Environment-Friendly Biodiesel/Diesel Blends for Improving the Exhaust Emission and Engine Performance to Reduce the Pollutants Emitted from Transportation Fleets

Amit Kumar Sharma, Pankaj Kumar Sharma, Venkateswarlu Chintala, Narayan Khatri and Alok Patel
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Amit Kumar Sharma: Department of Chemistry and Biofuels Research Laboratory, Centre for Alternate Energy Research, R&D, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun 248007, Uttarakhand, India
Pankaj Kumar Sharma: Department of Mechanical Engineering and Biofuels Research Laboratory, Centre for Alternate Energy Research, R&D, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun 248007, Uttarakhand, India
Venkateswarlu Chintala: School of Engineering and applied Sciences, National Rail and Transportation institute, Deemed to be University, Vadodara 390 004, Gujarat, India
Narayan Khatri: Department of Mechanical Engineering and Biofuels Research Laboratory, Centre for Alternate Energy Research, R&D, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun 248007, Uttarakhand, India
Alok Patel: Biochemical Process Engineering, Division of Chemical Engineering, Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Lulea University of Technology, 971 87 Lulea, Sweden

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 11, 1-18

Abstract: Biodiesel derived from biomass is a renewable source of fuel, and global application of biodiesel in the transport sector has rapidly expanded over the last decade. However, effort has been made to overcome its main shortcoming, i.e., efficiency and exhaust emission characteristics (NOx emissions) in unmodified diesel engines. Biodiesel combustion generally results in lower unburned hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), and particulate matter (PM) in exhaust emissions compared to fossil diesel. In this study, various biodiesel blends ( Chlorella vulgaris, Jatropha curcus, and Calophyllum inophyllum ) were investigated for fuel characteristics, and engine performance with exhaust emission compared to diesel. Chlorella vulgaris , Jatropha curcus, and Calophyllum inophyllum biodiesel were synthesized by the acid–base transesterification approach in a microwave reactor and blended with conventional diesel fuel by volume. The fuel blends were denoted as MB10 (90% diesel + 10% microalgae biodiesel), MB20 (80% diesel + 20% microalgae biodiesel), JB10 (90% diesel + 10% jatropha biodiesel), JB20 (80% diesel + 20% jatropha biodiesel), PB10 (90% diesel + 10% polanga biodiesel) and PB20 (80% diesel + 20% polanga biodiesel). Experiments were performed using these fuel blends with a single-cylinder four-stroke diesel engine at different loads. It was shown in the results that, at rated load, thermal efficiency of the engine decreased from 34.6% with diesel to 34.1%, 33.7%, 34.1%, 34.0%, 33.9%, and 33.5% with MB10, MB20, JB10, JB20, PB10, and PB20 fuels, respectively. Unburned hydrocarbon, carbon monoxide and smoke emissions improved with third-generation fuels (MB10, MB20) in comparison to base diesel fuel and second-generation fuels (JB10, JB20, PB10 and PB20). Oxides of nitrogen emissions were slightly increased with both the third- and second-generation fuels as compared to the base diesel. The combustion behavior of microalgae biodiesel was also very close to diesel fuels. In the context of comparable engine performance, emissions, and combustion characteristics, along with biofuel production yield (per year per acre), microalgae biodiesel could have a great potential as a next-generation sustainable fuel in compression engine (CI) engines compared to jatropha and polanga biodiesel fuels.

Keywords: microalgae; chlorella vulgaris; jatropha; calophyllum inophyllum; biodiesel blends; diesel engine; thermal efficiency; and emissions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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