Economic Viability and Engine Performance Evaluation of Biodiesel Derived from Desert Palm Date Seeds

Mohammed Kamil () and Fatima M. Almarashda
Additional contact information
Mohammed Kamil: Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering Department, University of Sharjah, Sharjah P.O. Box 27272, United Arab Emirates
Fatima M. Almarashda: Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA), Abu Dhabi Distribution Company (ADDC), Abu Dhabi P.O. Box 219, United Arab Emirates

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 3, 1-22

Abstract: Desert palm date seeds are a potential feedstock for biodiesel and biomass pellet production, particularly in the Middle East and Africa. A model was developed in this study based on optimal conditions for the production of biodiesel, and it was used to evaluate the financial viability of a small-scale biodiesel plant (1000 t/y) using economic performance metrics including net present value, rate of investment, and payback period. Biodiesel was then produced from date seed oil (DSO) and blended with petrol diesel to make four blends (B5, B10, B15, and B20). The technical performance of these blends was investigated using a test engine rig under differing operating conditions, including variations in load and rpm. The investment performance of the proposed biodiesel plant was very sensitive to the price of biomass pellets; the project was feasible only when this was 70% that of wood pellets or higher. The baseline diesel outperformed the biodiesel blends in terms of engine power, thermal efficiency, and fuel economy, with average decreases of 4.5%, 7.65%, and 9.84%, respectively, at full load for B20. However, the biodiesel blends outperformed the baseline diesel in exhaust gas temperature (EGT), with average drops of 29 and 46.7 °C at full load for B5 and B20, respectively. Our study clearly demonstrates that due to it being obtained from existing waste materials, having a cleaner but comparable performance, and its economic viability, date seed oil has excellent potential as a feedstock for biodiesel production.

Keywords: date seeds; biodiesel; engine performance; return of investment; diesel engine (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/3/1513/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/3/1513/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:3:p:1513-:d:1056622

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().