Using HHO (Hydroxy) and hydrogen enriched castor oil biodiesel in compression ignition engine

Hydrogen and HHO enriched biodiesel fuels have not been investigated extensively for compression ignition engine. This study investigated the performance and emissions characteristics of a diesel engine fueled with hydrogen or HHO enriched Castor oil methyl ester (CME)-diesel blends. The production and blending of CME was carried out with a 20% volumetric ratio (CME20) using diesel fuel. In addition, the enrichment of intake air was carried out using pure HHO or hydrogen through the intake manifold with no structural changes – with the exception of the reduction of the amount of diesel fuel – for a naturally aspirated, four cylinder diesel engine with a volume of 3.6 L. Hydrogen amount was kept constant with a ratio of 10 L/min throughout the experiments. Engine performance parameters, including Brake Power, Brake Torque, Brake Specific Fuel Consumption and exhaust emissions – including NOx and CO, – were tested at engine speeds between 1200 and 2600 rpm. It is seen that HHO enriched CME has better results compared to pure hydrogen enrichment to CME. An average improvement of 4.3% with HHO enriched CME20 was found compared to diesel fuel results while pure hydrogen enriched CME20 fuel resulted with an average increase of 2.6%. Also, it was found that the addition of pure hydrogen to CME had a positive effect on exhaust gas emissions compared to that adding HHO. The effects of both enriched fuels on the engine performance were minimal compared to that of diesel fuel. However, the improvements on exhaust gas emissions were significant.     

Accurate modeling of biodiesel production from castor oil using ANFIS

Research for finding alternative fuel sources has been concluded that the renewable fuels such as biodiesel can be used as an alternative to fossil fuels because of the energy security reasons and environmental benefits. In this contribution, transesterification of castor oil with methanol to form biodiesel has been modeled by using artificial neural network fuzzy interference system (ANFIS) approach. Methanol to oil molar ratio, catalyst amount (C), temperature (T), and time (S) were used as input parameters and fatty acid methyl ester yield was used as output parameter for modeling the efficiency of biodiesel production from castor oil. Obtaining low value of absolute deviation (2.2391), high value of R-squared (0.98704), and other modeling results proves that ANFIS modeling is an effective approach for biodiesel production from castor oil. In conclusion, comparison between our model and other previous predictive models reported in open literature indicates the priority of our model.     

Biodiesel production from waste cooking oil using heterogeneous catalysts and its operational characteristics on variable compression ratio CI engine

In the present work, the optimum biodiesel conversion from waste cooking oil to biodiesel through transesterification method was investigated. The base catalyzed transesterification under different reactant proportions such as the molar ratio of alcohol to oil and mass ratio of catalyst to oil was studied for optimum production of biodiesel. The optimum condition for base catalyzed transesterification of waste cooking oil was determined to be 12:1 and 5 wt% of zinc doped calcium oxide. The fuel properties of the produced biodiesel such as the calorific value, flash point and density were examined and compared to conventional diesel. The properties of produced biodiesel and their blend for different ratios (B20, B40, B60, B80 and B100) were comparable with properties of diesel oil and ASTM biodiesel standards. Tests have been conducted on CI engine which runs at a constant speed of 1500 rpm, injection pressure of 200 bar, compression ratio 15:1 and 17.5, and varying engine load. The performance parameters include brake thermal efficiency, brake specific energy consumption and emissions parameters such as Carbon monoxide (CO), Hydrocarbon (HC), Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) and smoke opacity varying with engine load (BP). Diesel engine's thermal performance and emission parameters such as CO, HC, and NOx on different biodiesel blends demonstrate that biodiesel produced from waste cooking oil using heterogeneous catalyst was suitable to be used as diesel oil blends and had lesser emissions as compared to conventional diesel.     

Preparation, characterization and application of heterogeneous solid base catalyst for biodiesel production from soybean oil

A solid base catalyst was prepared by neodymium oxide loaded with potassium hydroxide and investigated for transesterification of soybean oil with methanol to biodiesel. After loading KOH of 30 wt.% on neodymium oxide followed by calcination at 600 °C, the catalyst gave the highest basicity and the best catalytic activity for this reaction. The obtained catalyst was characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), N₂ adsorption-desorption measurements and the Hammett indicator method. The catalyst has longer lifetime and maintained sustained activity after being used for five times, and were noncorrosive and environmentally benign. The separate effects of the molar ratio of methanol to oil, reaction temperature, mass ratio of catalyst to oil and reaction time were investigated. The experimental results showed that a 14:1 M ratio of methanol to oil, addition of 6.0% catalyst, 60 °C reaction temperature and 1.5 h reaction time gave the best results and the biodiesel yield of 92.41% was achieved. The properties of obtained biodiesel are close to commercial diesel fuel and is rated as a realistic fuel as an alternative to diesel.     

NaOH impregnated sepiolite based heterogeneous catalyst and its utilization for the production of biodiesel from canola oil

NaOH/sepiolite nanocomposite heterogenous base catalyst (NaOH/sep.) was prepared via impregnation process and tested in a three-neck flask equipped with thermometer and reflux condenser for the production of biodiesel from transesterification of canola oil in an excess amount of methanol. The ratio of NaOH and sepiolite was selected as 1:4. The influence of various operational parameters was examined such as methanol to oil molar ratio, catalyst dosage, and reaction temperature. Untreated sepiolite and NaOH loaded sepiolite were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Scanning electron microscopy and Energy dispersive spectroscopy analysis. Overall NaOH/sep. based biodiesel production yield was examined by the help of Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. The yield was calculated from the peak areas as 80.93% which is better than that of expensive catalysis system using studies.     

Calcium-based mixed oxide catalysts for methanolysis of Jatropha curcas oil to biodiesel

Calcium-based mixed oxides catalysts (CaMgO and CaZnO) have been investigated for the transesterification of Jatropha curcas oil (JCO) with methanol, in order to evaluate their potential as heterogeneous catalysts for biodiesel production. Both CaMgO and CaZnO catalysts were prepared by coprecipitation method of the corresponding mixed metal nitrate solution in the presence of a soluble carbonate salt at ∼ pH 8-9. The catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), temperature programmed desorption of CO₂ (CO₂-TPD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and N₂ adsorption (BET). The conversion of JCO by CaMgO and CaZnO were studied and compared with calcium oxide (CaO), magnesium oxide (MgO) and zinc oxide (ZnO) catalysts. Both CaMgO and CaZnO catalysts showed high activity as CaO and were easily separated from the product. CaMgO was found more active than CaZnO in the transesterification of JCO with methanol. Under the suitable transesterification conditions at 338 K (catalyst amount = 4 wt. %, methanol/oil molar ratio = 15, reaction time = 6 h), the JCO conversion of more than 80% can be achieved over CaMgO and CaZnO catalysts. Even though CaO gave the highest activity, the conversion of JCO decreased significantly after reused for forth run whereas the conversion was only slightly lowered for CaMgO and CaZnO after sixth run.     

Production of biodiesel from high free fatty acid Karanja (Pongamia pinnata) oil

Non-edible oil contains several unsaponifiable and toxic components, which make them unsuitable for human consumption. Karanja (Pongamia pinnata) is an underutilized plant which is grown in many parts of India. Sometimes the oil is contaminated with high free fatty acids (FFAs) depending upon the moisture content in the seed during collection as well as oil expression. The present study deals with production of biodiesel from high FFA Karanja oil because the conventional alkali-catalyzed route is not the feasible route. This paper discusses the mechanism of a dual process adopted for the production of biodiesel from Karanja oil containing FFA up to 20%. The first step is acid-catalyzed esterification by using 0.5% H₂SO₄, alcohol 6:1 molar ratio with respect to the high FFA Karanja oil to produce methyl ester by lowering the acid value, and the next step is alkali-catalyzed transesterification. The yield of biodiesel from high FFA Karanja oil by dual step process has been observed to be 96.6–97%.     

Production and evaluation of biodiesel from mixed castor oil and waste chicken oil

Biodiesel was developed from an unconventional feedstock, i.e. an equivalent blend of castor bean and waste chicken oil through the alkaline-catalyzed transesterification with methanol. The process variables including the alkaline catalyst concentration, methanol to oil molar ratio, reaction temperature, reaction time, and the alkaline catalyst type were investigated. The highest yield of biodiesel (97.20 % ~ 96.98 % w/w ester content) was obtained under optimum conditions of 0.75 % w/w of oil, 8:1 methanol to oil molar ratio, 60°C temperature, and a duration of 30 min. Properties of the produced biodiesel satisfied those specified by the ASTM standards. The results thus indicated that the suggested blend oils are suitable feedstock for the production of biodiesel. The process was found to follow pseudo first-order kinetics, and the activation energy was found to be 8.85 KJ/mole.     

Fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) from castor oil: Production process assessment and synergistic effects in its properties

Fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) from castor oil have been synthesized by methanolysis catalyzed by sodium methoxide and the optimal transesterification conditions have been found. However, some properties of the castor FAME render it unsuitable in pure state for its direct use as fuel in internal combustion engines. Thus, blends with reference diesel have been prepared and their properties have been evaluated. Among these properties, the oxidative stability of the blends shows a negative anti-synergistic effect, that is, all the blends have an induction period lower than the pure reference diesel and the pure castor FAME. On the contrary, the lubricity shows a positive synergistic effect, the wear scar of the blends being always lower than those of the pure components. The cold-filter plugging point of the blends shows also a singular effect, since the filterability remains identical to that of the reference diesel until around 50 vol% of castor FAME has been blended with it. The blends of castor FAME and reference diesel until approximately 40 vol% of castor FAME meet most of the specifications of the EN 590 standard.     

Production of biodiesel from Citrus limetta seed oil

The production of biodiesel from edible oils may cause negative impact to any country through food crisis which may lead to economic imbalance. Hence, this study focuses on viability of extracting the oil from the Citrus limetta seeds for biodiesel production for the first time. Composition of C. limetta oil was determined by gas chromatography. C. limetta biodiesel was produced by simple transesterification process, and further physiochemical properties were analyzed as per the standards. This study also describes the suitable characterization and optimization parameters used for conversion of C. limetta seed oil into biodiesel.     

Toward estimation of biodiesel production from castor oil using ANN

Nowadays, a green replacement for the conventional petrodiesel introduced as biodiesel in which its economical production way is using feedstock. Also, environmentally friendly fuels attracted more attention due to the serious global warming problem. In the present study, two different artificial intelligencebased modeling was utilized to predict the production of biodiesel from castor oil. Also, a comparison between the two methods was carried out, and the more applicable method for the prediction of biodiesel production was introduced. To this end, biodiesel production yield from castor oil assumed to be the target of the model and various parameters such as temperature (T), time (S), methanol to oil molar ratio, and catalyst weight (C) expected as input parameters. ANN modeling shows high accuracy and robustness for the prediction of biodiesel production, and statistical parameters such as coefficient of determination and root-mean-square error are 0.9984 and 1.13, respectively.     

蓖麻油制备生物柴油的研究

研究了以蓖麻油为原料,采用化学酯交换方法制备生物柴油的工艺过程.测定了最佳反应条件：催化剂用量为油重的1.0%,甲醇用量为油重的20%,反应温度为65℃,反应时间为90 min,酯交换率可达到86%.     

Heterogeneous catalysis for biodiesel production from Jatropha curcas oil (JCO)

This work focuses on the development of heterogeneous catalysts for biodiesel production from high free fatty acid (FFA) containing Jatropha curcas oil (JCO). Solid base and acid catalysts were prepared and tested for transesterification in a batch reactor under mild reaction conditions. Mixtures of solid base and acid catalysts were also tested for single-step simultaneous esterification and transesterification. More soap formation was found to be the main problem for calcium oxide (CaO) and lithium doped calcium oxide (Li-CaO) catalysts during the reaction of jatropha oil and methanol than for the rapeseed oil (RSO). CaO with Li doping showed increased conversion to biodiesel than bare CaO as a catalyst. La₂O₃/ZnO, La₂O₃/Al₂O₃ and La_0.1Ca_0.9MnO₃ catalysts were also tested and among them La₂O₃-ZnO showed higher activity. Mixture of solid base catalysts (CaO and Li-CaO) and solid acid catalyst (Fe₂(SO₄)₃) were found to give complete conversion to biodiesel in a single-step simultaneous esterification and transesterification process.     

Optimization of biodiesel production from camelina oil using orthogonal experiment

Camelina oil is a low-cost feedstock for biodiesel production that has received a great deal of attention in recent years. This paper describes an optimization study on the production of biodiesel from camelina seed oil using alkaline transesterification. The optimization was based on sixteen well-planned orthogonal experiments (OA₁₆ matrix). Four main process conditions in the transesterification reaction for obtaining the maximum biodiesel production yield (i.e. methanol quantity, reaction time, reaction temperature and catalyst concentration) were investigated. It was found that the order of significant factors for biodiesel production is catalyst concentration > reaction time > reaction temperature > methanol to oil ratio. Based on the results of the range analysis and analysis of variance (ANOVA), the maximum biodiesel yield was found at a molar ratio of methanol to oil of 8:1, a reaction time of 70 min, a reaction temperature of 50 °C, and a catalyst concentration of 1 wt.%. The product and FAME yields of biodiesel under optimal conditions reached 95.8% and 98.4%, respectively. The properties of the optimized biodiesel, including density, kinematic viscosity, acid value, etc., were determined and compared with those produced from other oil feedstocks. The optimized biodiesel from camelina oil meets the relevant ASTM D6571 and EN 14214 biodiesel standards and can be used as a qualified fuel for diesel engines.     

Optimization of biodiesel production from waste cooking oil using waste bone as a catalyst

This work determined the association between several parameters of biodiesel production from waste cooking oil (WCO) using waste bovine bone (WBB) as catalyst to achieve a high conversion to fatty acid methyl ester (%FAME). The effect of three independent variables was used as the optimum condition using response surface methodology (RSM) for maximizing the %FAME. The RSM analysis showed that the ratio of MeOH to oil (mol/mol), catalyst amount (%wt), and time of reaction have the maximum effects on the transform to FAME. Moreover, the coefficient of determination (R²) for regression equations was 99.19%. Probability value (P < 0.05) demonstrated a very good significance for the regression model. The optimal values of variables were MeOH/WCO ratio of 15.49:1 mol/mol, weight of catalyst as 6.42 wt%, and reaction time of 128.67 min. Under the optimum conditions, %FAME reached 97.59%. RSM was confirmed to sufficiently describe the range of the transesterification parameters studied and provide a statistically accurate estimate of the best transform to FAME using WBB as the catalyst.     

Potential of biodiesel from waste cooking oil in Mexico

The aim of this study is to evaluate the potential use of biodiesel produced from waste cooking oil (WCO) in Mexico and its CO₂ emission reduction potential for the Mexican transport sector and associated costs. The results show, based on 2010 data, that the potential of biodiesel from WCO is between 7.8 PJ and 17.7 PJ that represent between 1.5% and 3.3% of petro-diesel consumption for the road transport sector and can reduce between 0.51 and 1.02 Mt of CO₂, (1.0%–2.7% of CO₂-associated emissions), depending on the recovery ratio of WCO from vegetable oil consumption for cooking and considering CO₂ emissions for biodiesel production and methanol emissions during production and combustion in the blend. Primary energy used to produce 1 MJ of WCO-biodiesel is 0.8727 MJ, while literature reports 1.2007 MJ to produce 1 MJ of petro-diesel. Biodiesel costs are similar to petro-diesel costs if WCO is free. The paper offers suggestions for policies that promote increased recollection of WCO for biodiesel production and reduced illegal marketing of WCO, which is the main barrier to increase biodiesel production from WCO. The data used for the analysis is based on a case study of a WCO biodiesel plant that operates in Mexico City.     

Effect of zinc oxide on yttria doped ceria

Solid electrolyte ceramics consisted of ceria, yttria and zinc oxide has been synthesized through solid state reaction. With the zinc oxide content over 0.4 mol.%, this material is able to achieve a relative density of 96% at 1375 °C, about 200 °C lower than that without zinc oxide. The result of XRD reveals that the lattice parameter increased with the concentration of zinc oxide up to 0.6 mol%, suggesting its solubility limit for fluorite structure of ceria. It is also found that this doping level is coincident with that where it has the highest ionic conductivity. Furthermore, it is detected by EDS that the excess zinc oxide tends to agglomerate and locate on the surface of sintered sample when the addition exceeds the solubility limit.     

Improved transesterification of waste cooking oil into biodiesel using calcined goat bone as a catalyst

In this study, potassium hydroxide-treated animal bones were employed? as a solid heterogeneous catalyst in transesterification of waste cooking oil. This catalyst was characterized by the Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and it displayed high-catalytic activity for biodiesel production. Optimum conditions for biodiesel production were catalyst loading 6.0% (w/w) of oil, methanol/oil molar ratio 9:1, calcination temperature 800°C, reaction temperature 65°C, and reaction time of 5 h, which gave maximum biodiesel yield of 84%. Reusability of the catalyst was also confirmed by repeated use of the same catalyst three times without losing much of its activity. Hence, calcined goat bones were found to be a potentially applicable catalyst for biodiesel production at industrial scale.     

Efficient preparation of biodiesel from rapeseed oil over modified CaO

In this study, the catalytic performance of commercial CaO modified by trimethylchlorosilane (TMCS) for transesterification of rapeseed oil and methanol to biodiesel production was investigated. It was found that the fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) yield of the modified CaO was greatly enhanced from 85.4% to 94.6%. The possible reason lies on promoting the absorption of grease to CaO surface. Good results of repeated experiments showed that the modified catalyst has the capacity of water resistance and can be reused for several runs without significant deactivation, which can be confirmed by the humidity test in the vapor-saturated atmosphere. Both the characterizations of the catalyst and the effects of various factors such as mass ratio of catalyst to oil, reaction temperature and molar ratio of methanol to oil were investigated.