Methyl Ester Biodiesel Research Articles

Process Optimization of Biodiesel Production Using Waste Snail Shell as a Highly Active Nanocatalyst

In this work, we reported the transesterification of soybean oil (SO) to biodiesel using a basic CaO nanocatalyst produced by sequential calcination, hydration, and dehydration of waste snail shells. Response-surface methodology (RSM) and a central composite design (CCD) were used to predict several optimization parameters. 1H-NMR confirmed that 98.5% of the SO was transformed into methyl ester biodiesel. Under the optimal reaction parameters of catalyst loading of 6 wt. %, methanol to oil molar ratio of 8 : 1, reaction duration of 3 h, and temperature of 70°C, an excellent biodiesel yield of 96.1% was obtained. The transesterification of SO to biodiesel displayed a significantly low activation energy (30.45 kJ mol-1), whereas, the turnover frequency of the transesterification reaction was found to be 0.0063 mol g-1 h-1. The catalyst showed excellent stability and was consecutively used for six cycles without a significant decline in catalytic activity. Based on life cycle cost analysis (LCCA), the estimated cost for producing 1 kg of biodiesel in this study comes out to be just $0.935, signifying its strong potential for widespread commercial use.

Comprehensive Analysis of Compression Ratio, Exhaust Gas Recirculation, and Pilot Fuel Injection in a Diesel Engine Fuelled with Tamarind Biodiesel

The global automotive industry is facing significant challenges, including dwindling fossil fuel reserves, rising crude oil prices, and increasingly strict emission regulations. To address these concerns, this study investigates the impact of the compression ratio (CR) and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) on the performance and emissions of a common rail direct injection (CRDI) diesel engine fuelled with a 20% blend of tamarind seed methyl ester (TSME 20) biodiesel. The study employed an open-type electronic control unit to implement pilot fuel injection at a rate of 30%, 23° before the top dead centre (TDC), and at a higher pressure of 600 bar. Three CRs (16:1, 18:1, 20:1) and two types of EGR (hot and cold EGR at 10%) were evaluated. Diesel fuel at CR 18 was used as a baseline for comparison. The experimental procedure involved conducting tests with TSME 20 at CR 16, 18, and 20. Subsequently, TSME 20 at CR 20 + Hot EGR 10% and TSME 20 at CR 20 + Cold EGR 10% were examined. The results showed that TSME 20 operated at a higher CR (CR 20) exhibited improved diesel engine performance and significant reductions in harmful exhaust emissions. Additionally, cold EGR at 10% was more effective in reducing CO, CO2, and NOx emissions from TSME 20 than hot EGR. The findings of this study provide valuable insights into optimizing diesel engine operation to achieve a balance between performance enhancement and emission reduction through tamarind seed biodiesel blends and different EGR techniques. The implementation of these strategies holds considerable potential in addressing the automotive industry’s challenges, including ecological considerations and fuel price fluctuations.

Investigations into the transition to sustainable alternative fuels in a South African underground platinum mine

Adverse environmental impacts associated with the use of fossil fuels and the over-dependence thereon has made energy security and sustainability a critical issue worldwide particularly for key energy intensive economic sectors which are heavily dependent on diesel. We thus investigated the feasibility of a transition to two different alternative fuels namely, rapeseed methyl ester (RME) biodiesel and gas-to-liquid fuel (GTL), in the platinum mining industry in South Africa. Load haul dump vehicles are the most abundant workhorses underground and were the selected vehicles to test alternative fuels at 100% without any engine modification. Potential reduction of harmful unregulated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emissions was the focus of the research due to their adverse impacts on the environment, human health and engine operations. Quantitative collection of gas and particle phase PAHs was made possible using portable denuder devices followed by analysis by two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Results showed that total PAH emissions from a high idling vehicle decreased dramatically when diesel was substituted with both biofuels (total gas phase PAH concentrations of 34; 14 and 9 µg m-3 for diesel, GTL and RME, respectively) and no substantial hinderance on engine performance was reported. This novel sector specific study on unmodified heavy duty working vehicles can potentially translate into a real-world, immediate solution, as not only would the selected biofuels be able to directly replace diesel, but both have high potential of being locally produced in South Africa and assist in the promotion of a circular economy.

Rational biodiesel production by screening different long-term stored plant oils via nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic measurement

Screening the raw materials for biodiesel production has normally concentrated on the triglyceride (TAG) content and fatty acid profile without considering the oxidation stability, a crucial restriction factor for commercial life of biodiesel. The traditional screening methods had complex procedures by characterizing the raw material’ and the prepared biodiesel’ properties, which was not applicable for large sets of raw materials. These factors propelled the development of a simple and efficient screening method for potential biodiesel feedstock. Herein, we compared two kinds of spectroscopic measurements, the three-dimensional fluorescence (3D-FL) and high field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), for screening special and differential raw materials by investigating 19 plant oil species with one-year storage for biodiesel production. Among these samples, 13 kinds of plant oils contained TAGs, and the other 6 were free of TAGs. The results showed that 3D-FL measurements improperly assigned citronella oil as a TAG-containing plant oil and determined limited information about their chemical composition, suggesting unsatisfactory screening performance. In contrast, 1H NMR measurements screened 3 kinds of differential oils out of those 19 plant oil species, including coconut oil (Cocos nucifera L.), cotton seed oil (Gossypium barbadense L.), palm oil (Elaeis guineensis). Hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) and partial least square discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) presented that the statistically significant NMR spectral bins for their differential compositions were signals at 3.6 ppm (–OCH3), 2.31 ppm (–OCH2–COOH), 4.29 ppm (TAG skeleton), and 5.27 ppm (TAG skeleton), representing the oxidation products, unsaturated fatty acids, and TAGs. Finally, the converted methyl and ethyl esters (biodiesel) from those three differential plant oil samples were subjected to Rancimat tests. They showed quite different oxidation stabilities from Rancimat tests, which was relevant to the composition differences in the NMR analysis. Our results suggested that the rapid, simple, and reliable NMR measurement combined with HCA and PLS-DA can serve as an efficient tool for potential biodiesel feedstock screening.

Optimization Study of Methyl Ester (Biodiesel) Synthesis from Chicken Tallow Using Polyoxomolybdate Catalyst

Optimization Study of Methyl Ester (Biodiesel) Synthesis from Chicken Tallow Using Polyoxomolybdate Catalyst

Molybdenum (VI) complex of resorcinol‐based ligand immobilized on silica‐coated magnetic nanoparticles for biodiesel production

Reusability and durability of catalysts are main factors in biodiesel production. Fe3O4@SiO2‐APTES‐MoO2L2DHAPh catalyst was prepared in five steps. At first, Fe3O4 was synthesized and coated with silica (Fe3O4@SiO2). After that, the nanoparticles were functionalized by APTES (Fe3O4@SiO2‐APTES). In following, DHAPh ligand was anchored covalently onto the surface of aminated magnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4@SiO2‐APTES‐LDHAPh), and at the end, DHAPh ligand was metalled by MoO2(acac)2 salt (Fe3O4@SiO2‐APTES‐MoO2L2DHAPh). The catalyst was characterized with analytical techniques such as FT‐IR, SEM, TEM, XRD, XPS, VSM, ICP, EDX, NH3‐TPD, and TGA. This novel catalyst with acidic and basic sites was used in (trans)esterification reaction for biodiesel production of rapeseed and other oils. The biodiesel yield of rapeseed, soybean, sunflower, and used frying oils was attained 97%, 98%, 96%, and 87%, respectively, under optimized reaction conditions, such as 0.1 mol% amount of catalyst, 0.05 mmol KOH as methanol activator, a short reaction time of 2 h, and methanol to oil ratio of 3:1 at room temperature. The conversion of oil to methyl ester biodiesel was confirmed by FT‐IR, 1H NMR, and GC‐MS analysis. The leaching and reusability tests of the prepared catalyst were checked, which displayed the biodiesel production proceeded via a heterogeneous pathway. Also, this catalyst can be reused for 11 cycles without tangible loss in its catalytic activity. The mentioned heterogeneously homogenized nanocatalyst has the main benefits such as easy reusability, high activity, and selectivity with acidic and basic sites that makes it a potential candidate for both esterification and (trans)esterification of low quality feedstock for low cost biodiesel production.

Optimization of multi‐response biodiesel fueled diesel engine parameters using Taguchi grey relational analysis and analytical hierarchy process

AbstractCompression ignition engines are currently optimized to run on petrodiesel fuel, but due to its increasing demand and depletion of fossil fuel reserves, alternative fuels must be utilized. In this article, an attempt was made to optimize the operating parameters of an unmodified compression ignition engine fueled with linseed methyl ester biodiesel. The input parameters were compression ratio, load, and fuel blend, while output responses included brake‐specific fuel consumption (BSFC), brake thermal efficiency (BTE), and exhaust gas temperature (EGT), peak cylinder pressure (PCP), the rate of pressure rise (RPR), and net heat release rate (NHR), hydrocarbon (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), NOx, and Smoke. The aim was to determine the optimal combination of input parameters for minimal emissions and better performance and combustion parameters, with a minimum number of experiments. The study used Taguchi's L9 orthogonal array with a grey relational analysis approach (GRA) to obtain the optimum combination of input parameters. The study found that fuel blend B10, CR 18, and load 100% were the optimal input parameter combinations using the TGRA method. The S/N ratio analysis of grey relational grade (GRG) showed the optimal input factor levels to be fuel B10, CR 16, and load 100%, which was confirmed by the AHP method. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the load was the most influential factor, followed by CR and fuel. The confirmatory results showed an improvement of 56.1%, indicating that biodiesel can be efficiently used in an unmodified compression ignition engine by varying these influencing factors.

Comparable Response Following Exposure to Biodiesel and Diesel Exhaust Particles in Advanced Multicellular Human Lung Models.

Biodiesel is considered to be a sustainable alternative for fossil fuels such as petroleum-based diesel. However, we still lack knowledge about the impact of biodiesel emissions on humans, as airways and lungs are the primary target organs of inhaled toxicants. This study investigated the effect of exhaust particles from well-characterized rapeseed methyl ester (RME) biodiesel exhaust particles (BDEP) and petro-diesel exhaust particles (DEP) on primary bronchial epithelial cells (PBEC) and macrophages (MQ). The advanced multicellular physiologically relevant bronchial mucosa models were developed using human primary bronchial epithelial cells (PBEC) cultured at air-liquid interface (ALI) in the presence or absence of THP-1 cell-derived macrophages (MQ). The experimental set-up used for BDEP and DEP exposures (18 µg/cm2 and 36 µg/cm2) as well as the corresponding control exposures were PBEC-ALI, MQ-ALI, and PBEC co-cultured with MQ (PBEC-ALI/MQ). Following exposure to both BDEP and DEP, reactive oxygen species as well as the stress protein heat shock protein 60 were upregulated in PBEC-ALI and MQ-ALI. Expression of both pro-inflammatory (M1: CD86) and repair (M2: CD206) macrophage polarization markers was increased in MQ-ALI after both BDEP and DEP exposures. Phagocytosis activity of MQ and the phagocytosis receptors CD35 and CD64 were downregulated, whereas CD36 was upregulated in MQ-ALI. Increased transcript and secreted protein levels of CXCL8, as well as IL-6 and TNF-α, were detected following both BDEP and DEP exposure at both doses in PBEC-ALI. Furthermore, the cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) pathway, COX-2-mediated histone phosphorylation and DNA damage were all increased in PBEC-ALI following exposure to both doses of BDEP and DEP. Valdecoxib, a COX-2 inhibitor, reduced the level of prostaglandin E2, histone phosphorylation, and DNA damage in PBEC-ALI following exposure to both concentrations of BDEP and DEP. Using physiologically relevant multicellular human lung mucosa models with human primary bronchial epithelial cells and macrophages, we found BDEP and DEP to induce comparable levels of oxidative stress, inflammatory response, and impairment of phagocytosis. The use of a renewable carbon-neutral biodiesel fuel does not appear to be more favorable than conventional petroleum-based alternative, as regards of its potential for adverse health effects.

Effects on the performance and emission characteristics of CRDI diesel engine fueled with ethanol, acid oil methyl ester biodiesel and diesel blends

The present investigation of utilizing biodiesel as an alternative additive for diesel and ethanol for diesel engines. Biodiesel blended with diesel or ethanol using 50 vol% biodiesel and by varying 04 vol%, 08 vol%, 12 vol% and 16 vol% ethanol with 46 vol%, 42 vol%, 38% vol and 34% vol diesel blend on 4-stroke 4-Cylinder, Common Rail Direct Injection (CRDI) Diesel engine. The experimental results showed that the fuel properties of the blend met the requirements of a diesel engine, although a trend towards more carbon residue was observed with increasing proportion of biodiesel. Studies have shown that with increasing alcohol content in the mixture, brake thermal efficiency decreases, BSFC increases, CO and HC emissions increase while NOx emissions decrease. As the engine speed increased from 1200 to 1800 rpm, BTE continued to increase, but CO and HC emissions decreased, while NOx emissions increased significantly.

Lipid extraction in the primary sludge generated from urban wastewater treatment: characteristics and seasonal composition analysis.

A seasonal study of the lipid composition of a primary sludge (dry and dewatered base) obtained from an urban wastewater treatment plant located in Aguascalientes (Mexico) is reported. This study assessed the variability in sludge composition to establish its potential as a raw material for biodiesel production. Lipid recovery was achieved by extraction using two solvents. Hexane was employed for lipid extraction from dry sludge, whereas hexane and ethyl butyrate were used for comparison with dewatered sludge. The formation (%) of fatty acid methyl esters (biodiesel) was determined using extracted lipids. The extraction results from the dry sludge showed 14 and 6% of recovered lipids and their conversion to biodiesel, respectively. For the dewatered sludge, the lipid recovery and biodiesel formation were 17.4 and 60% using hexane, and 23 and 77% for ethyl butyrate, respectively, on a dry basis. Statistical data indicated that lipid recovery depended on the physicochemical characteristics of sewage sludge, which were related to seasonal changes, population activities, and changes in plant configuration, among other factors. These variables must be considered in the design of large-scale extraction equipment for the application and commercial exploitation of biomass waste in biofuel production.

Biodiesel exhaust particle airway toxicity and the role of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Renewable alternatives to fossil diesel (FD) including fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) biodiesel have become more prevalent. However, toxicity of exhaust material from their combustion, relative to the fuels they are displacing has not been fully characterised. This study was carried out to examine particle toxicity within the lung epithelium and the role for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Exhaust particles from a 20% (v/v) blend of FAME biodiesel had little impact on primary airway epithelial toxicity compared to FD derived particles but did result in an altered profile of PAHs, including an increase in particle bound carcinogenic B[a]P. Higher blends of biodiesel had significantly increased levels of more carcinogenic PAHs, which was associated with a higher level of stress response gene expression including CYP1A1, NQO1 and IL1B. Removal of semi-volatile material from particulates abolished effects on airway cells. Particle size difference and toxic metals were discounted as causative for biological effects. Finally, combustion of a single component fuel (Methyl decanoate) containing the methyl ester molecular structure found in FAME mixtures, also produced more carcinogenic PAHs at the higher fuel blend levels. These results indicate the use of FAME biodiesel at higher blends may be associated with an increased particle associated carcinogenic and toxicity risk.

Glycerol and monoglycerides determination in biodiesel methyl ester from palm oil using gas chromatography

Monoglycerides and glycerol are by-products contaminants, after transesterification, in biodiesel that can lead to severe operational and engine problems such as wax precipitation, filter plugging and engine deposits. Therefore, strict regulations have been made, and accurate quality control is required. In this work, levels of monoglycerides and glycerol were determined using gas chromatography (GC) equipment with flame ionization detector (FID) refers to standard methods ASTM D6584 and EN 14105. However, the monoglycerides determination still needs firmness and validation to develop standard calibration series to fit the constituent fatty acid components of the feedstock used. This paper shows three fatty acids, i.e., monoolein, monopalmitin, and monostearin, as major components in palm-based biodiesel, which would be prepared as standard calibration and determined from commercial biodiesel samples in the determination of monoglyceride levels accurately and thoroughly. The result shows that standard solutions produce a curve with high linearity; it was above 0.998 (for free glycerol, monopalmitin, monoolein, and monostearin) and its accuracy values were >95%. However, the result for eight commercial biodiesel samples in Indonesia had a range of 0.23-0.54% w/w for total monoglycerides, 0.07 to 0.14 (% w/w) for total glycerol, and < 0.01% w/w for free glycerol, which was fulfilling to the ASTM D6751 and EN 14214 specification requirements.

The Influence of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Additives on Performance and Emission of CI Engine Using Blends of Non-Edible (Jatropha Methyl Esters) Biodiesel &amp; Diesel

Abstract: This paper investigates the performance and emission characteristics of single cylinder diesel engine under various concentration of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube (MWCNT) in blends B20 and B30 biodiesel were investigated to establish the effect of MWCNT as nano-additive on the blends biodiesel used in diesel engine and aims to reduce the emissions of hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide into the atmosphere.

Modeling and prediction of biodiesel production by using different artificial intelligence methods: Multi-layer perceptron (MLP), Gradient boosting (GB), and Gaussian process regression (GPR)

In this study, different distinct approaches of machine learning (ML) including Multi-layer perceptron (MLP), Gradient Boosting with DT (GBDT), and Gaussian process regression (GPR) were employed in order to predict the amount of Papaya oil methyl ester (POME) biodiesel production. To optimize the POME production, yield of these models were optimized with focus on maintaining generality and enhancing the prediction accuracy. The influencing transesterification factors on the biodiesel manufacture like the temperature of reaction (℃), amount of sodium hydroxide as catalyst (wt.%), treatment time (min), and methanol to papaya oil molar ratio were chosen as the inputs. NaOH was employed as a catalyst at the phase boundary for the reaction between papaya oil and short chain alcohols. Considering the MAPE criterion, the MLP, GBDT and GPR models have shown the error rates of 8.9670E-02, 2.0324E-01 and 7.2080E-02, respectively. Similarly, the GPR process gets the best R2 criterion score of 0.996, followed by GBDT with 0.989 and MLP with 0.971. The Mean Absolute Error (MAE) also shows the best model is the Gaussian process, which has an error rate of 4.7. In addition, the optimal POME yield production value was estimated through the proposed method to be about 99.96%, in the optimized values of 64 ℃, 0.875 wt%, 7.375 min, and 10.875 for the temperature reaction (℃), amount of catalyst, treatment time, and methanol to papaya oil molar ratio, respectively.

Investigating the atomic and thermal performance of soy biodiesel methyl ester in the presence of hybrid CuO/Al2O3 nanoparticles by molecular dynamics simulation

Considering the increase in using the biodiesels in the fuel industry, and the need to study its effect on the combustion processes, and the formation of greenhouse gases, the thermal performance of methyl ester-biodiesel fuel was studied in the present paper. The present study was carried out by molecular dynamics method. Furthermore, the effect of hybridaluminiumoxide/copper oxide nanoparticles on this biodiesel fluid's thermal performance and combustion processes was studied. Soy methyl ester was utilized as the study's base fluid. The poiseuille flow in the simulation box was shown by the fluid atomic behavior. Heat flux and the thermal conductivity of methyl ester converged to 1107.56 W/m2 and 0.1412 W/m.K, according to the base fluid's thermal efficiency. The findings demonstrate that the base fluid's thermal efficiency is improved by the addition of NPs. The heat flux and thermal conductivity of the nanostructure thus reach 2860 W/m2 and 0.6020 W/m.K. by adding hybrid NPs to the base fluid. Finally, the combustion processes in nanofluid is studied with the penetrated oxygen atoms number in the nanoparticles, and the radial distribution function (RDF). The results show that 25 oxygen atoms penetrated hybrid nanoparticles after 10 ns. Moreover, the maximum value of RDF increased by changing the time step from initial to final. The increase in the RDF showed the probability of finding oxygen atoms inside the hybrid nanoparticles.

CO-SOLVENT TETRAHYDROFURAN IN THE PRODUCTION OF BIODIESEL FROM USED COOKING OIL USING THE TRANSESTERIFICATION METHOD

Used cooking oil is a waste oil derived from cooking oil that has the potential to be produced into biodiesel because it contains fatty acids and triglycerides like other vegetable oils, however, its utilization is still low. This study aimed to analyze the effect of co-solvent THF based on reaction time and oil: methanol molar ratio in the manufacture of biodiesel using used cooking oil as raw material. Transesterification is a method used in biodiesel production by reacting raw materials with alcohol. KOH1% is used as a catalyst in the process of converting used cooking oil into biodiesel. In its operation, reaction time variations of 5, 7, 10, 13, and 15 minutes and molar ratios of 1:3, 1:6, 1:9, 1:12, and 1:15 were used at a temperature of 65oC. The results showed that when entering the reaction time of 10 minutes the density and viscosity tend to be stable and meet the standards of SNI 7182:2015, namely the density is stable at 0.88 gr/ml and the viscosity is in the range of 4.6238 cSt-5.7336 cSt. Meanwhile, based on the molar ratio, it was obtained only at a molar ratio of 1:6 which is in accordance with the characteristics of biodiesel based on SNI 7182:2015 which has a density of 0.88 gr/ml and a viscosity of 4.6238 cSt. The best % yield was at a 1:6 molar ratio with a reaction time of 13 minutes, that is 88.8199% with a heating value of 33.0398 MJ/kg and a cetane number of 66.9. Based on the methyl ester test with GC-MS, the methyl ester (biodiesel) content in the product was 87.24%, dominated by Oleaic (9(Z)-Octadecenoic) acid or 49.33% oleic acid and Palmitic (Hexadecanoic) acid. or palmitic acid by 34.08%.

Properties Study of B20 Palm-Methyl Ester Biodiesel Added with Oxide Nanoparticle Towards Green Marine Fuels

Demand for low carbon emissions in the shipping sector has prompted alternative energy sources to reduce dependence on diesel petroleum for day-to-day operations. Biodiesel fuel has been identified as one of the alternative energy sources that can be used in marine engines. Biodiesel is a plant-based fuel, environmentally friendly, renewable, non-toxic and oxygenated. Despite having many advantages, it nevertheless contributes to a slight reduction in engine power due to its low energy content compared to diesel fuel. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the effect of using different types of nanoparticle additives with different concentrations on the properties of biodiesel fuel. Nine test samples were prepared by blending B20 palm methyl ester biodiesel fuel with aluminium oxide (Al2O3), silicon dioxide (SiO2) and titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticle by different concentrations of 50 ppm, 100 ppm and 150 ppm. Several series of fuel property tests were performed on the samples including density, viscosity, calorific value, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The test results showed that, the caloric value of B20 biodiesel fuel was increased from 44747 J/g to 45122 J/g, 45090 J/g and 45110 J/g with the addition of Al2O3, SiO2 and TiO2 nanoparticle, respectively. The viscosity and density properties have also improved with the highest values found on the SiO2 blend of 3.7792 mm2/s and 820.36 kg/m3. The morphology study revealed that the structure of nanoparticles is in an amorphous state which is expected to contribute a large contact area, good stability and catalytic with a high combustion rate of blend fuel. All of these advantages are expected to contribute as a good catalyst to biodiesel fuel in order to produce optimal combustion of marine diesel engines and further reduce harmful gas emissions

Development of areca husk resin for purification of crude Millettia pinnata fatty acid methyl ester (biodiesel) and its comparative studies

Development of areca husk resin for purification of crude Millettia pinnata fatty acid methyl ester (biodiesel) and its comparative studies

Pengaruh Waktu Reaksi Pembuatan Biodiesel dari Minyak Jelantah dengan Bantuan Katalis Bassa NaOH terhadap Sifat Fisika dan Kimia Produk Biodiesel

The effect of the transesterification reaction time of 0.6% mass % NaOH catalyst in the formation of methyl ester (biodiesel) made from used waste cooking oil as raw material 6 times usage and methanol 1: 5 mass has been studied at 60°C. The reaction times used were 30, 40, and 45 minutes. All samples resulting from the transesterification reaction have been studied for their chemical and physical properties. Parameters of chemical properties included in the Indonesian National Standard (SNI) for all samples were % FFA, pH, while the water content was above the SNI standard. The physical property parameters for all samples that meet SNI are only flash point, color and 90% distillation. While the density of all test samples was lower than the SNI which was set at 850-890 Kg/m3, the results obtained for reaction times of 30, 40 and 45 minutes were 828, 833 and 836 Kg/m3 respectively. The highest yield was owned by a reaction time of 40 minutes, namely 80%. As for the reaction time of 35 and 45 minutes respectively 79 and 65%.

The combustion process of methyl ester-biodiesel in the presence of different nanoparticles: A molecular dynamics approach

Today, the problems, such as the environmental pollution caused by the consumption of fossil fuels, which have disrupted the ecological conditions and created environmental risks, as well as the limited reserves of fossil fuels, have caused countries worldwide to pay more attention to this type of energy. Biofuels are a type of fuel obtained from biomass sources. Biodiesel is one of the fuels produced from natural and renewable sources, which does not harm the environment. On the other hand, the presence of nanoparticles in alternative fuels is particularly important because adding nanoparticles reduces the ignition delay. This study investigated the effect of different nanoparticles, such as copper oxide (CuO) and aluminium oxide (Al2O3), on methyl ester-biodiesel (as base fluid) fuel’s combustion performance. The following investigated the effects of different volume fractions of CuO nanoparticles. This research used the molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, and the LAMMPS software package. The results show that CuO nanoparticles had better thermal performance than Al2O3 nanoparticles. By adding Al2O3 and CuO nanoparticles to the base fluid, the heat flux of the simulated nanofluid converged to a numerical value of 2410.31 W/m2 and 2410.31 W/m2, respectively. Because CuO nanoparticles show better thermal performance than Al2O3 nanoparticles, the effect of the volume fractions of CuO nanoparticles on the thermal performance of the studied nanofluid was investigated. For this purpose, CuO nanoparticles with atomic ratios of 1%, 2%, 3%, 5% and 10% were added to the base fluid. The results reveal that the heat flux in atomic samples reached 4448.89 W/m2 in the presence of 10% CuO nanoparticles. It is expected that by optimizing this process, the combustion performance of fuels will be improved, fuel consumption will be optimized, and the emission of pollutants will be reduced.