Biodiesel Development from Cebia Pentandra Seed Oil and Performance Evaluation in a Ci Engine

Fossil fuels are widely known as non-renewable due to the depletion of naturally occurring reserves and also result in environmental degradation. Renewable fuel are necessary for sustainable economic and environmental development. An alternative to petroleum sourced fuels is bio-diesel derived from edible and non-edible oils. Bio-diesel is also known as Fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) since chemically, bio-diesel is mono alkyl esters of long chain fatty acids obtained from renewable sources like vegetable oils or animal fats. It is produced by the process of transesterification in which the oil or fat is reacted with an alcohol such as methanol in the presence of a catalyst. Process parameters such as the type and molar ratio of alcohol to oil, type of alcohol, type and amount of catalyst, reaction time and temperature. In this study bio-diesel was produced from Ceiba Pentandra(Kapok) oil. Methanol and KOH were used in the transesterification process. Performance characteristics of a CI engine were found out using different blends of bio-diesel, emission characteristics were also studied. From the study it can be observed that due to the difference in properties of bio-diesel and diesel there is a difference in parameters such as Brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) and Brake thermal efficiency(BTE). Moreover the emission characteristics of bio-diesel blends also differ from that of diesel. Ceiba Pentandra bio-diesel blends can be used at most operating conditions in terms of performance and emission characteristics in the existing CI engines without any modifications