Neat Jatropha Oil Research Articles

Impact of Nanoadditives on the Performance and Combustion Characteristics of Neat Jatropha Biodiesel

Jatropha biodiesel was produced from neat jatropha oil using both esterification and transesterification processes. The free fatty acid value content of neat jatropha oil was reduced to approximately 2% from 12% through esterification. Aluminium oxide (Al2O3) and cerium oxide (CeO2) nanoparticles were added separately to jatropha biodiesel in doses of 100 ppm and 50 ppm. The heating value, acid number, density, flash point temperature and kinematic viscosity of the nanoadditive fuel samples were measured and compared with the corresponding properties of neat fossil diesel and neat jatropha biodiesel. Jatropha biodiesel with 100 ppm Al2O3 nanoparticle (J100A100) was selected for engine testing due to its higher heating value and successful amalgamation of the Al2O3 nanoparticles used. The brake thermal efficiency of J100A100 fuel was about 3% higher than for neat fossil diesel, and was quite similar to that of neat jatropha biodiesel. At full load, the brake specific energy consumption of J100A100 fuel was found to be 4% higher and 6% lower than the corresponding values obtained for neat jatropha biodiesel and neat fossil diesel fuels respectively. The NOx emission was found to be 4% lower with J100A100 fuel when compared to jatropha biodiesel. The unburnt hydrocarbon and smoke emissions were decreased significantly when J100A100 fuel was used instead of neat jatropha biodiesel or neat fossil diesel fuels. Combustion characteristics showed that in almost all loads, J100A100 fuel had a higher total heat release than the reference fuels. At full load, the J100A100 fuel produced similar peak in-cylinder pressures when compared to neat fossil diesel and neat jatropha biodiesel fuels. The study concluded that J100A100 fuel produced better combustion and emission characteristics than neat jatropha biodiesel.

Emission investigation of higher alcohol and biodiesel blends in constant speed diesel engine

ABSTRACT The objective of this study is to investigate the emission patterns of the engine using Jatropha oil methyl ester (JO100) with butanol. The JO100 is mixed with butanol by varying the percentage from 5 to 10 (JO95B5 and JO90B10). The emission parameter such as hydrocarbon(HC), nitrox oxide(NOx) and carbon monoxide(CO) was measured at various load conditions using the gas analyzer. Butanol can be directly blended with neat Jatropha oil biodiesel. Operation of the engine is smooth and no visible damage in engine parts up to doping of 10% butanol with neat Jatropha oil. HC and CO for Neat Jatropha oil biodiesel and by doping of 5–10% of butanol of biodiesel shows drastic reduction than diesel at all loads. NOX for Neat Jatropha oil biodiesel and by doping of 5–10% of butanol shows significant reduction than diesel at all loads.

Evaluation of engine performance and effect on material of engine hardware due to prolonged use of neat Jatropha oil and their blends in indirect injection diesel engines

In present era of extensive requirement of energy for domestic, agricultural and industrial applications it is pertinent to search for the alternate fuel. There is lots of research going on in this direction. It has been reported that the Jatropha oil and blends of Jatropha oil with diesel is a potential source of such alternate fuel to produce energy. Whereas the use of such alternate fuel is examined, it is also equally important to study the effect of utilization of such fuel on engine hardware. In this research work the engine has been operated with Jatropha oil and the blend of Jatropha oil & diesel and endurance test has been carried out. It has been found that the injectors were getting choked under prolonged use when the Jatropha oil was used in large quantity. However the use of Jatropha oil to extent of 50% diesel did not exhibit such problem in injector. Also, the dimensional measurements were carried out before and after the test. It was observed that the wear on inner surface of cylinder was uneven and the traces of pitting of material took place. The pitting of material was observed on piston head and inner surface of cylinder head also. The metallic particles were observed during Tribological study through engine oil analysis.In this investigation five numbers of self governed indirect injection (IDI) diesel engines were used. The test fuel used were Diesel, 10%, 20%, 50% and 100% Jatropha oil . The long term engine endurance test as per IS: 10000 (part IX) – 1980 on five numbers of IDI diesel engines was carried out. The results of Tribological analysis (wear and tear) with 100% Jatropha oil showed comparatively less wear and tear over the entire range of endurance test. The brake thermal efficiency was observed maximum with diesel fuel and hence the specific fuel consumption was observed minimum. The overall emission characteristics were found to be best for the case of engine fuelled with diesel over the entire range of long term endurance test.

Hydrotreating of Gas Oil, Jatropha Oil, and Their Blends Using a Carbon Supported Cobalt-Molybdenum Catalyst

Hydrotreating of Jatropha oil and Jatropha oil blended gas oil feeds were studied under diesel hydrotreating conditions using Cobalt-Molybdenum catalyst on activated carbon. The experiments were carried out in pilot plant for more than 90 days first with gas oil, followed by 5%, 10%, and 20% Jatropha oil in gas oil and finally with Jatropha oil alone. Deactivation of the catalyst was not observed up to hydrotreating of 20 wt% Jatropha oil in gas oil, but, the reactor pressure shoots up after seven days of running neat Jatropha oil. The liquid products were characterized by GC-MS analysis, distillation, density, sulfur, nitrogen, and Cetane Index.

Effect of Injection Pattern on Neat Jatropha Oil Combustion in Direct Injection Diesel Engine

Effect of Injection Pattern on Neat Jatropha Oil Combustion in Direct Injection Diesel Engine

Performance, emission and combustion characteristics of an indirect injection (IDI) multi-cylinder compression ignition (CI) engine operating on neat jatropha and karanj oils preheated by jacket water

Renewable non-edible plant oils such as jatropha and karanj have potential to substitute fossil diesel fuels in CI engines. A multi-cylinder water cooled IDI type CI engine has been tested with jatropha and karanj oils and comparisons made against fossil diesel. The physical and chemical properties of the three fuels were measured to investigate the suitability of jatropha and karanj oils as fuels for CI engines. The engine cooling water circuit and fuel supply systems were modified such that hot jacket water preheated the neat plant oil prior to injection. Between jatropha and karanj there was little difference in the performance, emission and combustion results. Compared to fossil diesel, the brake specific fuel consumption on volume basis was around 3% higher for the plant oils and the brake thermal efficiency was almost similar. Jatropha and karanj operation resulted in higher CO2 and NOx emissions by 7% and 8% respectively, as compared to diesel. The cylinder gas pressure diagram showed stable engine operation with both plant oils. At full load, the plant oils gave around 3% higher peak cylinder pressure than fossil diesel. With the plant oils, cumulative heat release was smaller at low load and almost similar at full load, compared to diesel. At full load, the plant oils exhibited 5% shorter combustion duration. The study concludes that the IDI type CI engine can be efficiently operated with neat jatropha (or karanj) oil preheated by jacket water, after small modifications of the engine cooling and fuel supply circuits.

Performance and emission studies on an agriculture engine on neat Jatropha oil

Diesel engines have proven their utility in the transportation, agriculture, and power sectors in India. They are also potential sources of decentralized energy generation for rural electrification. Concerns on the long-term availability of petroleum diesel and the stringent environmental norms have mandated the search for a renewable alternative to diesel fuel to address these problems. Vegetable oils have been considered good alternatives to diesel in the past couple of years. However, there are many issues related to the use of vegetable oils in diesel engine. Jatropha curcas has been promoted in India as a sustainable substitute to diesel fuel. This study aims to develop a dual fuel engine test rig for evaluating the potential suitability of Jatropha oil as diesel fuel and for determining the performance and emission characteristics of an engine with Jatropha oil. The experimental results suggest that engine performance using Jatropha oil is slightly inferior to that of diesel fuel. The thermal efficiency of the engine was lower, while the brake-specific fuel consumption was higher with Jatropha oil compared with diesel fuel. The levels of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from Jatropha oil during the entire duration of the experiment were lower than those of diesel fuel. The reduction of NOx was found to be an important characteristic of Jatropha oil as NOx emission is the most harmful gaseous emission from engines; as such, its reduction is always the goal of engine researchers and makers. During the entire experiment, carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbon (HC), and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the case of using Jatropha oil were higher than when diesel fuel was used. The higher density and viscosity of Jatropha oil causes lower thermal efficiency and higher brakespecific fuel consumption. The performance and emission characteristics found in this study are significant for the study of replacing diesel fuel from fossils with Jatropha oil in rural India, where the availability of diesel has always been a problem.

A Comparison of the Different Methods of Using Jatropha Oil as Fuel in a Compression Ignition Engine

Different methods to improve the performance of a jatropha oil based compression ignition engine were tried and compared. A single cylinder water-cooled, direct injection diesel engine was used. Base data were generated with diesel and neat jatropha oil. Subsequently, jatropha oil was converted into its methyl ester by transesterification. Jatropha oil was also blended with methanol and orange oil in different proportions and tested. Further, the engine was modified to work in the dual fuel mode with methanol, orange oil, and hydrogen being used as the inducted fuels and the jatropha oil being used as the pilot fuel. Finally, experiments were conducted using additives containing oxygen, like dimethyl carbonate and diethyl ether. Neat jatropha oil resulted in slightly reduced thermal efficiency and higher emissions. Brake thermal efficiency was 27.3% with neat jatropha oil and 30.3% with diesel. Performance and emissions were considerably improved with the methyl ester of jatropha oil. Dual fuel operation with methanol, orange oil, and hydrogen induction and jatropha oil injection also showed higher brake thermal efficiency. Smoke was significantly reduced from 4.4 BSU with neat jatropha oil to 2.6 BSU with methanol induction. Methanol and orange oil induction reduced the NO emission and increased HC and CO emissions. With hydrogen induction, hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions were significantly reduced. The heat release curve showed higher premixed rate of combustion with all the inducted fuels mainly at high power outputs. Addition of oxygenates like diethyl ether and dimethyl carbonate in different proportions to jatropha oil also improved the performance of the engine. It is concluded that dual fuel operation with jatropha oil as the main injected fuel and methanol, orange oil, and hydrogen as inducted fuels can be a good method to use jatropha oil efficiently in an engine that normally operates at high power outputs. Methyl ester of jatropha oil can lead to good performance at part loads with acceptable levels of performance at high loads also. Orange oil and methanol can be also blended with jatropha oil to improve viscosity of jatropha oil. These produce acceptable levels of performance at all outputs. Blending small quantity of diethyl ether and dimethyl carbonate with jatropha oil will enhance the performance. Diethyl ether seems to be the better of the two.

Parametric studies for improving the performance of a Jatropha oil-fuelled compression ignition engine

A single cylinder, constant speed, direct injection diesel engine was operated on neat Jatropha oil. Injection timing, injector opening pressure, injection rate and air swirl level were changed to study their influence on performance, emissions and combustion. Results have been compared with neat diesel operation. The injection timing was varied by changing the position of the fuel injection pump with respect to the cam and injection rate was varied by changing the diameter of the plunger of the fuel injection pump. A properly oriented masked inlet valve was employed to enhance the air swirl level. Advancing the injection timing from the base diesel value and increasing the injector opening pressure increase the brake thermal efficiency and reduce HC and smoke emissions significantly. Enhancing the swirl has only a small effect on emissions. The ignition delay with Jatropha oil is always higher than that of diesel under similar conditions. Improved premixed heat release rates were observed with Jatropha oil when the injector opening pressure is enhanced. When the injection timing is retarded with enhanced injection rate, a significant improvement in performance and emissions was noticed. In this case emissions with Jatropha oil are even lower than diesel. At full output, the HC emission level is 532 ppm with Jatropha oil as against 798 ppm with diesel. NO level and smoke with Jatropha oil are, respectively 1162.5 ppm and 2 BSU while they are 1760 ppm and 2.7 BSU with diesel.

An experimental comparison of methods to use methanol and Jatropha oil in a compression ignition engine

In this work various methods of using vegetable oil (Jatropha oil) and methanol such as blending, transesterification and dual fuel operation were studied experimentally. A single cylinder direct injection diesel engine was used for this work. Tests were done at constant speed of 1500 rev min −1 at varying power outputs. In dual fuel operation the methanol to Jatropha oil ratio was maintained at 3:7 on the volume basis. This is close to the fraction of methanol used to prepare the ester with Jatropha oil. Brake thermal efficiency was better in the dual fuel operation and with the methyl ester of Jatropha oil as compared to the blend. It increased form 27.4% with neat Jatropha oil to a maximum of 29% with the methyl ester and 28.7% in the dual fuel operation. Smoke was reduced with all methods compared to neat vegetable oil operation. The values of smoke emission are 4.4 Bosch Smoke Units (BSU) with neat Jatropha oil, 4.1 BSU with the blend, 4 BSU with methyl ester of Jatropha oil and 3.5 BSU in the dual fuel operation. The Nitric Oxide (NO) level was lower with Jatropha oil compared to diesel. It was further reduced in dual fuel operation and the blend with methanol. Dual fuel operation showed higher hydrocarbon (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions than the ester and the blend. Ignition delay was higher with neat Jatropha oil. It increased further with the blend and in dual fuel operation. It was reduced with the ester. Peak pressure and rate of pressure rise were higher with all the methods compared to neat Jatropha oil operation. Jatropha oil and methyl ester showed higher diffusion combustion compared to standard diesel operation. However, dual fuel operation resulted in higher premixed combustion. On the whole it is concluded that transesterification of vegetable oils and methanol induction can significantly enhance the performance of a vegetable oil fuelled diesel engine.