Acknowledgement

In the endeavor of the journey towards my Ph.D., this thesis has been kept on track and seen
through to completion with the support and encouragement of numerous people including my mentors,
well-wishers, friends, colleagues and various laboratories. It is a pleasant opportunity to express my
heartfelt thanks to all those people who made this thesis possible and contributed in different ways.
First and foremost, I would like to take the opportunity to pay homage to my mentor, Late
Prof. D. Konwer for his initial motivation, guidance, support and encouragement. His profound
knowledge and understanding in Biodiesel inspired me to pursue my doctoral research in the field of
Biodiesel. I cherish his dedication in guiding me in my work despite of his ill health. I wish his soul
rest in peace and solace in the heaven.
At this moment of accomplishment, I want to thank my supervisor Prof. D.C. Baruah for
picking me up as a Ph.D. student at the critical stage of the Doctoral Research, when Prof. D.
Konwer passed away in the midst of my work. I convey my deep gratitude for his insightful guidance,
valuable advice, periodic constructive suggestions and extensive discussions during my work. His
understanding attitude, constant support, encouragement and personal attention provided good and
smooth basis for my research work. I am thankful for his devoted contribution in reviewing my
progress, writing, making correction to improve and finalize the research papers as well as the thesis. I
developed the attitude of independent thinking in his association, and build the confidence to pursue
independent research. I have him as a systematic and broadly skilled professor, who helped me polish
my grasp on the principles of both experimental and analytical procedures as well as critical analysis
during the tenure of the work. I convey my heartfelt thanks to him for sharing this with me.
I convey my gratefulness to Prof. S.K. Samdarshi, Prof. D. Deka, Dr. Rupam Kakati, Dr.
D.K. Bora, and Mr. P.K. Choudhury for their constant support, encouragement and valuable advice. I
convey my special gratitude to Mr. S. Mahapatra for his immense help during the literature survey. I
am also grateful to him for his valuable advices during preparation of the thesis.
Most of the results described in this thesis would not have been obtained without a close
collaboration with few laboratories. I owe a great deal of appreciation and gratitude to Mr. Pallav
Das, Mr. K. Srinivasan and Mrs. C. Borthakur of Numaligarh Refineries Limited, for their support
and help while facilitating the infrastructure for sample testing. I would also thank Ms. Jeena Jyoti
Baruah and Mr. Raju Borah of Department of Chemical Sciences, Tezpur University, for their
support and help in sample testing and analysis.
I convey my sincere expression of thanks to my Doctoral committee members Prof. N. Karak
and Prof. M. Bhuyan for their valuable advice, helpful suggestions, comments and encouragement.

Acknowledgement

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I am thankful to Mrs. Pranita S. Talukdar and Mr. T. Lahon for their support and
encouragement with special mention to Mr. Tapanjit Borah for his kind help throughout my research
work from sample collection to technical support, particularly during engine testing.
Mr. Amulya Deka and Mr. Ranjit Bora deserve my gratitude and thanks for their immense
help in raw material collection throughout the tenure of my work.
I am indebted to many of my friends and student colleagues for providing a stimulating and
fun filled environment. I wish to thank Dr. U. Jamil, Jutika Boro, Mansi Devi, Ninimisha Dutta
and Rupa Bhattacharjee for their love, care and moral support. Prasenjit Saikia deserves special
mention here for constant support and motivation during the tenure of my research. I am extremely
thankful to Rajib Bhowmik and Arunjyoti Nath for their help during experimentation and
preparation of thesis.
I am also thankful to Moonmoon Hiloidhari, Sampriti Kataki, Munu Borah, Rahul S.
Chutia, Samrat Paul, Ranjit G. Nair, Dipu Das, Sanzida Tasmin Ali, Leeton Basak, Deepjyoti Borah,
Antara Brahma, and Lipika Aidew for their encouragement and support.
I expand my thanks to Mrs. Pompa Baruah, Mrs. Jyoti Konwar, Loveleena Konwar and
Tirthajit Baruah for their love, care, support and encouragement.
I am thankful to Mr. V. Mohan for his friendship, support and encouragement. I am also
indebted to him for his help during final redacting of the thesis.
Last but not least, I would like to pay best regards and gratefulness to my Parents, Uncle,
Aunty and cousin Saikat Chakraborty, for their sincere encouragement, inspiration, love, care, and
support. I owe all my accomplishment to them who stood by me all the time throughout my research
work and all throughout my difficult times.
I take this opportunity to sincerely acknowledge Tezpur University for its initial financial
support in form of Institutional Fellowship and the University Grant Commission (UGC),
Government of India, New Delhi, for providing financial assistance in the form of Meritorious
Students Fellowship which supported me to pursue my research conveniently.

(Maumita Chakraborty)

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