Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Synthesis and characterization of gaseous fuel from Jatropha oil through catalytic reactor and its performance in DI diesel engine

  • Published:
Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Increase in fossil fuel depletion and increase in fuel price forced the researchers to find an alternate source to petro fuel. The scope of this research article is to give an insight into the synthesis and utilization of catalytically cracked bio-oil in a DI diesel engine. The catalyst selection and its characterization are playing a vital role in cracking of bio-oil. The aluminum oxide catalyst is used in this study, because of its availability and cost. The properties of the catalyst were analyzed before and after cracking using SEM, EDAX and XRD. The catalyst pellets are placed in a fixed bed catalytic reactor where the jatropha oil is introduced to get the cracked gaseous fuel. The cracked fuel was tested with FTIR, TGA and DSC for finding its properties. From the results, properties of the cracked fuel are nearly matched with diesel fuel. The catalytically cracked jatropha biofuel (CCJB) is fumigated into the inlet manifold in the proportion of 10, 20 and 30% in specific fuel consumption of the diesel engine. The maximum brake thermal efficiency was observed for 30% of fumigated CCJB compared with diesel fuel. The exhaust emissions such as CO and smoke were considerably reduced when compared with diesel fuel. A significant increase in NOx emission than diesel can be seen for all operating conditions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15
Fig. 16
Fig. 17

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Ma F, Hanna MF. Biodiesel production: a review. Bio Resour Technol. 1999;70:01–15.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Sherma YC, Singh B, Upadhyay SN. Advancements in development and characterization of biodiesel: a review. J Fuel. 2008;87:2355–73.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Aalam CS, Saravanan CG. Biodiesel production from Mahua oil via catalytic transesterification method. Int J Chem Tech Res. 2015;8(4):1706–9.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Albuquerque M, Machado Y, Torres A, Azevedo D, Cavalcante C, Firmiano L. Properties of biodiesel oils formulated using different biomass sourcesand their blends. J Renew Energy. 2009;34:857–69.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Mofijur M, Atabani A, Masjuki H, Kalam M, Masum B. A study on the effects of promising edible and non-edible biodiesel feedstocks on engine performance and emissions production: a comparative evaluation. J Renew Sustain Energy Rev. 2013;23:391–04.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Kumar A, Sharma S. Potential non-edible oil resources as biodiesel feedstock: an Indian perspective. J Renew Sustain Energy Rev. 2011;15:1791–800.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Atabani A, Silitonga A, Ong H, Mahlia T, Masjuki H, Badruddin IA. Non-edible vegetable oils: a critical evaluation of oil extraction, fatty acid compositions, biodiesel production, characteristics, engine performance and emissions production. J Renew Sustain Energy Rev. 2013;18:211–45.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Aalam CS, Saravanan CG, Anand BP. Impact of high fuel injection pressure on the characteristics of CRDI diesel engine powered by mahua methyl ester blend. J Appl Therm Eng. 2016;106:702–11.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Mohamed Saied Shehata. Emissions, performance and cylinder pressure of diesel engine fuelled by biodiesel fuel. J Fuel. 2013;112:513–22.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Tuccar Gokhan, Tosun Erdi, Ozgur Tayfun, Aydın Kadir. Diesel engine emissions and performance from blends of citrus sinensis biodiesel and diesel fuel. J Fuel. 2014;132:7–11.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Aalam CS, Saravanan C. Biodiesel production techniques: a review. Int J Res Appl Sci Eng Technol. 2015;03(06):41–5.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Yadav SPR, Saravanan CG, Vallinayagam R, Vedharaj S, Roberts WL. Fuel and engine characterization study of catalytically cracked waste transformer oil. J Energy Convers Manag. 2015;96:490–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Ahmed S, Hassan MH, Kalam MA, Rahman SA, Abedin MJ, Shahir A. An experimental investigation of biodiesel production, characterization, engine performance, emission and noise of Brassica juncea methyl ester and its blends. J Clean Prod. 2014;79:74–81.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Salvi BL, Subramanian KA, Panwar NL. Alternative fuels for transportation vehicles: a technical review. J Renew Sustain Energy Rev. 2013;25:404–19.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Ong HC, Masjuki HH, Mahlia TMI, Silitonga AS, Chong WT, Yusaf T. Engine performance and emissions using Jatropha curcas, Ceibapentandra and Calophyllum inophyllum biodiesel in a CI diesel engine. J Energy. 2014;69:427–45.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Aalam CS, Saravanan CG. Performance enhancement of common-rail diesel engine using Al2O3 and Fe3O4 nanoparticles blended biodiesel. Int Res J Eng Res. 2015;02(05):1400–10.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Nayak SK, Pattanaik BP. Experimental investigation on performance and emission characteristics of a diesel engine fuelled with mahua biodiesel using additive. J Energy Procedia. 2014;54:569–79.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Simacek P, Kubicka D, Sebor G, PospíSil M. Hydroprocessed rapeseed oil as a source of hydrocarbon-based biodiesel. J Fuel. 2009;81:456–60.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Mustafi NN, Raine RR, Verhelst S. Combistion and emission characteristics of a dual fuel engine operated on alternative gaseous fuel. J Fuel. 2013;109:669–78.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Kim JK, Yim ES, Jeon CH, Jung CS, Han BH. Cold performance of various biodiesel fuel blends at low temperature. Int J Automot Technol. 2012;13(2):293–300.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Brys A, Bry J, Ostrowska-Ligeza E, Kaleta A, Górnicki K, Głowacki S, Koczon P. Wood biomass characterization by DSC or FT-IR spectroscopy. J Therm Anal Calorim. 2016;126:27–35.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Kose H, Ciniviz M. An experimental investigation of effect on diesel engine performance and exhaust emissions of addition at dual fuel mode of hydrogen. J Fuel Process Technol. 2013;114:26–34.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Lata DB, Misra A, Medhekar S. Effect of hydrogen and LPG addition on the efficiency and emission of a dual fuel engine. Int J Hydrogen Energy. 2012;37:6084–96.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Pramanik K. Properties and use of Jatropha curcas oil and diesel fuel blends in compression ignition engine. J Renew Energy. 2002;28:239–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Aalam CS, Saravanan CG, Kannan M. Experimental investigations on a CRDI system assisted diesel engine fuelled with aluminium oxide nanoparticles blended biodiesel. J Alex Eng. 2015;54(3):351–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Ozener Orkun, Yuksek Levent, Ozkan Muammer. Effects of soybean biodiesel on a DI diesel engine performance, emission and combustion characteristics. J Fuel. 2014;115:875–83.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Raheman H, Ghadge SV. Performance of compression ignition engine with mahua (Madhuca indica) biodiesel. J Fuel. 2007;86:2568–73.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Ramya G, Sudhakar R, Joice JIA, Ramakrishnan R, Sivakumar T. Liquid hydrocarbon fuels from jatropha oil through catalytic cracking technology using AlMCM-41/ZSM-5 composite catalysts. J Appl Catal A Gen. 2012;433–4:170–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Mylswamy T, Ramasamy R, Ganapathy SC, Natarajan R, Ragupathy K. Impact of catalytically cracked Jatropha oil using Ceo2 and Sio2 as catalysts in DI diesel engine performance and emission characteristics. J Therm Sci. 2017;21(Suppl 2):S1–11.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Vedharaj S, Vallinayagam R, Yang WM, Saravanan CG, Roberts WL. Synthesis and utilization of catalytically cracked cashew nut shell liquid in a diesel engine. J Exp Therm Fluid Sci. 2016;70:316–24.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Biswas S, Majhi S, Mohanty P, Pant KK, Sharma DK. Effect of different catalyst on the co-cracking of Jatropha oil, vacuum residue and high density polyethylene. J Fuel. 2014;133:96–105.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Biswas S, Sharma DK. Studies on cracking of Jatropha oil. J Anal Appl Pyrolysis. 2013;99:122–9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Pr Yadav S, Saravanan CG. Engine characterization study of hydrocarbon fuel derived through recycling of waste transformer oil. J The Energy Inst. 2014;88:1–12.

    Google Scholar 

  34. Feng W, Lu Y, Chen Y, Lu Y, Yang T. Thermal stability of imidazolium-based ionic liquids investigated by TG and FTIR techniques. J Therm Anal Calorim. 2016;125(1):143–54.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Mylswamy T, Ramasamy R, Ganapathy SC, Natarajan R. Production of gaseous fuel from Jatropha oil by cerium oxide based catalytic fuel reactor and its utilisation on diesel engine. J Therm Sci. 2016;20(Suppl. 5):1–9.

    Google Scholar 

  36. de Mayo González-Miranda F, Garzón E, Reca J, Pérez-Villarejo L, Martínez-Martínez S, Sánchez-Soto PJ. Thermal behaviour of sericite clays as precursors of mullite materials. J Therm Anal Calorim. 2018;132(2):967–77.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Muthukumaran N, Saravvanan CG, Yadav SPR, Vallinayagam R, Vedharaj S, Roberts WL. Synthesis of cracked Calophyllum oil using fly ash catalyst for diesel engine application. J Fuel. 2015;155:68–76.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Kwok QSM, Jones DEG, Nunez GF, Charland JP, Dionne S. Characterization of bio-fuel and bio-fuel ash. J Therm Anal Calorim. 2004;78(1):173–84.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Ramalingam K, Annamalai K, Lingesan S, Dhinesh B, Paul James Thadhani J. An assessment of combustion, performance characteristics and emission control strategy by adding anti-oxidant additive in emulsified fuel. J Atmos Pollut Res. 2018;9(5):959–67.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  40. Subramani L, Parthasarathy M, Dhinesh B, KrishnaMoorthy R. Novel Garcinia gummi-gutta methyl ester (GGME) as a potential alternative feedstock for existing unmodified DI diesel engine. J Renew Energy. 2018;125:568–77.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  41. Dhinesh B, Raj YMA, Kalaiselvan C, Krishna Moorthy R. A numerical and experimental assessment of a coated diesel engine powered by high-performance nano biofuel. J Energy Convers Manag. 2018;171:815–24.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  42. Vigneswaran R, Annamalai K, Dhinesh B, Krishnamoorthy R. Experimental investigation of unmodified diesel engine performance, combustion and emission with multipurpose additive along with water-in-diesel emulsion fuel. J Energy Convers Manag. 2018;172:370–80.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. Lingesan S, Annamalai K, Parthasarathy M, Krishnamoorthy R, Dhinesh B, Isaac Joshua Ramesh Lalvani J. Production of Garcinia gummi-gutta Methyl Ester (GGME) as a potential alternative feedstock for existing unmodified DI diesel engine: combustion, performance, and emission characteristics. J Test Eval. 2018. https://doi.org/10.1520/JTE20170246.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Balasubramanian D, Arumugam SRS, Subramani L, Chellakumar IJLJS, Mani A. A numerical study on the effect of various combustion bowl parameters on the performance, combustion, and emission behavior on a single cylinder diesel engine. J. Environ Sci Pollut Res. 2018;25(3):2273–84.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support provided by the management of Dr. Mahalingam College of Engineering and Technology, Pollachi, India.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Automobile Engineering, Dr. Mahalingam College of Engineering and Technology, Udumalai road, Pollachi, Coimbatore (DT), Tamil Nadu, 642003, India

    M. Thirunavukkarasu & Karu Ragupathy

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dr. Mahalingam College of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore, India

    R. Ravindran

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Annamalai University, Chidambaram, India

    C. G. Saravanan & C. Syed Aalam

  4. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Government Polytechnic College, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India

    N. Rajamanickam

Authors
  1. M. Thirunavukkarasu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. R. Ravindran
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. C. G. Saravanan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. N. Rajamanickam
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. C. Syed Aalam
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Karu Ragupathy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. Thirunavukkarasu.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Thirunavukkarasu, M., Ravindran, R., Saravanan, C.G. et al. Synthesis and characterization of gaseous fuel from Jatropha oil through catalytic reactor and its performance in DI diesel engine. J Therm Anal Calorim 136, 305–315 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-018-7725-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-018-7725-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation