Biodiesel Project

A project report on
STUDY ON EFFECTS OF ADDITION OF ETHANOL AS

ADDITIVE WITH BLEND OF POULTRY LITTER BIODIESEL
AND ALUMINA NANOPARTICLES ON PERFORMANCE,
COMBUSTION AND EMISSION CHARACTERISTICS OF DIESEL
ENGINE
Submitted to
BANGALORE UNIVERSITY
BANGALORE
In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of degree of
BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING
in
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Submitted by
NISHAD RAJMALWAR
Reg. No: 13GAEM9053
T SREEHARSHA VARMA
Reg. No: 13GAEM9099
VARUN B K
Reg. No: 13GAEM9101
Under the guidance of

Dr. RAMESHA D.K Dr. K.V. SHARMA
Associate Professor, Professor,
Dept of Mechanical Engineering Dept of Mechanical Engineering
UVCE, Bangalore-560001 UVCE, Bangalore-560001
Project work carried out at
UNIVERSITY VISVESVARAYA COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
BANGALORE-560001

UNIVERSITY VISVESVARAYA COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
K.R.CIRCLE, BANGALORE-560001
BANGALORE UNIVERSITY
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the project work entitled “STUDY ON EFFECTS OF ADDITION
OF ETHANOL AS ADDITIVE WITH BLEND OF POULTRY LITTER BIODIESEL
AND ALUMINA NANOPARTICLES ON PERFORMANCE, COMBUSTION AND
EMISSION CHARACTERISTICS OF DIESEL ENGINE” is an authentic record of the
project work carried by Mr. NISHAD RAJMALWAR (Reg. No: 13GAEM9053),
Mr. T SREEHARSHA VARMA (Reg. No: 13GAEM9099) and Mr. VARUN B K (Reg.
No: 13GAEM9101) in partial fulfillment for the award of degree of Bachelor of
Engineering in Mechanical Engineering of Bangalore University, Bangalore during the
year 2016-2017 is a bonafide record of work successfully carried out at University
Visvesvaraya College of Engineering, Bangalore.
(Signature of the Guide) (Signature of the Guide) (Signature of the Chairman)

Dr. D.K.RAMESHA Dr. K.V. SHARMA Dr. B.M.RAJAPRAKESH
Associate Professor, Professor, Professor & Chairman,
Dept. of Mechanical Dept of Mechanical Dept of Mechanical
Engineering, Engineering, Engineering,
UVCE, Bangalore UVCE, Bangalore UVCE, Bangalore
Examiners:-
Name of the Examiners Signature with Date

1.
2.
DECLARATION
We, Nishad Rajmalwar (13GAEM9053), T Sreeharsha Varma (13GAEM9099) and
Varun BK (13GAEM9101), hereby declare that the work being presented in the
dissertation entitled “STUDY ON EFFECTS OF ADDITION OF ETHANOL AS
ADDITIVE WITH BLEND OF POULTRY LITTER BIODIESEL AND ALUMINA
NANOPARTICLES ON PERFORMANCE, COMBUSTION AND EMISSION
CHARACTERISTICS OF DIESEL ENGINE”, is an authentic record of the work that
has been carried out at the University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering, Bangalore
under the guidance of DR. D.K. RAMESHA, Associate Professor, Department of
Mechanical Engineering and DR. K.V. SHARMA, Professor, Department of Mechanical
Engineering of University Visvesvaraya College Of Engineering, Bangalore University,
Bangalore.
The work contained in the thesis has not been submitted in part or full to any other
university or institution or professional body for the award of any degree or diploma or any
fellowship previously.
Place: Bangalore Nishad Rajmalwar

T Sreeharsha Varma
June 2017
Varun BK
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We express our sincere gratitude to all people who helped us in one way of the
other to finish our thesis successfully. We are thankful to our guide
Dr. D.K. Ramesha, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering Department, and
Dr. K.V. Sharma, Professor, Mechanical Engineering Department, who have been a
constant source of encouragement ever since the start of the of the project, helped us in all
aspects and boosting my morale on several occasions. They has spent a huge amount of
time, energy and dedication into this project. We acknowledge with deep gratitude for their
total support in our work.
Our sincere thanks to Dr. B.M. Rajaprakash, Professor and Head, Department of
Mechanical Engineering, for his constant encouragement and support towards carrying out
the dissertation. We thank Dr. KR Venugopal, Principal, University Visvesvaraya College
of Engineering for his encouragement.
We place on record our sincere gratitude to Sri. Mrithyunajaya Swamy K M,

Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vemana Institute of
Technology, Bangalore.
We thank our family members for their love, encouragement and continuous
support without which we could not have completed this assignment.
Lastly, we would like to thank everyone who has directly or indirectly helped us in
bringing out this work in its present form.
Bangalore Nishad Rajmalwar

June 2017 T Sreeharsha Varma
Varun BK
ABSTRACT
With the increasing population and rise in industrialization, the demand for petroleum
reserves has been increasing day by day. This is causing depletion in the non-renewable
sources of energy. This work aims to find an alternative fuel in diesel engines. The use of
poultry litter oil biodiesel obtained from wastes of poultry industry, which is a non-edible
source for biodiesel, as an alternative fuel for diesel engine is very encouraging. The aim
of this study is to observe and maximize the performance of poultry litter oil biodiesel by
adding alumina nanoparticles and ethanol. The biodiesel is prepared by acid and base
catalysed transesterification of poultry litter oil with methanol using concentrated
sulphuric acid and potassium hydroxide as catalysts. The experimentation is carried out
on a CI engine with three different blends- B20 biodiesel blend, B20 biodiesel blend with
30 mg/L alumina nanoparticles, and B20 biodiesel blend with 30 mg/L alumina
nanoparticles and 15 ml/L ethanol. The performance, combustion and emissions
characteristics of all three blends are compared with neat diesel. The results of the
experiment show that ethanol as an additive improves the combustion and performance
characteristics. Addition of ethanol increases the brake thermal efficiency and peak
cylinder pressure. It also reduces CO and UBHC emissions and there is marginal increase
in NOx emissions as compared to neat diesel.
Keywords: Diesel engine; poultry litter oil methyl ester; biodiesel; alumina
nanoparticles; transesterification; ethanol; performance; combustion; emission.
i
CONTENTS
TITLE SHEET
CERTIFICATE
DECLARATION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
ABSTRACT i
CONTENT ii-vi
NOMENCLATURE vii
LIST OF FIGURES viii
LIST OF TABLES ix
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1-6
1.1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION 2
1.2 ALTERNATIVE FUELS 3
1.3 BIODIESEL 3
1.4 NANO-PARTICLES 4
1.5 ETHANOL 4
1.6 PRESENT SCENARIO 5
1.7 SCOPE OF PRESENT WORK 6
ii
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE SURVEY 7-13
2.1 PREVIOUS RESEARCH WORKS 8
2.2 POULTRY INDUSTRY IN THE WORLD 11
2.3 SUMMARY 12
2.4 PROBLEM FORMULATION 13
CHAPTER 3 BIODIESEL: AN OVERVIEW 14-21
3.1 BIODIESEL 15
3.2 BIODIESEL AS GOOD ALTERNATIVE 15
3.3 DEVELOPMENT OF BIODIESEL IN INDIA 15
3.4 PROPOSED BIODIESEL SPECIFICATION FOR 16

INDIA
3.5 BIODIESEL PRODUCTION 16
3.6 TRANSESTERIFICATION 18
3.7 BIODIESEL FACTS 19
3.8 PLOME: BASIC CONCEPT 20
3.8.1 Poultry Litter Production 20
3.8.2 Poultry Waste Production Rate 21
CHAPTER 4 NANOPARTICLES: AN OVERVIEW 22-25
4.1 INTRODUCTION 23
4.2 NANOPARTICLES 24
4.2.1 Alumina Nanoparticles (Alumina, Al2O3) 24
iii
4.3 SUMMARY 25
CHAPTER 5 ETHANOL: AN OVERVIEW 26-28
5.1 ETHANOL FUEL 27
5.2 ETHANOL FUEL PROPERTIES 27
CHAPTER 6 OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY 29-31
6.1 OBJECTIVES 30
6.2 METHODOLOGY 31
CHAPTER 7 PREPARATION OF BIODIESEL 32-42
7.1 BIODIESEL PRODUCTION 33
7.2 TRANSESTERIFICATION PROCESS 33
7.3 ACID VALUE DETERMINATION 34
7.4 OPTIMIZATION PROCEDURE 35

(ESTERIFICATION)
7.4.1 Esterification Setup 35
7.4.2 Acid Catalyzed Esterification 35
7.4.3 Alkaline Esterification 36
7.5 WATER WASH 36
7.6 DRYING 37
7.7 FUEL BLEND PREPARATION 37
7.8 DETERMINATION OF FUEL PROPERTIES 39
iv
7.9 FUEL PROPERTIES 42
CHAPTER 8 EXPERIMENTATION 43-51
8.1 EXPERIMENTAL SETUP 44
8.2 EXPERIMENTAL MEASUREMENT SYSTEM 45
8.2.1 Air Flow Measurement 45
8.2.2 Load Measurement 45
8.2.3 Pressure Measurement 45
8.2.4 Engine Speed Measurement 45
8.2.5 Temperature Measurement 46
8.2.6 Emission Measurement System 46
8.3 CALIBRATION OF INSTRUMENTS 49
8.4 UNCERTAINTY ANALYSIS 49
8.5 EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE 49
8.5.1 Optimization of Biodiesel Blend 50

Concentration
8.5.2 Rated Injection Pressure 50
8.5.3 Nanoparticles Addition 51
8.6 OBSERVATIONS 51
CHAPTER 9 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 52-60
9.1 INTRODUCTION 53
9.2 PERFORMANCECHARACTERISTICS 53
v
9.2.1 Brake Thermal Efficiency (BTE) 53
9.3 SUMMARY 54
9.4 COMBUSTION CHARACTERISTICS 54
9.4.2 P-Θ Curve 54
9.4.1 Heat Release Rate (HRR) 55
9.5 SUMMARY 55
9.6 EMISSION CHARACTERISTICS 56
9.6.1 Oxides of Nitrogen (NOX) 56
9.6.2 Carbon Monoxide (CO) 57
9.6.3 Unburnt Hydrocarbon (UBHC) 58
9.6.4 Smoke Opacity 59
9.7 SUMMARY 60
CHAPTER 10 CONCLUSIONS AND SCOPE FOR FUTURE 61-63

WORK
10.1 CONCLUSIONS 62
10.2 SCOPE FOR FUTURE WORK 63
REFERENCES 64-66
APPENDIX 67-68
PROCEEDINGS 69-70
vi
NOMENCLATURE
PLOME Poultry Litter Oil Methyl Ester

BP Brake Power
BSFC Brake Specific Fuel Consumption
TDC Top Dead Centre
BTDC Before Top Dead Centre
IP Injection Pressure
BTE Brake Thermal Efficiency
CV Calorific Value
A/F Air Fuel Ratio
Ta Ambient Temperature
W Load
ρ Density
EGT Exhaust Gas Temperature at Engine
CI Compression Ignition
IC Internal Combustion
DI Direct Injection
KV Kinematic Viscosity
B20 20% Biodiesel and 80% Diesel
B100 100% Biodiesel
UBHC Unburnt Hydrocarbons
CO Carbon Monoxide
CO2 Carbon Dioxide
O2 Oxygen
NOX Oxides of Nitrogen
PPM Parts Per Million
NMR Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
vii
LIST OF FIGURES
3.1 Production of B20PLOME 17

3.2 Generalized Transesterification Reaction 18
3.3 Generic Transesterification Process Diagram 19
3.4 Flow Chart of Preparation Poultry litter oil 21
4.1 Nanoparticles Used in Diesel Engine 23
4.2 Microscopic view of Alumina 24
5.1 Ethanol (CH3CH2OH) 27
7.1 Flow Chart of Preparation of Biodiesel 33
7.2 Basic Scheme for Biodiesel production 34
7.3 Acid Esterification Process 35
7.4 Separation of biodiesel (top layer) after alkaline esterification 36
7.5 Water Wash Process 37
7.6 Flow chart for preparation of blend 38
8.1 Schematic Diagram of the Experimental Setup 44
8.2 Computerized Diesel Engine Test Rig 44
8.3 Exhaust Gas Analyzer 47
8.4 Smoke Meter 48
8.5 Snapshot of the Software in Calibration Mode 49
8.6 Bosch Fuel Pump and Fuel Injector 50
9.1 Variation of BTE with Load 53
9.2 Variation of Cylinder Pressure with Crank Angle 54
9.3 Variation of HRR with Crank Angle 56
9.4 Variation of NOx with Load 57
9.5 Variation of CO with Load 57
9.6 Variation of UBHC with Load 58
9.7 Variation of Smoke Opacity with Load 59
viii
LIST OF TABLES
2.1 Basic economic measurements data 12

3.1 Summary of Proposed BIS Standard for Biodiesel 17
7.1 Requirements for Biodiesel (B100) Blend Stock and Biodiesel B20 38
7.2 Properties of fuel 42
8.1 Specifications Diatron2200C5 Pressure Transducer 46
8.2 Specifications OROTECH Exhaust Gas Analyzer 47
8.3 Specifications AVL437C Smoke Meter 48
Specifications of Multifuel Engine (Lab View 5.1) Software used for
8.4 48
Measurement of Combustion Parameters
A1 Specifications of Engine 68
ix
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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Department of Mechanical Engineering, UVCE Bangalore. Page 1

M.E. Thesis
1.1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Conventional fossil fuels cause environmental pollution and while their demand is ever
increasing, they are depleting at a fast pace. This requires more attention on alternative fuels from
natural resources, such as biodiesel and ethanol-biodiesel blends. Both biodiesel and ethanol can be
synthesized from feedstock which is a renewable resource. The carbon in the biodiesel comes from
the CO2 present in the air, so the CO2 emissions from the engine for biodiesel overall add much less
to global warming as compared to fossil fuels. Efforts have been made to replace petroleum based
fuels with as much biofuel as possible because biodiesel by itself cannot be entirely used as a fuel.
Biodiesel can be produced using the process of transesterification of vegetable/animal oil or fat
with a short-chain alcohol like methanol or ethanol. The reaction gives mono-alkyl esters which can
be used as biodiesel. Neat oil cannot be used as a fuel mainly due to its high viscosity (28-40mm²/s),
which leads to deposition of carbon particles into the injector. This causes poorer atomization of fuel
particles into the combustion chamber. Since neat vegetable/animal oil or fat cannot be used as a
fuel, transesterification is carried out to reduce the viscosity. Transesterification is the reaction
between a triglyceride molecule (found in vegetable oil or animal fat) and excess of alcohol in the
presence of a catalyst such as KOH, NaOH etc. to give methyl esters and glycerin as a by-product.
The process occurs in several reversible steps where the triglyceride is converted to diglyceride
which is further converted to monoglyceride. These monoglycerides are then converted to esters and
glycerol. The esters can be separated from glycerol using a separating funnel due to their density
difference. In our experiment, the ester is called Poultry Litter Oil Methyl Ester.
At present, to lower the particulate emissions and enhance fuel characteristics like oxidation rate,
diesel fuel additives are being used. Additives help improve the reduction in emission as well. One
such additive are nanoparticles which are pre-dissolved in the fuel and help increase the efficiency of
the fuel and completing the combustion process to reduce emission of various harmful gases and
particulate matter. With Aluminium oxide nanoparticles as additive, an increase in brake thermal
efficiency and reduction in emissions were observed. Also, to increase the overall performance,
combustion and emission characteristics of engine, nanoparticle is the most suitable additive. To
further improve the performance of the engine, the potential use of biodiesel with ethanol blend was
tested. Ethanol improves the flow property of the fuel and helps in better atomization. It enhances the
oxygen content of the fuel to help reduce emissions.

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1.2 ALTERNATIVE FUELS

Alternative fuels, known as non-conventional and advanced fuels, are any materials or
substances that can be used as fuels, other than conventional fuels like fossil fuels (petroleum oil,
coal and natural gas). Some well-known alternative fuels include biodiesel, bioalcohol (methanol,
ethanol, butanol, refuse-derived fuel, chemically stored electricity (batteries and fuel cells),
hydrogen, non-fossil methane, non-fossil natural gas, vegetable oil, propane and other biomass
sources.
The need for the development of alternative fuel sources has been growing due to concerns
that the production of oil will no longer meet the growing demand. The search for new alternative
and eco-friendly fuels is favoured not only by a growth in ecological awareness and concern for the
environment, but also shrinking oil reserves and substantial increase in its prices in world markets.
The main purpose of alternative fuels is to store energy and it should meet the following
criteria
• Fuel should be in stable form
• Easily transported to the place of use
• Eco-friendly
• Economically feasible to produce
1.3 BIODIESEL
Biodiesel is methyl or ethyl ester of fatty acids made from vegetable oils and animal fats.
Biodiesel can be used in pure form (B100) or may be blended with petroleum diesel at any
concentration in most injection pump diesel engines. Blends of biodiesel and conventional
hydrocarbon-based diesel are products most commonly distributed for use in the retail diesel fuel
marketplace. Just like diesel, biodiesel operates in compression ignition engine, which essentially
requires very little or no engine modification, as biodiesel has properties similar to diesel. Also, it
can be stored like diesel in a tank and does not require a separate infrastructure.
The surge of interest in biodiesels has highlighted a number of environmental effects
associated with its use. The use of biodiesel in conventional diesel engine results in substantial
reduction of unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and particulate matter emissions. These
potentially include reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, pollution and the rate of
biodegradation. According to the EPA's Renewable Fuel Standards Program Regulatory Impact
Analysis, released in February 2010, biodiesel from soy oil results, on average, in a 57% reduction in
greenhouse gases compared to petroleum diesel, and biodiesel produced from waste grease results in
an 86% reduction. Biodiesel is considered as a clean fuel since it has no sulphur and has about 11%
oxygen content by weight, which helps it burn completely.

M.E. Thesis
1.4 NANO-PARTICLES
Nanoparticles are particles between 1 and 100 nanometres in size. In nanotechnology, a
particle is defined as a small object that behaves as a whole unit with respect to its transport and
properties.Nanoparticles have high surface to volume ratio due to which it promotes better
combustion by improved atomization. This catalytic activity is dependent on surface area, amongst
other things, so using nanoparticles can offer distinct advantages over bulk material or larger
particles.
Nanoparticles and microparticles of aluminium have also been investigated as a potential fuel
additive. Aluminium is known to increase the power output of engines, due to its high combustion
energy. Recent advances in fabrication and characterization of nanoparticles have allowed more
detailed research into the relationship of particle size and structure with performance benefit.
Adding Aluminium oxide nanoparticles to fuel can help decomposition of unburnt
hydrocarbons and soot, reducing the amount of these pollutants emitted in the exhaust and reducing
the amount of fuel used.
In addition, the nanoparticle suspensions in ethanol-based fuels are much better than those in
model hydrocarbons, suggesting that nanoaluminium could be effective in additive packs for bio-
ethanol fuels.
The ultra-sonication technique is the best-suited method to disperse the nanoparticles in a
base fluid to prevent the agglomeration of nanoparticles. This technique uses pulsating frequencies to
disperse particles in the nanometer range into the fluid.
1.5 ETHANOL
Ethanol fuel is ethyl alcohol, the same type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, used as
fuel. It is most often used as a motor fuel, mainly as a biofuel additive.Ethanol-blended fuel is widely
used in Brazil, the United States and Europe. Most cars on the road today in the U.S. can run on
blends of up to 10% ethanol and ethanol represented 10% of the U.S. gasoline fuel supply derived
from domestic sources in 2011.
The basic steps for large-scale production of ethanol are: microbial (yeast) fermentation of
sugars, distillation, dehydration and denaturing (optional). Prior to fermentation, some crops require
saccharification or hydrolysis of carbohydrates such as cellulose and starch into sugars.
Saccharification of cellulose is called cellulolysis (see cellulosic ethanol). Enzymes are used to
convert starch into sugar.
Ethanol contains approx. 34% less energy per unit volume than gasoline, and therefore in
theory, burning pure ethanol in a vehicle reduces miles per gallon 34%, given the same fuel
economy, compared to burning pure gasoline. However, since ethanol has a higher octane rating, the

M.E. Thesis
engine can be made more efficient by raising its compression ratio. Using a variable geometry or
twin scroll turbocharger, the compression ratio can be optimized for the fuel, making fuel economy
almost constant for any blend.
In many countries cars are mandated to run on mixtures of ethanol. All Brazilian light-duty
vehicles are built to operate for an ethanol blend of up to 25% and since 1993 a federal law requires
mixtures between 22% and 25% ethanol, with 25% required as of mid July 2011. In the United States
all light-duty vehicles are built to operate normally with an ethanol blend of 10%. At the end of 2010
over 90 percent of all gasoline sold in the U.S. was blended with ethanol.
1.6 PRESENT SCENARIO

India is currently the fourth largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitter, the fifth largest energy
consumer and the second most populous country in the world.
Naturally, there is an increase in energy demand every year. India will need to import huge amounts
of energy from other countries in order to meet its energy demands. Although India’s per capita
emissions are less than half the world’s average, in 2010, its transport sector accounted for 13 percent
of the country’s energy-related carbon-dioxide emissions. Hence, India needs to find sustainable
energy generation sources to meet its demands thereby providing a good market for biofuels.
It is believed that the market transition from first to second-generation biofuels will be slow
but steady based on this compatible infrastructure. Second-generation biofuels are compatible with
today’s fuels, and the necessary infrastructure may come, to some extent, from the existing
infrastructure of the petroleum and sugar industries in India.In the year 2010-2011, the agricultural
residues available for energy applications was 187 megatones (Mt) which were used to produce 50
billion litres ethanol and the net residue availability in 2020-2030 for biofuel production is estimated
at 209 Mt which would yield 65 billion litres annually.
The recent World Energy Outlook (WEO) report of the International Energy Agency (IEA)
projects that India’s primary energy demand will increase from 750 Mt to 1200-1600 Mt (the range is
defined by WEO 450 Scenario and Current Policies Scenarios) between 2010-2035 (IEA, 2013), it
will likely double over these years. India’s biofuel production accounts for only 1% of theglobal
production. This includes 380 million litres of fuelethanol and 45 million litres of biodiesel. It is
worth noticingthat India is the second largest producer of sugarcane in theworld but accounts for
only about 1% of global ethanolproduction. This can be attributed to the fact that 70-80% ofthe cane
produced in the country is utilized for production ofsugar and the remaining 20-30 % for alternate
sweeteners likejaggery and khandsari.
Biofuels are considered among the most promising and economically viable alternative
option, as they can be produced locally, within the country, and can be substituted for diesel and
petrol to meet the transportation sector’s requirements. Then there wouldn’t be dependency on

M.E. Thesis
foreign oils, helping boost the country’s overall economy. The biofuel policy of India has an
indicative target of 20 percent blending of bioethanol by 2017. India has 330 distilleries, which can
produce more than 4 billion litres of rectified spirit (alcohol) per year in addition to 1.5 billion litres
of fuel ethanol which could and should meet the requirement of 5% blending.
1.7 SCOPE OF THE PRESENT WORK

Renewable energy sources such as biodiesel are subject of great interest in the current energy
scenario. Biodiesel and ethanol is popular and promising environment friendly due to their renewable
nature and clean burning characteristics. These fuels contribute to the reduction of prices,
dependence on fossil fuels and foreign market. Energy sources as these could partially replace the
use of fossil fuels which is the major factor responsible for global warming and local environmental
pollution. At present virtually all automotive and transportation vehicles are powered by internal
combustion engines which use hydrocarbons as fuels. Sustainability is a key principle in natural
resource management, and it involves operational efficiency, minimization of environmental impact
and socio-economic considerations; all of which are interdependent.

M.E. Thesis
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE SURVEY

M.E. Thesis
Studies on the characteristics of biodiesel carried out by earlier researchers are presented here.
Generally, the source of biodiesel is oil bearing trees like Jatropha, Mahua, Honge etc. which are
abundantly available in India from the agriculture industry. Poultry litter oil comes from an animal
source and the biodiesel industry based on this is relatively new and emerging.
2.1 PREVIOUS RESEARCH WORKS
V Arul Mozhi Selvan et al.[9] investigated the performance and emission characteristics of a
compression ignition engine while using cerium oxide nanoparticles as additive in neat diesel and
diesel-biodiesel-ethanol blends. They carried out the performance tests on a computerized single
cylinder four stroke direct injection variable compression ratio engine at 1500 RPM. They found that
the specific fuel consumption was higher for the diesel-biodiesel-ethanol blends than neat diesel at
all the brake mean effective pressures. The brake thermal efficiency of neat diesel was higher than
diesel-biodiesel-ethanol blends at all the loads and a small improvement was observed with the
addition of cerium oxide with diesel ethanol blends. They found that cerium oxide acts as an oxygen
donating catalyst and provides oxygen for the oxidation of CO or absorbs oxygen for the reduction of
NOx. The activation energy of cerium oxide acts to burn off carbon deposits within the engine
cylinder at the wall temperature and prevents the deposition of non-polar compounds on the cylinder
wall which results in reduction of HC emissions.
K. Ramarao et al. [10] experimentally investigated the performance and emission characteristics of a
single cylinder diesel engine using nano additives in diesel and biodiesel. They used blends of diesel-
biodiesel of different proportions to which they added cerium oxide nano additive. They established
properties like flash point, fire point, calorific values for all these blends. They found that at full load
operation, the brake thermal efficiency of biodiesel blend is 2% higher than diesel. The NOx
emissions of biodiesel, with addition of nano additive, decrease as compared to diesel fuel. CO
emissions are less at lower loads compared to diesel fuel but nearly equal at higher loads. They also
observed that HC emissios are less than diesel fuels at all loads.
Senthil Kumar M. et al. [11] investigated the use of Jatropha Oil and Methanol in Duel fuel engine.
In their work, a single cylinder diesel engine was converted to use vegetable oil ( Jatropha oil) as the
pilot fuel and methanol as the inducted primary fuel. Duel fuel engines can use a wide range of fuels
and operate with low smoke emissions and high thermal efficiency. The test was conducted at 1500
RPM and at full load with different blends of methanol and Jatropha oil. They observed that the
brake thermal efficiency increased in the dual fuel mode when both Jatropha oil and diesel were used
as pilot fuels. The maximum brake thermal efficiency was 30.6% with Jatropha oil and 32.8% with
diesel. The smoke emission was reduced from 4.4 BSU with pure Jatropha oil operation to 1.6 BSU

M.E. Thesis
in dual fuel mode. The HC and CO emissions were higher in dual fuel mode. Heat release pattern in
the case of neat Jatropha oil operation showed a smaller premixed combustion phase and a larger
diffusion combustion phase as compared to diesel operation. These phases were not distinguishable
in the dual fuel mode.
Hwanam Kim et al.[13] studied the characteristics of the particle size distribution, the reaction
characteristics of nanoparticles on the catalyst, and the exhaust emission characteristics when a
common rail direct injection (CRDI) diesel engine is run on biofuel-blended diesel fuels. In their
study, the engine performance, emission characteristics, and particle size distribution of a CRDI
diesel engine that was equipped with warm-up catalytic converters (WCC) or a catalyzed particulate
ﬁlter (CPF) were examined in an ECE (Economic Commission Europe) R49 test and a European
stationary cycle (ESC) test. During the engine performance test, they observed high fuel
consumption due to lowered calorific value that ensued from mixing biofuels. . The use of a
biodiesel–diesel blend fuel reduced the total hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions but
increased nitrogen oxide emissions due to the increased oxygen content in the fuel. The smoke
emission was reduced by 50% with the use of the bioethanol–diesel blend. . The use of biofuel-
blended diesel fuel reduced the total number of particles emitted from the engine; however, the use
of biodiesel–diesel blends resulted in more emissions of particles that were smaller than 50 nm. The
use of a mixed fuel of biodiesel and bioethanol was much more effective for the reduction of the
particle number and particle mass.
Xiaoyan Shi et al. [1] investigated the emission reduction potential of using ethanol-biodiesel-diesel
blend on a heavy-duty diesel engine. They studied the emission characteristics of a three-compound
oxygenated diesel fuel blend (BE-diesel), on a Cummins-4B diesel engine. BE-diesel is a new form
of oxygenated diesel fuel blend which consists of ethanol, methyl soyate and petroleum diesel fuel.
The blend ratio used in this study was 5:20:75 (ethanol: methyl soyate: diesel fuel) by volume. The
emissions were compared to that of diesel. BE-diesel showed a reduction in particulate matter (PM)
emissions by 30% on an average. However, BE-diesel did lead to a slight increase of NOx emissions
in a range of 5.6–11.4% at tested conditions. Carbon Monoxide (CO) emissions varied with engine
operating conditions and were not conclusive. A general reduction in total hydrocarbon (THC)
emissions was obtained under the operation conditions. In summary, BE-diesel can be directly used
on a diesel engine for lower PM and THC emissions.
Nithin Samuel et al. [5] studied the Performance and Emission Characteristics of a Compression
Ignition Engine with Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles as additive to diesel. The experimental setup
consisted of a four stroke four-cylinder diesel engine and a brake drum dynamometer to load the
engine. Standard constant speed load tests were conducted on the engine with both pure diesel and

M.E. Thesis
nanoparticle added diesel fuel. The Specific fuel consumption decreased by 0.5 kg/kw.hr for diesel
mixed with cerium oxide at 30 ppm. There was a 20% increase in Mechanical Efficiency of the
engine while using fuel added with 30 ppm cerium oxide. However thermal efficiency was higher for
neat diesel than the fuel mixed with nanoparticle. There was a significant improvement in the
exhaust emissions while using diesel mixed with cerium oxide nanoparticle.
Krzysztof Gorski et al. [8] studied the impact of ether/ethanol and biodiesel blends on combustion
process of compression ignition engine. The research was carried out on a three-cylinder, four stroke,
water cooled, 16.5:1 compression ratio engine. The maximum torque was 160 Nm at 1200 rpm, and
the maximum engine power was 31 kW at 2000 rpm. The engine was coupled to a brake and
equipped with the instrumentation to its control and for the measurement of the main parameters
(pressure in combustion chamber, fuel injector needle lift, pressure in fuel delivery pipe). In this
study, three kinds of fuels were used: diesel fuel (DF) as the baseline fuel, 30 % ethanol blending
with 70 % biodiesel and 30 % ETBE blending with 70 % biodiesel (denoted as ETB30B). Ethanol
molecules contain polarized OH- group and for this reason their miscibility with also polarized water
molecules is perfect, but significantly limited with diesel fuel. It is known, that miscibility of ethanol
with diesel fuel depends on temperature variations and presence of water in the mixture. In low
temperature phase separation of ethanol/diesel fuel blends can be observed. Addition of ethanol
reduces the viscosity of the blend which affects the atomization and vaporisation. Ethanol fuel blends
also promote higher combustion pressure and therefore better combustion and lower amount of
exhaust components.
Zunquing Zheng et al. [14] studied the combustion and emission fuelling biodiesel/n-butanol,
biodiesel/ethanol, and biodiesel/2,5-dimethylfuran on a diesel engine. The experiments were carried
out on a single cylinder, 4-stroke, 4-valve diesel engine. In their study, n-butanol, ethanol and
dimethylfuran(DMF) were blende with base biodiesel separately to investigate their effect on
combustion and emissions. Two blending ratios, i.e., 20% and 50% volume ratios were selected. The
fuel blends of n-butanol/biodiesel, ethanol/biodiesel, DMF/biodiesel with two blending ratios were
referred as Bu20/Bu50, E20/E50, DMF20/DMF50, respectively. The experiments were conducted at
an engine speed of 1500rpm and three equivalent fuel consumptions were set, which corresponded to
20 mg/cycle, 40 mg/cycle 60 mg/cycle diesel fuel mass conditions, respectively. Three EGR rates of
0%, 30% and 50% were selected in the experiment, which represented no EGR, medium EGR and
high EGR conditions. At low load conditions the indicated thermal efficiency (ITE) of pure biodiesel
and three fuel blends were lower when compared to diesel. With increase in load, pure biodiesel and
the three fuel blends present higher ITE than that of diesel fuel especially at high EGR rates. Smoke
emissions of pure biodiesel and the three blends were lower than that of diesel fuel at different loads

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and EGR rates. NOX emissions of pure biodiesel, Bu20 and DMF20 were higher than that of diesel,
while E20 had lower NOX emissions than diesel. The hydrocarbon (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO)
emissions of biodiesel are similar to diesel fuel. When compared to diesel the HC and CO emissions
of the three fuel blends were higher at low loads and lower at high loads.
S.P. Venkatesan et.al.[6]were carried out at different dosing levels of the nanoparticles to study the
effects of n-Al2O3 on engine performance and its emissions. The main observations and inferences
are the brake thermal efficiency of diesel engine fuelled with n-Al2O3 blended fuels is marginally
improved as compared to that of diesel, the addition of n-Al2O3 decreases the HC emission compared
to diesel n-Al2O3 blended fuels showing better reduction in NOx, Smoke emission is considerably
reduced with n-Al2O3, Reduction in CO emission is observed with n-Al2O3 blends.
Dhiraj darunde et.al.[2] discusses fuel production, fuel properties, environmental effects including
exhaust emissions and co-products. This also describes the use of glycerol which is the by-product in
esterification process along with biodiesel. The impact of blending of biodiesel with ethanol and
diesel on the diesel engine has described. Mainly animal fats and vegetable oils are used for the
production of biodiesel. Several types of fuels can be derived from triacylglycerol-containing
feedstock. Biodiesel is produced by transesterifying the oil or fat with an alcohol (methanol/ethanol)
under mild conditions in the presence of a base catalyst.
M. Mofijur et.al.[16] investigated on fuel properties, performance and emission of biodiesel-diesel-

ethanol blends in internal combustion engine. Following findings can be summarized from the
review- Emissions are strongly depended on engine operating conditions and biofuel concentration in
the blend. Combined blends of biodiesel-diesel-alcohol reduce NOX and HC significantly. The peaks
of smoke emissions were reduced in a large extent with the increase of percentage of ethanol in
blended fuels. Contrary to traditional belief, NOx and PM emission both reduced due to the use of
mixed blends. Addition of ethanol into the biodiesel-diesel blend lowered particle number
concentration and particulate mass emission as well. The use of ethanol in the biodiesel-diesel blend
showed higher fuel consumption than that of diesel fuel.
2.2 POULTRY INDUSTRY IN THE WORLD

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimated that in 2002 there were
nearly sixteen billion chickens in the world, counting a total population of 15,853,900,000. The
figures from the Global Livestock Production and Health Atlas for 2004 were as follows:
1. China (3,860,000,000)
2. United States (1,970,000,000)

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3. Indonesia (1,200,000,000)
4. Brazil (1,100,000,000)
5. India (729,209,000)
6. Pakistan (691,948,000)
7. Mexico (540,000,000)
8. Russia (340,000,000)
9. Japan (286,000,000)
10. Iran (280,000,000)
11. Turkey (250,000,000)
12. Bangladesh (172,630,000)
13. Nigeria (143,500,000)
In 2009 the annual number of chicken raised was estimated at 50 billion, with 6 billion raised in the
European Union, over 9 billion raised in the United States and more than 7 billion in China.
Table 2.1 Basic economic measurements data
In 1950, the average American consumed 20 pounds of chicken per year, but it is predicted
that the average consumption will be 89 pounds in 2015. Additionally, in 1980 most chickens were
sold whole, and by 2000 almost 90 percent of chickens were sold after being processed into parts.
This increase in consumption and processing has led to many occupation-related illnesses.
2.3 SUMMARY
The published works have revealed promising results through series of ASTM standard fuel tests.
The combustion and performance characteristics of CI engine with biodiesel are comparable or better
than neat diesel operation. There is a need to improve the efficiency and reduce the emissions of the
biodiesel and diesel blend. The results from the use of nanoparticles and ethanol as additives are

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promising. Most researchers have focused on using edible and non-edible vegetable oil as a source
for biodiesel. This comes with its own social and economic problems. Vast use and dependence on
agriculture industry for the production of oils can disturb the food chain and economics of the
country. To resolve this problem, the alternative fuels can be derived from the animal industry
namely poultry litter. The research work on poultry litter oil is minimal up till now and demands
more attention. Disposal of this oil is a problem and using it as an alternative fuel is a great way to
recycle waste.
2.4 PROBLEM FORMULATION

The use of biodiesel in conventional diesel engines results substantial reduction of un-burnt
hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and particulate matters. Under Indian conditions, an emphasis is
being laid by the government to explore the possibility of using vegetable oils and animal fats as
biodiesel. This work is focused on the production and optimization of biodiesel yield poultry litter,
characterization of these biodiesel as per ASTM standards, to evaluate better performance,
combustion and emission characteristics for optimal injection pressure using metal oxide
nanoparticles and ethanol and comparing with petroleum diesel.
• The fossil fuels are depleting at faster rate, there is a need to search for alternative fuels and
the performance improvement methods.
• Project aims at the performance analysis of biodiesel with influence of nanoparticles and
ethanol in CI engine.
• Poultry litter oil is taken as the base oil (Biodiesel)
• Alumina nanoparticles are used as Nano additives
• Ethanol is used as an additive

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CHAPTER 3
BIODIESEL:
AN OVERVIEW

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3.1 BIODIESEL
Biodiesel is defined as mono-alkyl esters of long chain fatty acid derived from vegetable oils
or animal fats which confirm to ASTM D675 specifications for use in diesel engines. It can be used
in conventional compression ignition engines.Moreover, it can maintain payload capacity and range
of conventional diesel. Biodiesel can be used alone or blended with petrodiesel in any proportionsin
unmodified diesel-engine vehicles. Feasibility studies on the use of different renewable liquid fuels
have been studied throughout the world. In recent years, biodiesel has gained international attention
as a source of alternative fuel due to characteristics like biodegradable, no toxicity and low emission
of carbon monoxide, particulate matter and unburned hydrocarbons. Also, physical and combustible
characteristics are close to diesel fuel. It may stand as immediate candidate substitute for diesel fuel.
The use of vegetable oils for engine fuels may seem not noticeable today. But such oil may in the
course of time become as important as petroleum and the coal tar products of present time.
3.2 BIODIESEL AS GOOD ALTERNATIVE

Biodiesel is the name of a clean burning mono-alkyl ester based oxygenated fuel made from
natural, renewable sources such as new or used vegetable oils and animal fats. The resulting
biodiesel is quite similar to conventional diesel in its main characteristics. Biodiesel contains no
petroleum products, but it is compatible with conventional diesel and can be blended in any
proportion with mineral diesel to create a stable biodiesel blend. Biodiesel is an alternative to diesel.
Biodiesel from Jatropha and Pongamia, assume significance and are considered as the best option to
substitute petroleum diesel there by reducing the dependence on import of crude. In addition to
provide energy security and a reduced dependency on oil imports, biodiesel offers several other
significant benefits such as reduced emission, good fuel properties for vehicles, increased
employment in the agricultural sector and conversion of wasteland into productive land.
Transesterified vegetable oil, or biodiesel, is produced by the reaction between vegetable oil and
alcohol. It can be used as a partial or complete petro-diesel replacement in unmodified diesel
engines. Biodiesel functions in current diesel engines, and is a possible candidate to replace fossil
fuels as the world’s primary transport energy source.
3.3 DEVELOPMENT OF BIODIESEL IN INDIA

The Indian biodiesel sector is different from biofuel activities in many other countries of the
world because it is based on the use of non-edible oils derived from oil-bearing trees that can grow
on less fertile land. Biodiesel is a relatively new product in India. While the country is already the
world’s 7th largest ethanol producer, with an annual production of 200 million liters of ethanol,
biodiesel production started only a few years ago.

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In India, however, continuing research work on renewable energy sources, including vegetable
oils, is underway in various laboratories starting from the classic work of Prof. H.A. Javemann and
his associates at the Indian Institute of Science from the early 1940’s. Now national mission for
biodiesel is proposed and in this regard planning commission has taken decision to blend 5% ethanol
with petrol effective in eight major cities from 01.01.2003 as per phase I and has decided that this
ratio gradually be increased to 10% and 20% over a period of time upto 2012-2013 in phase II.
Daimler Chrysler India Ltd. has declared the commercial launch of biodiesel cars in five to ten years
as a part of its biodiesel project. The National Oilseeds and Vegetable Oil Development (NOVOD)
board has prepared Rs. 1,430 crore project for biodiesel production from Jatropha seeds and state
governments are providing various incentives to promote integrated Jatropha oil extraction in their
state e.g. Tamil Nadu. The southern railway adopted a three pronged strategy of large scale plantation
of these trees, processing the oil into biodiesel and making use of it for its large fleet of road vehicles
and locomotives. Awareness in India is only now giving shape to projects. In Andhra Pradesh four
companies viz. Southern Online Biotechnology (SBT), Tree Oils Ltrs (Zaheerabad) Natural Bio
Energy and the GMR group have seriously entered into this project. Others include Vrideshwar SSK
Ltd. (Ahmednagar, Maharashtra) the Simbhioly Sugar Mills (Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh), Mewar
Sugar Mills (Jaipur) SM Dyechem (Thane, Maharashtra) R.S. Petrochemicals (Punjab) and
Progressive Petroleum (Mumbai).
3.4 PROPOSED BIODIESEL SPECIFICATION FOR INDIA

Some of important properties specified are described below and reasons for the need to
incorporate it in the fuel specification are mentioned in short. Since our feedstock’s are going to be
different from those used in developed countries, it was felt necessary to include all the relevant
properties in the initial list for evaluation. An attempt should be made to reduce the final number of
properties specified to the minimum possible. Table 3.1 gives a comprehensive list of important fuel
properties that have been considered for inclusion in the bio-diesel fuel specification.
3.5 BIODIESEL PRODUCTION

Biodiesel can be produced from straight vegetable oil, animal oil/fats, and tallow and waste oils.
There are three basic routes to biodiesel production from oils and fats:
• Base catalyzed transesterification of the oil.
• Direct acid catalyzed transesterification of the oil.
• Conversion of the oil to its fatty acids and then to biodiesel.
Almost all biodiesel is produced using base catalyzed transesterification as it is the most economical
process requiring only low temperatures and pressures and mostly producing a 98% conversion
yield. For this reason only this process will be described in this report.

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Table 3.1: Summary of Proposed BIS Standard for Biodiesel
Specification Units Proposed BIS
Density (at 150C) kg/m3 870-900

Viscosity (at 400C) cSt 3.5-5.0
Flashpoint 0
C ≥100
Copper Corrosion (3h/500C), Max - 1
Cetane Number - ≥51
Acid Number mg KOH/g ≤0.8
Ester Content % mass ≥96.5

Sulphated ash %mass 0.02
Carbon residue %mass 0.05
Fig 3.1: Flow Chart of Preparation of Biodiesel (B20)
Figure 3.1 Production of B20PLOME

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3.6 TRANSESTERIFICATION
Animal and plant fats and oils are composed of triglycerides, which are esters formed by the
reactions of three free fatty acids and the trihydric alcohol, glycerol. In the transesterification
process, the added alcohol (commonly, methanol or ethanol) is deprotonated with a base to make it a
stronger nucleophile. As can be seen, the reaction has no other inputs than the triglyceride and the
alcohol. Under normal conditions, this reaction will proceed either exceedingly slowly or not at all,
so heat, as well as catalysts (acid and/or base) are used to speed the reaction. It is important to note
that the acid or base are not consumed by the transesterification reaction, thus they are not reactants,
but catalysts. Common catalysts for transesterification include sodium hydroxide, potassium
hydroxide, and sodium methoxide.
Almost all biodiesel is produced from virgin vegetable oils using the base-catalyzed technique as
it is the most economical process for treating virgin vegetable oils, requiring only low temperatures
and pressures and producing over 98% conversion yield (provided the starting oil is low in moisture
and free fatty acids). However, biodiesel produced from other sources or by other methods may
require acid catalysis, which is much slower. Since it is the predominant method for commercial-
scale production, only the base-catalyzed transesterification process is shown below.
Figure 3.2 Generalized Transesterification Reaction

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Figure 3.3 Generic Transesterification Process Diagram
3.7 BIODIESEL FACTS

Advantages of biodiesel are listed below-
• Biodiesel is produced from renewable sources and they are cheap.

• Biodiesel can be used in existing diesel engines as a blend with diesel or alone.
• Biodiesel can be stored where that conventional diesel is stored.
• Biodiesel has 11% oxygen by weight and contains no sulphur.
• Biodiesel is Environmentally Friendly. It reduces green house gas release.
• National Economic Advantages: using biodiesel keeps our fuel buying dollars at home instead of
sending it to foreign. This reduces trade deficit and creates job.
• No engine modifications necessary.
• Biodiesel is safe to storage and handle due to higher flash point.
• Emission and Cancer: According to U.S department of energy study completed at the University
of California at Davis, the use of pure biodiesel instead of petroleum based diesel fuel could offer
a 93% reduction in cancer risks from exhaust emissions exposure.
• Biodiesel can be made from Waste Products which are locally available.
• Biodiesel By-products are used in many industries like medical, chemical.
• Greenhouse effect: Using vegetable oils or animal fats as fuel for vehicles is in effect running
them on solar energy. All biofuels are derived from the conversion of sunlight to energy
(carbohydrates) that takes place in the green leaves of plants. Plants take up CO2 from the

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atmosphere ; burning plant products in an engine release the CO2uptake back in to the
atmosphere to be taken up again by others plants. The CO2is recycled, atmosphere CO2 is
remains constant. Thus, bio fuels do not increase the greenhouse effect unlike fossil fuels,
which release large amount of new CO2 that has been locked away from the atmosphere.
3.8 PLOME: BASIC CONCEPT

Poultry waste includes a mixture of feather and urinary excreta (manure), bedding material or
litter (e.g. wood shavings or straw), waste feed, dead birds, broken eggs packing material and
feathers removed from poultry houses. Chicken feather and all feathers are organic materials, mainly
composed of 91% protein. They are converted to feather meal with usage as animal feed, organic
fertilizers and feed supplements. They are also used in making biodegradable plastic, technical
textiles etc. This can be processed to get biofuel, by that it can be converted to biodiesel i.e. Poultry
Litter Oil Methyl Ester (PLOME).
3.8.1 Poultry Litter Production

Poultry production is generally a two party system; there are the processors and the growers.
Processors typically provide the birds (chicks), feed, and veterinary supplies, while growers are
responsible for providing the grow out houses fit with all the feeding, heating, cooling, and watering
systems needed to raise the birds as well as the labor involved. Once raised, the processor schedules
pickup and delivery from the farm to the processing plant (USDA-ERS, 2008). This system applies
to approximately 85% of all broiler chicken production farms (USDE, 2004). There are 4 houses,
40x400 ft each, on a typical broiler production farm (USDE, 2004). A variety of biomass sources are
used as an absorbent placed on the house floor to help control moisture. These range from pine
shavings to peanut hulls. Each house houses between 20 and 25 thousand birds at a time. With an
average of 5.5 flocks raised per year in six week cycles, a typical farm raises about 4,40,000 birds
per year (USDE, 2004). According to the Foundation for Organic Resources Management (FORM),
about 130 tons of litter is produced on an average poultry production facility annually. Spent poultry
litter—a mix of excreted manure, water, spilled feed, feathers and bedding material—can be
converted into biogas (a renewable energy source consisting mostly of methane and carbon dioxide).
Biogas can be burnt to generate electricity and heat, upgraded into a transport fuel (bio-methane) and
can yield other useful products.

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Figure 3.4 Flow Chart of Preparation Poultry litter oil
3.8.2 Poultry Waste Production Rate

National production is estimated at 1.2 million tons a year, plus or minus 20%, according to
the 2013 RIRDC report, conversion of waste to energy in the poultry industry. At the farm scale, the
amount of waste depends on factors such as litter depth and frequency of disposal. Chandala
Poultry in Gingin, Western Australia, is designing a system to convert chicken litter (manure and
bedding) to biogas, and then to heat and electricity. The 1.7 million birds supplied for meat each year
produce 3000 tonnes of waste a year.

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CHAPTER 4
NANOPARTICLES:
AN OVERVIEW

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4.1 INTRODUCTION
Nanoparticles are particles between 1 and 100 nanometers in size. In nanotechnology, a particle is
defined as a small object that behaves as a whole unit with respect to its transport and
properties. Particles are further classified according to diameter. Ultrafine particles are the same as
nanoparticles and between 1 and 100 nanometers in size, fine particles are sized between 100 and
2,500 nanometers, and coarse particles cover a range between 2,500 and 10,000 nanometers.
Scientific research on nanoparticles is intense as they have many potential applications in medicine,
physics, optics, and electronics. Nano particles promote better combustion by improved atomization
because of their high surface to volume ratio. During combustion IT assists the air-fuel mixing and
leads to cleaner and more efficient combustion.
Figure 4.1: Nanoparticles Used in Diesel Engine
The term "nanoparticle" is not usually applied to individual molecules; it usually refers to
inorganic materials. The reason for the synonymous definition of nanoparticles and ultrafine particles
is that, during the 1970s and 80s, when the first thorough fundamental studies with "nanoparticles"
were underway in the USA (by Granqvist and Buhrman) and Japan, they were called "ultrafine
particles" (UFP). However, during the 1990s before the National Nanotechnology Initiative was
launched in the USA, the new name, "nanoparticle," had become more common. Nanoparticles can
exhibit size-related properties significantly different from those of either fine particles or bulk
materials.
Fuel properties like viscosity, flash point, fire point, cloud point and pour point etc., are
varied by using additives to better combustion and scale down the pollutant emissions. The principle
of this additive action consists of a catalytic effect on the combustion of hydrocarbons, metal

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additive either reacts with water to produce hydroxyl radicals, which enhance soot oxidation or react
directly with carbon atoms in the soot thereby lowering the oxidation temperature. Micron or
millimeter sized additives create plentiful side effects during combustion process like period of
ignition delay, slow burn rates, and incomplete combustion due to broad metal particles.
4.2 NANOPARTICLES
4.2.1 Alumina Nanoparticles (Alumina, Al2O3)
Nanoparticles promote better combustion by improved atomization because of their high surface
to volume ratio. During combustion, nanoaluminium in suspension has more conducive to the
formation of micro-explosions, which assists the air-fuel mixing and leads to cleaner, more efficient
combustion.
• Aluminum is used because of its numerous applications as an energetic material.

• High surface to volume ratio and volumetric heat of combustion.
• Enhances soot oxidation.
• High thermal conductivity.
• Excellent surface absorption and low melting /ignition temperatures.
• Generally the use of nano-particles is in the form of oxides as aluminum oxide
• These additives enhance the radiative-mass transfer properties, reduce the ignition delay
and enhanced the ignition temperature characteristics of the fuel within the combustion
zone.
Figure 4.2: Microscopic view of Alumina

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4.3 SUMMARY
As alumina nanoparticles have high surface to volume ratio which promotes for complete
combustion by improved atomization. To improve the quality of diesel and reduce pollutants, metal
additives are used. Fuel additives have distinguishing characteristics to upgrade the engine
performance and to degrade pollutant emissions. From this review, we came to know that, fuel
additives can change physiochemical properties of fuel like flash, fire and cloud point. Also improve
performance, combustion and emissions of fuel.

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CHAPTER 5
ETHANOL:
AN OVERVIEW

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5.1 ETHANOL FUEL

Ethanol is a renewable fuel made from various plant materials collectively known as
“biomass”. It is currently found in almost all gasoline in America. Ethanol is a natural, non-toxic
alcohol that burns clean and reduces greenhouse emissions by as much as 59 percent.
When plants decompose under the right conditions, they go through a chemical reaction
called fermentation. One of the main products of this process is ethanol, which is an organic
chemical that can be used as fuel, either by burning it like gasoline or through reduction/oxidation
reaction in a fuel cell. Ethanol is a natural product of yeast, the tiny cells that make bread rise and
produce the alcohol in alcoholic beverages.
There are several steps involved in making ethanol available as a vehicle fuel:
• Biomass feedstocks are grown, collected and transported to an ethanol production facility.
• Feedstocks are converted to ethanol at a production facility and then transported to a fuel
terminal or end-user by rail, truck, or barge.
• Ethanol is blended with gasoline at the fuel terminal to make E10, E15, or E85, and then
distributed by truck to fueling stations.
Figure 5.1: Ethanol (CH3CH2OH)
5.2 ETHANOL FUEL PROPERTIES

Ethanol fuel is ethyl alcohol, the same type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, used
as fuel. It is most often used as a motor fuel, mainly as a biofuel additive for gasoline. The first
production car running entirely on ethanol was the Fiat 147, introduced in 1978 in Brazil by Fiat.
Ethanol has the same chemical formula regardless of whether it is produced from starch- and sugar-
based feedstocks, such as corn grain (as it primarily is in the United States), sugar cane (as it
primarily is in Brazil), or from cellulosic feedstocks (such as wood chips or crop residues). Ethanol
has a higher-octane number than gasoline, providing premium blending properties. Minimum octane
number requirements prevent engine knocking and ensure drivability. Low-octane gasoline is
blended with 10% ethanol to attain the standard 87 octane. Ethanol contains less energy per gallon
than gasoline, to varying degrees, depending on the volume percentage of ethanol in the blend.

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Denatured ethanol (98% ethanol) contains about 30% less energy than gasoline per gallon. Ethanol’s
impact on fuel economy is dependent on the ethanol content in the fuel. Ethanol is a bio-based
renewable and oxygenated fuel, thereby providing potential to reduce the PM emission in diesel
engine and to provide reduction in life cycle of carbon di-oxide. So that reduces ozone layer
depletion. There are several studies which reports improvement in the engine performance and
emission by using ethanol blend fuels. Many researches going on in the area of ethanol as alternate
fuel, the commercialization of this fuel is not achieved in the Indian automobile scenario. It is mainly
because of installation of refilling stations and the problems encountered in the engine while ethanol
is used as a fuel.

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CHAPTER 6
OBJECTIVES AND
METHODOLOGY

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6.1 OBJECTIVES
It is seen from the literature survey that very few progress has been made in the concept of
poultry litter oil used as alternative fuel for I C engines. However, using of non-edible oil as
substitute for diesel remains largely unexplored. In this research, non-edible oil like poultry litter oil
is used for investigation.
The following objectives were drawn up for this project work:
1. To prepare the biodiesel from poultry litter oil and chemically modifying the structure of
poultry litter oil by transesterification which reduces the viscosity.
2. To study and compare the properties of poultry litter oil methyl esters and its blends with
diesel oil. For comparison, the same properties of the diesel oil were to be determined.
3. To find the percentage of yield of biodiesel from raw poultry litter waste.
4. To run a diesel engine on a B20PLOME.
5. To the optimized blend of Poultry litter oil methyl ester with diesel, nano-particles are added
in required concentration.
6. To the blend of B20PLOME with nano-particles, ethanol is added in required concentration.
7. To check the performance, combustion and emissions characteristics of poultry litter oil
methyl esters blended with Alumina (B20PLOME15AL) nanoparticles.
8. To check the performance, combustion and emissions characteristics of poultry litter oil
methyl esters blended with Alumina (B20PLOME15AL) nanoparticles and ethanol
(B20PLOME15AL30E).
9. To run a typical diesel engine in order to evaluate their performance in regard to BTE and
emissions such as NOx, UBHC, CO, Smoke density etc. For comparison, the same parameters
were to be determined for engine operation with conventional diesel oil also.
The above objectives have been largely achieved during the course of this project, even though
considerable difficulty was experienced in getting the methyl ester of poultry litter oil.

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6.2 METHODOLOGY
To achieve the above, mentioned objectives, following methodology is adopted and followed
carefully so as to get the accurate and reliable results.
• Raw oil collected from the available sources and according to our requirements for the
experimentation.
• Transesterification of the crude poultry litter oil is done to get the low viscous and glycerol
free biodiesel.
• Fuel is prepared according to the required concentration. Biodiesel is added blended with
alumina nanoparticles.
• The experiments are conducted at no load, 25%, 50%, 75 % and 100% of full load condition
with methyl esters of poultry litter oil (PLOME).
• The experiments are conducted and studied the performance, emission and combustion
parameters for diesel, B20PLOME, B20PLOME15AL AND B20PLOME15AL30E.
• Standard exhaust emission tester is used to measure the emissions and are tabulated and
plotted and compared with standard diesel fuel performance.
• Check the performance and emissions characteristics of all blends with diesel.
• Graphs are plotted for performance and emissions characteristics against required conditions.
And the conclusions are drawn based the results obtained.

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CHAPTER 7
PREPARATION OF
BIODIESEL

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7.1 BIODIESEL PRODUCTION

Biodiesel can be produced from vegetable or animal oils and fats through the process of
transesterication. This involves the reaction of vegetable or animal fats with short-chain alcohols
(typically ethanol or methanol). There are two basic routes to produce biodiesel:
• Acid catalyzed transesterification of oil

• Base catalyzed transesterification of oil
Base-catalyzed transesterification is most commonly used for production of biodiesel. This path has
lower reaction times and catalyst cost than those posed by acid catalysis. For this reason, only this
process will be described in this report.
Figure 7.1: Flow Chart of Preparation of Biodiesel
7.2 TRANSESTERIFICATION PROCESS

Transesterification of oil with alcohol is used to produce a clean burning fuel with low
viscosity. Animal and plant fats and oils are composed of triglycerides, which are esters formed by
the reactions of three free fatty acids and the trihydric alcohol, glycerol.The poultry litter oil methyl
ester can be produced by two step esterification process. It includes acid and base esterification
processes.In the transesterification process, the added alcohol (commonly, methanol or ethanol)
is deprotonated with a base to make it a stronger nucleophile. This deprotonated alcohol reacts with
triglyceride to form the mono-alkyl ester or biodiesel and crude glycerol.

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In most production process, methanol or ethanol is the alcohol used and is base catalysed by either
potassium or sodium hydroxide. Potassium hydroxide has been found to be more suitable for the
ethyl ester biodiesel production; either base can be used for the methyl ester.
Transesterification Reaction:
Figure 7.2: Basic Scheme for Biodiesel production
The reaction between the fat or oil and the alcohol is a reversible reaction and so the alcohol is added
in excess to drive the reaction towards the right and ensure complete conversion. The products of the
reaction are the biodiesel itself and glycerol. A successful transesterification reaction is signified by
the separation of the ester and glycerol layers after the reaction time. The heavier, co-product,
glycerol settles out.
7.3 ACID VALUE DETERMINATION

The acid value of mixture of oils, and biodiesel has been determined by a standard titrimetric
method as per European standard EN14104. About 1g of oil was taken in a 50cc conical flask. 10cc
of Isopropyl alcohol (propan-2-ol) is added to it. Two to three drops of 1% phenolphthalein indicator
was added to the above mixture. Titration has done with 0.1 MKOH (0.143g KOH in 25ml distilled
water) using vigorous stirring until a definite pink colour persisted for 10s. The AV is expressed as
mg KOH per gm of oil (Eq.1) taking average of three replications.
AV = 56.1*N*V/M
where, AV is acid value in mg KOH per gm of oil, N is 0.05 (normality of KOH solution)
V is titre volume in ml
M is weight of sample oil in gm

M.E. Thesis
The FFA levels of rubber seed oil is 47.685mg of KOH/gm of oil. The mixture is prepared to
reduce the FFA level of rubber seed oil as it has high FFA.
7.4 OPTIMIZATION PROCEDURE (ESTERIFICATION)

7.4.1 Esterification Setup
The oil used for biodiesel production was non-edible raw poultry litter oil. The production was
carried out using a laboratory setup. The setup consisted of beakers, flasks, thermometer and a
magnetic stirrer with temperature control and adjustable stirring speed. A conical flask is used as a
laboratory scale reactor to carry out the transesterification process. The magnetic stirrer consists of a
heating coil with adjustable temperature. The flask is kept on the stirrer and the mixture is heated.
The temperature for the reaction is maintained at 50-60°C and the mixture is stirred at constant speed
at all times. The esterification process is carried out in two steps since the viscosity of oil is high.
7.4.2 Acid catalyzed transesterification

Acid transesterification is carried out by pouring 1 litre of raw poultry oil into the conical flask and
heating it to a temperature of 50°C. Once the oil reaches this constant temperature, 500 ml of
methanol is added and stirred for a few minutes. 10 ml of concentrated sulphuric acid is added to the
mixture. This final mixture is maintained at a temperature of 50°C and stirred for 45 minutes at
atmospheric pressure. The flask is removed from the stirrer and the mixture is allowed to settle. Two
layers separate out and are visible to the naked eye. The layers are separated using a separating
funnel. The top layer consists of excess methanol, sulphuric acid and light impurities which are
removed. The lower layer is poured into a different flask for the next step of experimentation.
Figure 7.3 Acid Esterification process

M.E. Thesis
7.4.3 Base catalyzed transesterification

The final product from the first experimental setup of acid catalyzed process is used for alkaline
esterification. The product is again heated to a temperature of 50°C in the flask. Meanwhile, 0.24 g
of KOH is added to 100 ml of methanol in a beaker and thoroughly dissolved. This mixture is poured
into the flask and heated at 50°C for 45 minutes. Once the heating is complete, the mixture is
allowed to cool down. Again, the layer separation is noticeable. This time the lower layer consists of
glycerol and impurities which are discarded. The top layer is the methyl ester which is separated
using separating funnel. This ester contains some impurities and is therefore water washed.
Figure 7.4 Separation of biodiesel (top layer) after alkaline esterification
7.5 WATER WASH

Hot distilled water, 10% by volume, is sprayed over the surface of the ester and gently stirred. The
water carries impurities and settles down at the bottom of the flask. The top layer (yellow colour) is
the biodiesel which is separated and collected.

M.E. Thesis
Figure 7.5 Water wash process
7.6 DRYING
Drying is done in order to remove the residual moisture present in biodiesel. The biodiesel is pre-
heated and exposed to open air to remove the moisture. The are several ways to speed up the process
of drying, some of which are:
• Increases the amount of air contact with the biodiesel.This can be done by using a large
open-topped vessel.
• Increases the movement of air around the container with the help of a fan.
7.7 PREPARATION OF FUEL BLEND

B20PLOME is prepared by mixing 20% by volume biodiesel with 80% by volume diesel in a
beaker and stirring it for 15 minutes at constant room temperature. B20PLOME30A is prepared by
adding 30 mg of alumina nanoparticles to 1 litre of B20PLOME biodiesel blend. B20PlOME30A15E
is prepared by adding 15 ml of pure ethanol to the B20PLOME30A blend.
Since biodiesel is produced from feedstock of varying origin and quality, it is necessary to
install a standardization of fuel quality to guarantee engine performance without any difficulties. In
order to evaluate the various physical, chemical and thermal properties of poultry litter biodiesel;
such as viscosity, density, specific gravity, flash point, cetane number and calorific value, several
tests are conducted as per ASTM standards. ASTM standard for 100% biodiesel (ASTM D6751) and
biodiesel B20 (ASTM D7467) is shown in Table 7.1.
Although conventional diesel and biodiesel can be used in different proportions, in this study
20% biodiesel is considered for performance, combustion and emission analysis in compression
ignition engine.

M.E. Thesis
Figure 7.6 Flow chart for preparation of blend
Table 7.1: Requirements for Biodiesel (B100) Blend Stock and Biodiesel B20
Sl. [Cite your source here.] ASTM

Property Limits (B100) Limits (B20) Units
No. Method
1 Kinematic Viscosity, 400C D445 1.9-6 1.9-4.1 mm2/s
2 Density D941 - - Kg/m3

0
3 Flash Point D93 130 min. 52 min. C
4 Cetane Number D613 47 min. 40 min. -
5 Calorific value D2015 - - MJ/Kg
6 Saponification value D5558 - - mg/g
7 Iodine value - 120 128 mg/g

8 Acid number D664 0.8 max. 0.3 max. mg.KOH/g
9 Water and Sediment D2709 0.05% max. 0.05% max. % volume
10 Sulphated Ash D874 0.02% max. 0.01% max. % mass

Carbon Residue, 100%
11 D6751 0.05% max. 0.05% max. % mass
sample
12 Sulphur D5453 0.05% max. 0.05% max. % mass
13 Free Fatty Acid D664 0.5% max. 0.5% max. % mass

M.E. Thesis
7.8 DETERMINATION OF FUEL PROPERTIES
Kinematic Viscosity: Viscosity is defined as the resistance to shear or flow; it is highly dependent on
temperature and it describes the behaviour of a liquid in motion near a solid boundary like the walls
of a pipe. The kinematic viscosity test calls for a glass capillary viscometer with a calibration
constant (c) given in mm2/s. The kinematic viscosity determination requires the measurement of the
time (t) the fluid takes to go from point A to point B inside the viscometer. The kinematic viscosity
(ν) is calculated by means of the following equation:
γ= c · t
ASTM D445, Standard Test Method for Kinematic Viscosity of Transparent and Opaque Liquids
(and Calculation of Dynamic Viscosity) is used. The units of kinematic viscosity are centistokes
(cSt) or cm2/s.
Flash Point: Flash point of a fuel is the temperature at which it will ignite when exposed to a flame
or spark. The flash point of biodiesel is higher than mineral diesel, which is safe for transport
purpose. All fuel samples are tested to determine the flash points by closed cup tester as per ASTM
Method D93-90. Flash point measures the tendency of the sample to form a flammable mixture with
air under controlled laboratory conditions. Flash point can indicate the possible presence of highly
volatile and flammable materials in relatively non-volatile or non-flammable material.
Cetane Number: Cetane number is indicative of its ignition characteristics. The cetane number is a
measure of how easily ignition occurs and the smoothness of combustion. The higher the cetane
number the better are its ignition properties. Cetane number affects a number of engine performance
parameters like combustion, stability, white smoke, noise and emissions of CO and HC.
Calorific value: Calorific Value is a measure of the energy available in a fuel, which is determined
by ASTM D240-92. Calorific value of all fuels is determined by the adiabatic oxygen bomb
calorimeter with differential thermometer measurement.
Water and Sediment: Water and sediment testing is done using 100 mL of biodiesel and centrifuging
it at 1870 rpm for 11 minutes. If the water and sediment level is below 0.005 % by volume (vol),
the result is reported as <0.005 % vol. Water and sediment tests are done as per ASTM D2709
Standard Test Method for Water and Sediment in Middle Distillate Fuels by Centrifuge.
Sulphated Ash: ASTM D874 measures sulphated ash that may come from abrasive solids, soluble
metallic soaps, and unremoved catalysts. The biodiesel is ignited and burned and then treated with
sulfuric acid to determine the percentage of sulphated ash present in the biodiesel. The sulphated ash
determination of biodiesel samples in this study is done following ASTM D874, Standard Test
Method for Sulphated Ash from Lubricating Oils and Additives.

M.E. Thesis
Carbon Residue: Carbon residue of the fuel is indicative of carbon depositing tendencies of the fuel.
Carbon Residue for biodiesel is more important than that in diesel fuel because it shows a high
correlation with presence of free fatty acids, glycerides, soaps, polymers, higher unsaturated fatty
acids and inorganic impurities. The presence of high level of alcohol in biodiesel causes accelerated
deterioration of natural rubber seals and gaskets. Therefore, control of alcohol content is required.
The carbon residue test indicates the extent of deposits that result from the combustion of a fuel.
Carbon residue which is formed by decomposition and subsequent pyrolysis of the fuel components
can clog the fuel injectors. ASTM D6751 includes carbon residue as a standard for biodiesel. The
maximum allowable carbon residue for biodiesel is 0.050 % by mass.
Free Fatty Acid Content in the Oil: The interaction of FFA in the feedstock and sodium methoxide
catalyst may form emulsions which make separation of the biodiesel more difficult; possibly leading
to yield loss. Emulsions can also increase cost by introducing extra cleaning steps and replacement
of filters. To minimize the generation of soaps during the reaction, the target reduction for FFA in the
feedstock is 0.5 wt % or less. The FFA determination is performed following two methods. ASTM
D664, Standard Test Method for Acid Number of Petroleum Products by Potentiometric Titration,
Method A, is first used to determine TAN in the samples, after this, the FFA values are calculated
using the mathematical formulas found in the American Oil Chemists’ Society. Sodium hydroxide
solution (0.1N) is prepared by mixing 4grams of NaOH crystal with 1liter water. 25ml of 0.1N
NaOH solution is taken in a clean and dry burette and also 50 ml of Isopropyl alcohol is taken in a
clean and dry 250 ml conical flask. Few drops of NaOH and 10grams of oil is added to the flask and
stirred well. Then the mixture is heated above 600C after which the mixture is allowed to cool for
some time and few drops of phenolphthalein indicator are added. Now, this mixture is titrated against
0.1N NaOH from burette. Titration is continued till colour persists for at least one minute and the
burette readings are noted.
Saponification Value: The saponification value is defined as the amount of potassium hydroxide
(KOH) in milligrams required to saponify one gram of fat or oil under the conditions specified.
Based on the length of the fatty acids present in the triacylglycerol molecule, the weight of the
triacylglycerol molecule changes which in turn affects the amount of KOH required to saponify the
molecule. An American Standard for Testing Material (ASTM) method- (D 5558-95) is used for the
determination of the Saponification Value. The method includes refluxing the known amount of fat
or oil with a fixed but excess amount of alcoholic KOH. The amount of KOH remaining after
hydrolysis is determined by back titrating with standardized 0.5 N HCl and the amount of KOH
consumed during saponification is calculated.

M.E. Thesis
Acid Number: The TAN (total acid number) determination is an important test to assess the quality
of a particular biodiesel. It can indicate the degree of hydrolysis of the methyl ester, a particularly
important aspect when considering storage and transportation as large quantities of free fatty acids
can cause corrosion in tanks. The TAN determination in the biodiesel samples is performed
following ASTM D664 Standard Test Method for Acid Number of Petroleum Products by
Potentiometric Titration, Method.
Iodine Value: Iodine number is a measure of the degree of un-saturation of the fuel, which can lead
to deposit formation and storage stability problems with fuels. The maximum acceptable limit is 115
to 135 according to ASTM standards.0.5g of oils is weighed into conical flask and 20ml of carbon
tetrachloride is added to dissolve the oil. 25ml of Wig’s reagent is added to the flask using a
measuring cylinder in a fume chamber. Stopper is then inserted and the content of the flask is
vigorously swirled. The flask is then placed in the dark for 35minutes. At the end of this period, 20ml
of 10% aqueous potassium iodide and 100ml of water are added using a measuring cylinder. The
content is titrated with 0.1M sodium thiosulphate solution. Few drops of 1% starch indicator are
added and the titration continued by adding the sodium thiosulphate drop wise until coloration
disappeared after vigorously shaking. The same procedure is used for the blank test. The Iodine
Value (I.V) is given by the expression:
Iodine Value = {12.69C (V1-V2)} / M
Where
C = concentration of sodium thiosulphate
V1 = volume of sodium thiosulphate used for blank
V2 = volume of sodium thiosulphate used for determination
M = mass of sample

M.E. Thesis
7.9 PROPERTIES OF FUEL

Various properties of fuel such as kinematic viscosity, density, calorific value, flash point and cetane
number were determined and are listed in Table 7.2.
Table 7.2 Properties of fuel
ASTM Limits
Sl. No. Property Units Diesel PLOME
Method (B100)
Pale
1 Colour - - - Orange
Yellow
2 Density D941 - kg/m³ 850 737
Kinematic
3 D445 1.9-6 mm²/s 2.5 5.48
Viscosity, 40°C
4 Calorific Value D2015 - kJ/kg 42000 29000
5 Fire Point D93 - °C 56 178
130
6 Flash Point D93 °C 50 154
min.
7 Cetane Index D613 47 min. - 55 61

M.E. Thesis
CHAPTER 8
EXPERIMENTATION

M.E. Thesis
8.1 EXPERIMENTAL SETUP

The engine test was conducted on a single cylinder four-stroke Diesel Engine with injection
timing of 23 degrees BTDC, injection pressure of 180, 17.5:1 compression ratio and a speed of 1500
RPM. To first start the engine and bring it to steady state, it was hand cranked with pure diesel
supply. The engine was coupled to an eddy current dynamometer that allowed varying the load on
the engine from no-load to full load. The engine test rig was computerized and both the engine and
dynamometer were interfaced to a control panel in a computer. The computer had ‘Engine Analysis
Software’ which recorded test parameters such as temperature, air flow rate, fuel flow rate, load etc.
The schematic diagram of engine test rig and photographic views are as shown in Fig. 8.1.1and 8.2.
Figure 8.1: Schematic Diagram of the Experimental Setup
Figure 8.2: Computerized Diesel Engine Test Rig

M.E. Thesis
8.2 EXPERIMENTAL MEASUREMENT SYSTEM

The test bed is fully instrumented to measure the various parameters such as flow, load and
pressure, etc. during the experiments on the engine.
8.2.1 Air Flow Measurement

Air flow measurement is done by the flow sensors, a conventional U-tube manometer as well
as air intake differential pressure transducers unit present in the control panel. There are two parallel
air suction arrangements, one for U-tube manometer another for pressure differential unit, which
senses the difference in pressure between suction and atmospheric pressure. This difference in
pressure will be sent to transducer which will give the DC volt analog signal as output which in turn
will be converted into digital signal by analog to digital converter and fed to the engine software. For
liquid fuel flow rate measurement, the fuel tank in the control panel is connected to the burette for
manual measurement and to a fuel flow differential pressure unit for measurement through computer.
Cooling water flow to the engine and calorimeter is measured by means of a calibrated Rota meter
with stainless steel float.
8.2.2 Load Measurement

The eddy current dynamometer is provided to test the engine at different loading conditions.
A strain gauge type load cell mounted beneath the dynamometer measures the load. The signals from
the load cell are interfaced with analog to digital converter to give Torque in N-m. The dynamometer
is loaded by the loading unit situated in the control panel
8.2.3 Pressure Measurement

A water cooled piezoelectric transducer mounted on the cylinder head surface measures the
cylinder dynamic pressure and a piezoelectric transducer mounted on the fuel line near the injector
measures the fuel injection pressure.
8.2.4 Engine Speed Measurement

Engine speed is sensed and is indicated by an inductive pickup sensor in conjunction with a
digital rpm indicator, which is a part of the eddy current dynamometer control unit. The
dynamometer shaft rotating close to inductive pickup rotary encoder sends voltage pulses whose
frequency is converted to rpm and displayed by digital indicator in the control panel, which is
calibrated to indicate the speed directly in number of revolutions per minute.

M.E. Thesis
Table 8.1: Specifications Diatron2200C5 Pressure Transducer
Measurement Parameters Range
Resonant Frequency 250kHz
Rise time (Nominal) 2μSec
Acceleration Sensitivity (Axial direction) 0.002 PSI/G
Linearity 1% Full Scale (F.S.)
Temperature range -100 to +500 0F
Coefficient of thermal sensitivity 0.01 0F
Maximum shock 10,000 G
Weight 25g
Environmental seal Epoxy
8.2.5 Temperature Measurement

Chromium-aluminum thermocouples connected to digital panel meter are positioned at
different locations to measures the temperatures at different locations of the experimental setup. All
the sensors which sense the temperature of respective locations are connected to the control panel,
which gives the digital reading of the respective temperatures.
Inlet water temperature at engine jacket T1

Outlet water temperature at engine jacket T2
Inlet water temperature at calorimeter T3
Outlet water temperature at calorimeter T4
Exhaust gas temperature before calorimeter T5
Exhaust gas temperature after calorimeter T6
8.2.6 Emission Measurement System

The test bed is fully instrumented with OROTECH exhaust gas analyzer to measure exhaust
gas emissions on the engine such as UBHC, CO, NOx and smoke opacity. Gas analyzer is meant for
monitoring CO, UBHC, and NOx in automotive exhaust. The smoke meter used to measure the
opacity of the exhaust gases. The exhaust gas analyzer used for emission measurements is shown in
Fig. 8.3.

M.E. Thesis
Figure 8.3: Exhaust Gas Analyzer
Table 8.2: Specifications OROTECH Exhaust Gas Analyzer
Measurement Parameters Range Resolution
Carbon Monoxide (CO) 0 – 10% vol. 0.001% vol.
Hydrocarbon (HC) 0 – 9999% ppm vol. 1.0 ppm vol.
Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx ) 0 – 5000 ppm vol. 1.0 ppm vol.
The AVL437C smoke meter used to measure the opacity of the exhaust gases. Opacity is the
extinction of light between light sources and receiver. Opacity is measured in percentage.The
Exhaust gas analyzer and smoke meter are shown in Fig 8.4

M.E. Thesis
Figure 8.4: Smoke Meter
Table 8.3: Specifications AVL437C Smoke Meter
Opacity 0-99.9% 0.1%

Linearity ±0.1 m-1 -
Repeatability ±0.1 m-1 -
Response time - Physical < 0.4 seconds -
Response time – Electrical < 1 millisecond -
Warm up time @ Atm. Conditions < 7 minutes -
Engine RPM 400-9990RPM 10RPM
Engine oil temperature 0-1500C 10C
Operating Temperature +50C to + 500C -
Smoke measuring cell length 215mm (430mm folded length) -
Table 8.4: Specifications of Multifuel Engine (Lab View 5.1) Software used for Measurement of
Combustion Parameters
Heat Release Rate (HRR) 0-100 kJ/ 0CA 0.01 kJ/ 0CA
Cylinder Pressure 0-300bar 0.1bar

M.E. Thesis
8.3 CALIBRATION OF INSTRUMENTS

All instruments were calibrated prior to their use in the tests. The dynamometer and pressure
sensors were calibrated by the suppliers. The temperature sensors were calibrated with reference to
standard thermometers. Rota meters were calibrated by manual measurement of the liquid flow rate
through a known time. Fig.8.5 shows the Snapshot of the Software in Calibration Mode.
Figure 8.5: Snapshot of the Software in Calibration

Mode
8.4 UNCERTAINTY ANALYSIS
The uncertainties of the parameters are calculated by sequential perturbation. Some of
average uncertainties of measured and calculated parameters are air flow rate(1.1%), liquid fuel flow
rate(0.1%), gas flow rate(2%), engine load(0.1%), engine speed(1.3%), cylinder pressure(0.8%),
temperature(1.0%), LCV of liquid fuel (1.0%). Based on these, the calculated accuracy of the
performance and combustion studies of the engine is found to be within ±4.6%. However, the
accuracy of emission study is found to be ±4.6%. The maximum values of coefficient of variance of
the performance parameters, viz., BTE and BSFC are 3 and 4% respectively. Whereas, the
combustion emission parameters namely, Peak Cylinder Pressure, Ignition Delay, CO, HC and NOx
have shown COVs of 5,4, 2, 2 and 6% respectively.
8.5 EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

The engine test was conducted on a single cylinder four-stroke Diesel Engine with injection
timing of 23 degrees BTDC, injection pressure of 180, 17.5:1 compression ratio and a speed of 1500
RPM. To first start the engine and bring it to steady state, it was hand cranked with pure diesel
supply. The engine was coupled to an eddy current dynamometer that allowed varying the load on

M.E. Thesis
the engine from no-load to full load in four steps. The experiments were conducted at no load, 25%,
50%, 75% and 100% of full load. The engine test rig was computerized and both the engine and
dynamometer were interfaced to a control panel in a computer. The computer had ‘Engine Analysis
Software’ which recorded test parameters such as temperature, air flow rate, fuel flow rate, load etc.
It also plotted the engine performance characteristics such as brake thermal efficiency, heat release
rate etc. The engine was run with B20PLOME, B20PLOME30A and B20PLOM30A15E keeping all
the above conditions constant. The performance, combustion and emission test were carried out.
8.5.1 Rated Injection Pressure

Experiments are carried out using the optimum biodiesel blend. One of the most important
parts of the CI engine is its injection system. Engine performance depends on a proper functioning of
injection system that must supply, meter, inject and atomize the fuel.
Fig. 8.6 shows Bosch fuel injection system, which is used to get desirable injection
depending on the turbulence in the combustion chamber and engine speed.
Figure 8.6: Bosch Fuel Pump and Fuel Injector
Experiments are carried out with optimum biodiesel blend. The engine is run at the rated
injection pressure of 180 bar and injection timing of 270 bTDC for B20PLOME and Diesel fuel.
8.5.2 Preparation of blends

B20PLOME is prepared by mixing 20% by volume biodiesel with 80% by volume diesel in a
beaker and stirring it for 15 minutes at constant room temperature. B20PLOME30A is prepared by
adding 30 mg of alumina nanoparticles to 1 liter of B20PLOME biodiesel blend. B20PlOME30A15E
is prepared by adding 15 ml of pure ethanol to the B20PLOME30A blend.

M.E. Thesis
8.5.3 Addition of nanoparticles

The nanoparticles are added to B20PLOME biodiesel fuel with the help of an ultrasonicator
at a frequency of 24 kHz. The process is carried out for 30 minutes. The mass fraction of the
nanoparticles is 30 mg/L. It is weighed using an electronic weighing machine with a least count of 1
mg. The ultrasonication technique disperses the nanoparticles in a base fluid, which is the biodiesel
fuel in this case. It is the best suited technique since it prevents the aggregation of nanoparticles by
agitating the particles using pulsating ultrasonic frequencies.
8.5.3 Addition of Ethanol

Ethanol is added with a composition of 15 ml of ethanol per litre of B20PLOME30A
biodiesel fuel. The mixing process is carried out by constant stirring on the magnetic stirrer for 30
minutes without any heating, maintaining the mixture at room temperature. This final mixture is
symbolized as B20PLOME30A15E.

M.E. Thesis
CHAPTER 9
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

M.E. Thesis
9.1 INTRODUCTION
The engine was run with pure diesel, B20PLOME, B20PLOME30A, and B20PLOME30A15E at an
injection pressure of 180 bar. The performance, combustion and emission characteristics of
B20PLOME, B20PLOME30A and B20PLOME30A15E were compared to that of diesel, the results
were tabulated and graphs were plotted.
9.2 PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS

The performance parameters, such as brake thermal efficiency were studied. The results obtained
with diesel fuel at 180 bar injection pressure are taken as baseline data for comparison with
B20PLOME, B20PLOME30A and B20PLOME30A15E, and results are shown in Figure 9.1.
9.2.1Break Thermal Efficiency (BTE)

Figure 9.1 shows the variation of BTE with load. BTE of all the blends increased with increase in
load. The B20PLOME blend shows an increase the BTE due to better combustion. This is due to the
oxygen content within the methyl ester. Addition of nanoparticles (B20PLOME30A) further
improves BTE because of enhanced surface area to volume ratio, which leads to more fuel reacting
with air causing rapid evaporation and combustion.B20PLOME30A15E blend showed a further
increase in the combustion efficiency due to additional oxygen content from ethanol. Ethanol also
decreases the density and viscosity of the fuel which improves atomization.
Figure 9.1 Variation of BTE with Load

M.E. Thesis
9.3 SUMMARY
From the above discussions, it is clear that addition of nanoparticles and ethanol has remarkable
effect on performance of B20PLOME fueled Diesel engine. The biodiesel has slightly higher
viscosity and density than the Diesel. These are the main properties of the fuel which influence the
spray characteristics and hence the combustion is greatly affected.
9.4 COMBUSTION CHARACTERISTICS
9.4.1 P-Θ Curve

The variation of peak pressure shown by different fuels for various crank angles is shown in Figure
9.2. At full load, the peak pressure of B20PLOME was higher than that of diesel for all loads. This
can be attributed to the longer ignition delay and higher oxygen content in case of B20PLOME. At
full load, B20PLOME30A showed greater peak pressure than diesel due to higher ignition delay and
due to more complete combustion because of improved surface area volume ratio. For
B20PLOME30A15E, the combustion pressure increases due to better mixing of air and fuel which
results in better combustion and addition of ethanol causes lower cetane number of the blend hence
longer ignition delay [8].
Figure 9.2 Variation of Cylinder Pressure with Crank Angle

M.E. Thesis
9.4.2 Heat Release Rate

The heat release rate is the most valuable source of information for the combustion mechanism in
diesel engines. Biodiesel has higher viscosity and poor volatility which causes the slow vaporization
and hence there is an increase in physical delay. The calculation of heat release rate for diesel engine
needs the instantaneous p-V data recorded during experiments. The crank angel encoder connected to
the engine shaft detects each degree (10) rotation of crank for each cycle hence for a particular cycle
a total of 720 data for both cylinder pressure and volume are recorded at each load. The equation
used for heat release rate is obtained from the first law analysis by implementing the rate of pressure
rise and rate of volume change, which is given below:
𝑑𝑄𝑛 𝛾 𝑑𝑉 1 𝑑𝑃
= [(𝛾−1 ×𝑃× 𝑑𝜃 ) + (𝛾−1 ×𝑉× 𝑑𝜃 )]J/0CA
𝑑𝜃
Where dQn/dθ is the heat release rate in J/0CA, γ= ratio of specific heats,
P=instantaneous cylinder pressure in N/m2 and V= Cylinder volume in m3, dV/dθ = change of
volume per unit change of crank angle, dP/dθ = Change of pressure per unit change of crank angle.
Figure 9.3 shows the variation of HRR for various crank angles. B20PLOME shows marginal
increase in HRR when compared to diesel. At full load, HRR is slightly greater than diesel due to
more oxygen molecules present in molecular structure of B20PLOME than diesel. B20PLOME30A
shows marginal increase in HRR compared to diesel because of better combustion improved
atomization and rapid evaporation [9]. The HRR of B20PLOME30A is slightly lower than
B20PLOME because the addition of nanoparticles causes advancement in combustion.
B20PLOME30A15E shows higher HRR than B20PLOME30A because the longer ignition delay due
to addition of ethanol causes rapid combustion in premixed phase and results in increase of HRR [9].
9.5 SUMMARY
From the above discussions, it can be observed that addition of ethanol increases the heat release rate
and peak cylinder pressure, thereby increasing the thermal efficiency and lowering emissions.

M.E. Thesis
Figure 9.3 Variation of HRR with Crank Angle
9.6 EMISSION CHARACTERISTICS
9.6.1 Oxides of Nitrogen (NOX)

Figure 9.4 shows the variation of NOx for various loads. Atmospheric nitrogen is stable at NTP and
exists as a diatomic molecule. However, inside the engine cylinder where it is subjected to high
temperature and pressure, it reacts with oxygen to form various oxides. These are designated as NOx.
NOx formation is strongly time and temperature dependent phenomena. NOx emissions increased
with increase in load for all fuels, this happens because with increase in the load, the temperature of
the combustion chamber and rate at which temperature rises in the cylinder increases. The HRR is
high in the case of B20PLOME as a result of the temperature inside cylinder increasing rapidly,
thereby increasing NOx emissions when compared to diesel. The NOx emission of B20PLOME30A
appears to decrease marginally as compared to that of diesel, this is because the catalytic behaviour
of nanoparticles will promote the reaction in the forward direction and form final products with the
least thermal break down of the hydrocarbon compounds. The B20PLOME30A15E blend showed a
marginal increase in NOx emissions when compared to diesel. This can be attributed to the higher
heat release rate of the B20PLOME30A15E blend.

M.E. Thesis
Figure 9.4 Variation of NOx with Load
9.6.2 Carbon Monoxide (CO) Emissions
Figure 9.5 Variation of CO with Load
Figure 9.5 shows the variation of CO emissions for various loads. CO emissions decreased at part
load and again increased at full load condition for all fuels. B20PLOME blend showed a decrease in
CO emissions when compared to diesel. This can be attributed to the higher oxygen content in the

M.E. Thesis
methyl esters. The catalytic behaviour of nanoparticles, improved ignition characteristics of alumina
nanoparticles and the shortening of ignition delay further decreased the CO emissions of
B20PLOME30A blend when compared to B20PLOME blend. The higher oxygen content of
B20PLOME30A15E blend further promoted the oxidation of CO to CO2 and decreased CO
emissions when compared to B20PLOME blend [10].
9.6.3 Unburnt Hydrocarbon (UBHC) Emissions

Figure 9.6 shows the variation of UBHC emissions for various loads. The UBHC emission for all
fuels increases with increase in load. UBHC emissions for all blends are lower than that of diesel. At
full load B20PLOME, B20PLOME30A and B20PLOME30A15E showed respectively 21.2%, 37.5%
and 30.3% reduction in UBHC emissions when compared to diesel. The B20PLOME blend is
comprised of animal fat oil methyl esters i.e., it contains hydrocarbon chains whose one end of the
chain is oxygenated. The presence of oxygen in biodiesel promotes combustion that leads to
lowering the hydrocarbon emissions [11]. The B20PLOME30A blend showed a further decrease in
UBHC emissions, this can be attributed to the catalytic behaviour of alumina nanoparticles. The
alumina nanoparticles are responsible for shortening the ignition delay and hence further reduce
UBHC emissions [12]. At lower loads the B20PLOME30A15E blend displayed a decrease in UBHC
emissions when compared to B20PLOME30A. However, at loads above 50% an increase in UBHC
emissions was observed when compared to B20PLOME30A. This is because of the lower
combustion temperature which is caused by the higher latent heat of vaporization of ethanol [13].
Figure 9.6 Variation of UBHC with Load

M.E. Thesis
9.6.4 Smoke Opacity

Figure 9.7 shows the variation smoke opacity with load. It is observed that the smoke opacity of
exhaust gases increases with load for all fuels. Smoke emission is closely related to the ignition
delay, volatility and fuel oxygen content. The extended ignition delay and high volatility can
improve the fuel-air mixing process, and the oxygen in fuel can reduce the formation of soot
precursors and enhance soot oxidation [14]. Due to higher viscosity of B20PLOME and
B20PLOME30A, the volatility and air-fuel mixing of these blends is poor. Also since the molecules
of B20PLOME and B20PLOME30A are heavier, they lead to an increase in smoke opacity of
exhaust gases when compared to diesel [15]. It can be observed that smoke opacity of
B20PLOME30A15E is marginally higher than that of diesel and lower than that of B20PLOME and
B20PLOME30A. This is because adding ethanol to the blend increased the oxygen content and
volatility and reduced soot precursor concentration [16].
Figure 9.7 Variation of Smoke Opacity with Load

M.E. Thesis
9.7 SUMMARY
From the above discussions, it is clear that addition of nanoparticles and ethanol has remarkable
effect on emissions of B20PLOME fuelled Diesel engine. The biodiesel has slightly higher viscosity
and density than the Diesel. These are the main properties of the fuel which influence the spray
characteristics and hence the combustion is greatly affected. Addition of nanoparticles will result in
fine atomization by better air-fuel mixture leading to better combustion and reduced emission.
Addition of ethanol increases the oxygen content and volatility of the mixture leading to better
combustion and reduced emission.

M.E. Thesis
CHAPTER 10
CONCLUSION AND SCOPE

FOR FUTURE WORK

M.E. Thesis
10.1 CONCLUSION
The engine tests were conducted with B20PLOME, B20PLOME30A and B20PLOME30A15E from
no load to full load conditions and the corresponding performance, combustion and emission
characteristics were studied in comparison with diesel. The following results were observed.
1. Upon transesterification of poultry litter oil, it is observed that there is a reduction in
kinematic viscosity and density whereas the calorific value is observed to increase.
2. All the three blends showed increased BTE when compared to diesel. B20PLOME30A15E
showed a 10.7% increase in BTE when compared to diesel.
3. The cylinder pressure was found maximum for B20PLOME30A15E.
4. The addition of ethanol increases the volatility and oxygen content which promotes
combustion, as a result a further reduction in CO emissions and smoke opacity were observed
when compared to B20PLOME and B20PLOME30A.
5. Addition of ethanol increases the ignition delay period, as a result B20PLOME30A15E
shows maximum peak cylinder pressure and hence the NOx emissions of
B20PLOME30A15E were marginally higher than that of B20PLOME30A.
6. At load of 50%, the UBHC emissions of B20PLOME30A15E were marginally higher than
that of B20PLOME30A, this is due to higher latent heat of vaporisation of ethanol which
reduces the combustion temperature.
7. This proves that Poultry litter oil biodiesel with alumina nanoparticles and ethanol as additive
can be used as a renewable and environment friendly fuel, minimising the use of mineral
diesel. Also, Poultry litter oil can be utilized as fuel through this waste management
technique.

M.E. Thesis
10.2 SCOPE FOR FUTURE WORK

• The study of performance and emissions of CI engine with variation of injection pressure and
injection timing for B20PLOME fuel combinations.
• The study of performance and emissions of CI engine with variation injection pressure and
timing along with additives like Nanoparticles and Ethanol for B20PLOME fuel
combinations.
• This work is carried out in a single cylinder engine for which satisfactory results are obtained.
These experiments shall be carried out on multi cylinder engine. Performance and emissions
of multi cylinder engine shall be compared with single cylinder engine.
• Performance and emissions tests with these fuels can be carried out in an adiabatic engine by
insulating the piston crown, cylinder liner and cylinder head, the gases in cylinder will
become much hotter and hence more work can be extracted from them.
• Stability analysis for B20PLOME blends for long duration could be conducted.

M.E. Thesis
REFERENCES

M.E. Thesis
[1] Xiaoyan Shi , Xiaobing Pang , Yujing Mu , Hong He, Shijin Shuai , Jianxin Wang , Hu Chen ,
Rulong Li, Emission reduction potential of using ethanol–biodiesel–diesel fuel blend on a heavy-
duty diesel engine, Atmospheric Environment, Vol 40 Issue 14, May 2006, 2567–2574
[2]Darunde Dhiraj S., Prof. Deshmukh Mangesh M., Biodiesel Production From Animal Fats And Its
Impact On The Diesel Engine With Ethanol-Diesel Blends: A Review, IJETAE, Vol 2, Issue 10,
October 2012, ISSN 2250-2459
[3] Sri Harsha Tirumala, A.V.Rohit, Siva Krishna.M, Sudipta Saha, Synthesis of neem biodiesel,
IJAET, Vol 3, Issue 1, January-March, 2012, 316-318, E-ISSN 0976-3945
[4] Dr. Sadhik B. J., Anand, R. B. Effects of nanoparticle additive in the water diesel emulsion fuel
on the performance, emission and combustioncharacteristics of a diesel engine, Journal of Vehicle
Design, Vol 59, Issue 2/3, 164-181, 2012
[5] Nithin Samuel, Muhammed Shefeek K, Performance and Emission Characteristics of a C.I.
Engine with Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles as Additive to Diesel, IJSR, Vol 4, Issue 7, July 2015,
ISSN (Online): 2319-7064
[6] S.P. Venkatesan, Kadiresh PN, Influence of Aluminum Oxide Nanoparticle Additive on
Performance and Exhaust Emissions of Diesel Engine, IJAER, Vol 10, Issue 3, Jan 2015, 5741-5749
[7] Ramesh D K , Dhananjaya Kumar J L, Hemanth Kumar S G, Namith V, Parashuram Basappa
Jambagi, Sharath S, Study on effects of Alumina nanoparticles as additive with Poultry litter
biodiesel on Performance, Combustion and Emission characteristic of Diesel engine, Proceedings
PMME(2016) EMT–338.
[8] Krzysztof Gorski, Ruslands Smigins, Impact of ether/ethanol and biodiesel blends on combustion
process of compression ignition engine, Engineering for Rural Development, Jelgava, 26, 2011.
[9] V. Arul Mozhi Selvan, R. B. Anand and M. Udayakumar, Effects of cerium oxide nanoparticle
addition in diesel and diesel-biodiesel-ethanol blends on the performance and emission
characteristics of a CI engine, ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Vol 4, Issue 7,
September 2009, ISSN 1819-6608
[10] K. Ramarao, C. J. Rao , D. Sreeramulu, The Experimental Investigation on Performance and
Emission Characteristics of a Single Cylinder Diesel Engine using Nano Additives in Diesel and
Biodiesel, Indian Journal of Science and Technology, Vol 8, Issue 29, November 2015
[11] Senthil Kumar, Ramesh A and Nagalingam B, Experimental investigation on Jatropha oil-
Methanol duel fuel engine, SAE Technical Paper, Vol 0153, Issue 01, 2001
[12] Yetter R. A., Grant A R, Steven F S, Metal particle combustion and nanotechnology,
Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 2009, Vol 32, Issue 2, 1819-1838

M.E. Thesis
[13] Hwanam Kim, Byungchul Choi, The effect of biodiesel and bioethanol blended diesel fuel on
nanoparticles and exhaust emissions from CRDI diesel engine, Renewable Energy, 2010, Vol 35,
Issue 1, 157-163
[14] Zunquing Zheng, Xiaofeng Wang, Xiaofan Zhong, Bin Hu, Haifeng Liu, Mingfa Yao,
Experimental study on the combustion and emission fuelling biodiesel/n-butanol, biodiesel/ethanol,
and biodiesel/2,5-dimethylfuran on a diesel engine, Elsevier Energy, Vol 115, Issue 1, November
2016, 539–549
[15] Baluswamy T, Marappan R, Performance evaluation of direct injection diesel engine with
blends of Thevetia peruviana seed oil and diesel, Journal for Scientific and Industrial Research, Vol
66, December 2007, 1035-1040
[16] M. Mofijur, M.G. Rasul, J. Hyde, Recent developments on internal combustion engine
performance and emissions fuelled with biodiesel-diesel-ethanol blends, Procedia Engineering, Vol
105, 2015, 658–664

M.E. Thesis
APPENDIX

M.E. Thesis
EXPERIMENTAL SETUP SPECIFICATIONS

Table A1: Specifications of Engine
Four-stroke, single cylinder, variable speed,

Engine water cooled Diesel engine
BHP 5.2kW @ 1500 rpm
Bore x Stroke 102 mm x 116 mm
Stroke Volume 948cc
Compression Ratio 17.5:1
Connecting Rod Length 230mm
Dynamometer Eddy current
Load Measurement Strain Gage Load cell
Water Flow Measurement Rota meter
Fuel and Air Measurement Differential Pressure Unit
Speed Measurement Rotary Encoder
Interfacing Computerized
Calorific Value of Diesel 46 MJ/kg
Injection Pressure 180 bar
Injection timing 270bTDC

M.E. Thesis
PROCEEDINGS

M.E. Thesis
The paper written on partial part of this thesis has been presented in the following conferences-
Conference Venue Outcome
The Automotive Research

Symposium on International
Association of India, Pune, Second place
Automative Technology 2017
Maharashtra
International Conference on
P.E.S. College of Engineering,
Advances in Mechanical Participation
Mandya, Karnataka
Engineering Sciences 2017
The paper written on partial part of this thesis is under review in-
• Journal of Environmental Science and Pollution Research by Springer

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A project report on

STUDY ON EFFECTS OF ADDITION OF ETHANOL AS

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of degree of

Under the guidance of

Project work carried out at

UNIVERSITY VISVESVARAYA COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

(Signature of the Guide) (Signature of the Guide) (Signature of the Chairman)

Name of the Examiners Signature with Date

We, Nishad Rajmalwar (13GAEM9053), T Sreeharsha Varma (13GAEM9099) and

dissertation entitled “STUDY ON EFFECTS OF ADDITION OF ETHANOL AS

ADDITIVE WITH BLEND OF POULTRY LITTER BIODIESEL AND ALUMINA

NANOPARTICLES ON PERFORMANCE, COMBUSTION AND EMISSION

CHARACTERISTICS OF DIESEL ENGINE”, is an authentic record of the work that

under the guidance of DR. D.K. RAMESHA, Associate Professor, Department of

Mechanical Engineering and DR. K.V. SHARMA, Professor, Department of Mechanical

Engineering of University Visvesvaraya College Of Engineering, Bangalore University,

Place: Bangalore Nishad Rajmalwar

We place on record our sincere gratitude to Sri. Mrithyunajaya Swamy K M,

Bangalore Nishad Rajmalwar

LIST OF FIGURES viii

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1-6

1.1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION 2

1.2 ALTERNATIVE FUELS 3

1.6 PRESENT SCENARIO 5

1.7 SCOPE OF PRESENT WORK 6

2.1 PREVIOUS RESEARCH WORKS 8

2.2 POULTRY INDUSTRY IN THE WORLD 11

2.4 PROBLEM FORMULATION 13

CHAPTER 3 BIODIESEL: AN OVERVIEW 14-21

3.2 BIODIESEL AS GOOD ALTERNATIVE 15

3.3 DEVELOPMENT OF BIODIESEL IN INDIA 15

3.4 PROPOSED BIODIESEL SPECIFICATION FOR 16

3.7 BIODIESEL FACTS 19

3.8 PLOME: BASIC CONCEPT 20

3.8.1 Poultry Litter Production 20

3.8.2 Poultry Waste Production Rate 21

CHAPTER 4 NANOPARTICLES: AN OVERVIEW 22-25

4.2.1 Alumina Nanoparticles (Alumina, Al2O3) 24

CHAPTER 5 ETHANOL: AN OVERVIEW 26-28

5.1 ETHANOL FUEL 27

5.2 ETHANOL FUEL PROPERTIES 27

CHAPTER 6 OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY 29-31

CHAPTER 7 PREPARATION OF BIODIESEL 32-42

7.1 BIODIESEL PRODUCTION 33

7.2 TRANSESTERIFICATION PROCESS 33

7.3 ACID VALUE DETERMINATION 34

7.4 OPTIMIZATION PROCEDURE 35

7.4.2 Acid Catalyzed Esterification 35

7.4.3 Alkaline Esterification 36

7.5 WATER WASH 36

7.7 FUEL BLEND PREPARATION 37

7.8 DETERMINATION OF FUEL PROPERTIES 39

CHAPTER 8 EXPERIMENTATION 43-51

8.1 EXPERIMENTAL SETUP 44

8.2 EXPERIMENTAL MEASUREMENT SYSTEM 45

8.2.1 Air Flow Measurement 45

8.2.2 Load Measurement 45

8.2.3 Pressure Measurement 45

8.2.4 Engine Speed Measurement 45

8.2.5 Temperature Measurement 46

8.2.6 Emission Measurement System 46

8.3 CALIBRATION OF INSTRUMENTS 49

8.4 UNCERTAINTY ANALYSIS 49