEEM OIL METHYL ESTER” (NOME-C17H34COOCH3) has been used in a single cylinder water cooled diesel engine under standard operating conditions. The experimental investigations were carried out to assess the combustion analysis, performance and emission levels of the engine using NOME and its blends with diesel. The brake thermal efficiency of NOME is found to be much higher than diesel due to improved combustion lubricity and reduced friction. The NOx level, the exhaust gas temperature and HC for NOME are found to be higher than diesel due to efficient combustion, lower viscosity and good mixture formation. The smoke is also found to be lower than diesel, because of excess oxygen present in the bio-diesel. Under combustion analysis heat release rate, rate of pressure rise, and cylinder pressure were calculated, plotted and curves were drawn for diesel fuel, NOME and its blends with diesel and compared with diesel fuel. The heat release rate is slightly higher for NOME compared to diesel because of better premixed combustion and increases NOX emissions. Adiabatic flame temperatures were also calculated for NOME and its blends with diesel. The adiabatic flame temperature is reduced drastically with excess air for diesel, NOME, B20 and B30. It is found that adiabatic flame temperature of B20 is close to diesel.

Evaluation of the Potential of &lt;i&gt;Chlorella&lt;/i&gt; sp. for Biodiesel Production

The type and amount of lipid produced by microalgae directly influence the quality of the achived biodiesel. This study is to report the properties of extracted lipid profile analysis of marine microalgae species Chlorella sp. The extracted lipid is further converted to methyl esters or biodiesel by acid-catalyzed transesterification. Scanning electron microscope (SEM), Gas chromatography (GC) and Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) are analytical instruments for evaluation the potential of microalgae lipid in biodiesel production. The result showed that our marine microalgae was confirmed as interesting candidate for biodiesel application due to its high lipid content, high biodiesel yield, high cetane (CN) number, low iodine value (IV) and FT-IR spectrum close to crude palm oil and crude palm oil biodiesel.

Diesel Fuel Additives: an Overview

Diesel engines are widely used for transportation and power generation due to its better performance, reliability and durability. For the past three decades, there has been a consistent worldwide demand for the diesel fuel and quality, which resulted in degraded engine performance and increased pollutant concentration. At present demand for better diesel fuel is more. Diesel fuel quality can be improved either by better processing or with the use of additives. Additive treated fuel contributes to improve the performance, reduce emissions and gives longer life of the engine. Detergents and dispersant, cleanliness additive, cetane improver, combustion modifier and multifunctional additives are the major groups of additives. Detergent additives effectively prevent the buildup deposits, while dispersant include cleaning and disperse particulate matter in an extremely fine state. Cleanliness additives are organic detergents, to prevent deposits formation in the fuel injection system and maintain the injection system cleanliness over the useful life of the engine. Cetane improvers control the ignitability of diesel fuel, when it is sprayed into the combustion chamber and reduce the ignition delay period for the fuel. Combustion modifier is a group of metallic or ash containing additive, which is added in the fuel with a level of parts per million. The objective of the present paper is to give an overview about performance and emission of the combustion improving diesel fuel additives.

Alcoholysis of Carica Papaya Seed Oil to Diesel Like Fuel

Extensive efforts were made in this study to extract oil from Carica papaya seeds (an untapped resource), trans-esterify the extracted oil and check for the fuel properties of the produced pawpaw seed oil based biodiesel. Normal hexane was used as solvent for the extraction. 63.05g of oil was extracted from 275g of pawpaw seeds to give oil yield of 22.93%. Lyed methanol in 60% excess was reacted with the heated oil with thorough agitation for some minutes. Fuel properties such as cloud point, API gravity, cetane number, diesel index etc were found not only to be competitive with biodiesel made from other oils but also meet some of the requirements of the ASTM Standards (American Standard for Testing and Methods ) against which biodiesel must be measured and therefore fits to be used as a blend with fossil fuel diesel in trucks and other machineries. This paper however intends to draw the attention of researchers and policy makers through thorough experimentation on a forgotten resource (pawpaw seed oil) and its suitability as a major feedstock for biodiesel production so as to conserve the fossil fuel and further create a balance between food security and energy security

The Influence of Cetane Additive on Heavy Dutrex Fuel Performance

The Influence of Cetane Additive on Heavy Dutrex Fuel Performance

Biodiesel Production from Ricinus Communis Oil and Its Blends with Soybean Biodiesel

In this study, local vegetable oil named as Ricinus Communis (RC) is used as the raw material for the production of biodiesel. In order to obtain RC oil, Soxhalet Extraction apparatus was used. This paper deals with the transesterification of Ricinus Communis oil with methanol to produce biodiesel. Moreover, this study analysis the fuel properties of RC biodiesel and soybean biodiesel blends. Various properties of the RC biodiesel, Soybean biodiesel and their blends such as the cold filter plugging point (CFPP), cetane number, flash point, kinematic viscosity and density were determined. Test results were compared well with European biodiesel standards EN 14214. Analysis showed that the cetane number and the cold flow behavior of the RC biodiesel and soybean biodiesel blends were improved due to the high cetane number (80) and the low cold filter plugging point (-35 oC) of RC biodiesel.

Fuel Production from Triglycerides Containing Gas Oils

Lately the development and the use of energy sources which are of bio-origin are required. The engine fuels have special importance. Based on their origin they can be conventional, alternative or conventional + alternative. Biofuels which can be produced from biomass, thus from a renewable energy source, are alternative fuels. The objective of our research work was to investigate the production of diesel fuel with excellent quality and/or of diesel fuel blending component by heterogeneous catalytic conversion of gas oil fraction containing 75% sunflower oil. Furthermore, our aim was to determine the advantageous process parameters (temperature, pressure, liquid hourly space velocity, hydrogen/hydrocarbon ratio) during application of the selected NiMo/Al2O3 catalyst. Based on the results obtained we determined that the main properties of these products were significantly better compared to the feed as diesel fuel components. The products which were made under desired combination of process parameters (T=350–380 °C; p=80 bar; LHSV=1.0–1.5 h-1; H2/feed ratio: 600 Nm3/m3) had lower than 10 mg/kg sulphur and nitrogen content, and the cetane numbers were significantly higher than it is specified in the MSZ EN 590:2009 standard (minimum 51).

Investigation of Hydrogenation of Aromatic Hydrocarbons on Pt/Pd/USY Catalyst

In this paper the aromatic reduction of gas oils and the conversion of several hydrocarbon groups in the conditions of hydrodearomatization were investigated on Pt/Pd/USY catalyst. It was concluded that in case of hydrodearomatization of gas oils cycloparaffin hydrocarbons (naphthenes) were key components, i.e. the practical process parameters of hydrodearomatization in case of a defined catalytic system (catalyst, feed, etc.) is that where the concentration of naphthenes have a maximum value. In case of this the deep hydrodearomatization and further deep heteroatom reduction can be carried out with maximum yield of gas oil. It was additionally determined that in the condition of hydrodearomatization mainly isoparaffins are formed via ring opening of naphthenes, the rate of increase of n-paraffin concentration is slower, i.e. the decadence of cold flow properties of reduced aromatic containing products are less beside the high cetane number. Therefore the gas oil products can be applied as winter quality diesel fuel blending components.

A possible advantage of nitrated biodiesel over conventional cetane enhancers

A possible advantage of nitrated biodiesel over conventional cetane enhancers

Studies of the Preparation of Primary Reference Fuel Cetane for Determining Cetane Number (II)-On the Primary Reference Fuel Cetane

鯨蝋は成分パルミチン酸セチルエステルなので, セタン製造原料として好適と思われたが, 三硫化モリブデンを触媒として高圧水素還元を行う場合長連鎖のため働鎖反応を伴い易く正セタンは好収量に得られなかった。そこで木蝋から純パルミチン酸メチルエステルを製し, セタンの原料として使用し, 最適反応條件などの検討を行つた結果好収量に正セタンを得ることができた。この正セタンはDu pontセタンとその性状を比較するも遜色なくジーセル燃料のセタン価測定用正標準燃料としてわが国で始めて工業化することを得た。また炭素原子数とアニリン点およびセタン価との相互関係を明かにし, パルミチン酸メチルエステルよりセタンが生成される反応機構について検討を行つた。

Studies on the Preparation of Primary Reference Fuel for Cetane Number (1)

ジーゼル燃料のセタン価測定用正標準燃料セタンは従来輸入に俟つたが, これを国産化するため種々の研究を行つた結果, 高級脂肪酸およびそのエステルを原料として高圧水素還元を行う場合, 原脂肪酸と同数の炭素康子数を有する炭化水素を与える触媒として, 三硫化モリブデンが最適なることを確認した。鯨蝋を原料として反応温度, 触媒の添加量など反応條件のセタン価に及ぼす影響を明らかにした。鯨蝋の成分はバルミチン酸セチルエステルなのでセタン製造原料として好適と思われたが, 長連鎖のため側鎖反応を件い易く, 純セタンは好收量では得られなかつた。しかしセタン価100のものを好收量で得られたので, セタン価100副標準燃料として工業化し得た。さらに動植物天然油脂, 抹香鯨脳油, 大豆油, 米糠油, 木蝋などの水添油からもセタン価100のものを得たので, これらの結果について報告する。

Slow Neutron Velocity Spectrometer Studies ofO2,N2, A,H2,H2O, and Seven Hydrocarbons

The slow neutron cross sections of free atoms of O, N, and A have been determined to be; O:3.73, N:9.96, A:0.68 barn. Between 1 and 15 ev the ${\mathrm{N}}_{2}$ curve shows an ${E}^{\ensuremath{-}\frac{1}{2}}$ slope of 0.34 barn\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${(\mathrm{ev})}^{\mathrm{\textonehalf{}}}$ per atom. Measurements on these elements have been extended to over 10,000 ev with no resonances observed. Dependence of cross section upon neutron energy from 1 ev to 0.003 ev is presented for ${\mathrm{O}}_{2}$, ${\mathrm{N}}_{2}$, ${\mathrm{H}}_{2}$, ${\mathrm{H}}_{2}$O, methane, ethane, propane, $n$-butane, cetane, ethylene, 1,3-butadiene, and liquid$n$-butane. At the lowest energies, the large observed ${\mathrm{H}}_{2}$ cross section is attributed largely to thermal translational motion of the molecule. The measurements on the hydrocarbons show the effect of the binding of H in various molecules. Comparison with the theories of Bethe and Arley is made. No difference has been detected in cross-section measurements on gaseous and liquid $n$-butane.