A unified methodology for predicting surface tension of oil and biodiesel is proposed. Effects of transesterification and compositional variations on surface tension of biodiesel are discussed and methods to address the variations are suggested.

K. Anand

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Thangaraja J

Anand K

Mehta P.S.

Biodiesel

Diesel fuels

Fatty acids

Fuels

INFLATABLE STRUCTURES

Vegetable oils

BIO-DIESEL FUEL

Compositional variation

FATTY ACIDS AND METHYL ESTERS

FUEL SPRAYS

Mixing rules

SURFACE TENSION VALUES

Temperature range

Weighted averages

Surface tension

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IIT Madras has been ranked as the top engineering institute in India for four years in a row by the National Institutional Ranking Framework of the MHRD

It currently offers undergraduate, postgraduate and research degrees across 16 disciplines in Engineering, Sciences, Humanities and Management. About 596 faculty belonging to science and engineering departments and centres of the Institute are engaged in teaching, research and industrial consultancy.

IIT Madras

RSC Advances

The increased focus on alternative fuels research in the recent years are mainly driven by escalating crude oil prices, stringent emission norms and the concern on clean environment. The processed form of vegetable oil (biodiesel) has emerged as a potential substitute for diesel fuel on account of its renewable source and lesser emissions. The experimental work reported here has been carried out on a turbocharged, direct injection, multi-cylinder truck diesel engine fitted with mechanical distributor type fuel injection pump using biodiesel-methanol blend and neat karanji oil derived biodiesel under constant speed and varying load conditions without altering injection timings. The results of the experimental investigation indicate that the ignition delay for biodiesel-methanol blend is slightly higher as compared to neat biodiesel and the maximum increase is limited to 1 deg. CA. The maximum rate of pressure rise follow a trend of the ignition delay variations at these operating conditions. However, the peak cylinder pressure and peak energy release rate decreases for biodiesel-methanol blend. In general, a delayed start of combustion and lower combustion duration are observed for biodiesel-methanol blend compared to neat biodiesel fuel. A maximum thermal efficiency increase of 4.2% due to 10% methanol addition in the biodiesel is seen at 80% load and 16.67 s-1 engine speed. The unburnt hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions are slightly higher for the methanol blend compared to neat biodiesel at low load conditions whereas at higher load conditions unburnt hydrocarbon emissions are comparable for the two fuels and carbon monoxide emissions decrease significantly for the methanol blend. A significant reduction in nitric oxide and smoke emissions are observed with the biodiesel-methanol blend investigated. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.

Biomass and Bioenergy

Experimental investigations on combustion, performance and emissions characteristics of neat karanji biodiesel and its methanol blend in a diesel engine

Among the various alternative fuels, biodiesel is emerging as a promising choice for compression ignition engines due to its renewable nature and superior emission characteristics. The experimental investigations conducted by various researchers on variety of biodiesel fuels show a wide variation in engine performance and emission characteristics. The lack of correlations predicting various physical properties of biodiesel fuels derived from different feed stocks is posing a serious limitation to the combustion modelers. The present study attempts to evolve a comprehensive methodology for estimating the properties of biodiesel fuels based on their composition and chemical structure. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Applied Thermal Engineering

A comprehensive approach for estimating thermo-physical properties of biodiesel fuels

Among the various alternative fuels, vegetable-oil-based fuels have been attracting greater attention as a promising alternative to fossil diesel fuel in compression ignition (CI) engines. Fuel viscosity has a definite effect on fuel injection, spray development, and combustion processes of CI engines; hence, the viscosity estimation of new candidate fuels is significant. This paper discusses the methodologies used to estimate the viscosities of vegetable oil and biodiesel fuels, based on their fatty acid composition. While the methyl ester composition of biodiesel is directly related to the fatty acid composition of the oil, a basis for determining the triglyceride composition to estimate the straight vegetable oil viscosity is elucidated in the paper. The proposed methodologies are validated over a wide range of available viscosity data for vegetable oils and biodiesel fuels of varying composition and for varying temperatures. A comparison of the estimated viscosities with the measured values for 13 vegetable oils and 14 biodiesel samples shows an agreement within a predicted error of 10%. © 2009 American Chemical Society.

Energy and Fuels

Estimating the viscosity of vegetable oil and biodiesel fuels

Because of the renewable nature, emission advantage, and easy adaptation, vegetable-oil-based fuels are emerging as the most promising alternatives to fossil diesel for use in compression-ignition engines. In this study, a unified approach is proposed for predicting the densities of straight and processed vegetable oils from their fatty acid composition, obviating the need of measured values particularly for use in process modeling studies. The proposed methodology has been validated using the measured densities of 11 different vegetable oils and 13 different processed vegetable oils. The predictions are found to be in good agreement (∼1% error) even at higher temperatures up to 90 °C. © 2010 American Chemical Society.

Predicting the density of straight and processed vegetable oils from fatty acid composition

Who's Who

Levin, David Saul, (born 28 Jan. 1962), Chief Executive, McGraw-Hill Education, New York, since 2014

Predicting surface tension for vegetable oil and biodiesel fuels

Journal	Data powered by TypesetRSC Advances
Publisher	Data powered by TypesetRoyal Society of Chemistry
ISSN	20462069
Open Access	No