The potential biodiesel production from Cerbera odollam oil (Bintaro) in Aceh

© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2018. Biodiesel production from non-edible vegetable oils is an effective way to conquer the linked problems with edible oils such as food versus fuel and other environmental impacts. Cerbera odollam oil is one of these possible non-edible feed stocks for future biodiesel production. This study evaluated the potential biodiesel production from cerbera odollam. The seed was collected and extracted from Aceh, Indonesia. Moreover, biodiesel has been produced using degummed (H3PO4) and two step acid catalyst (HCl) and alkaline catalyst (KOH). The results of properties of the cerbera odollam methyl esters show that such as viscosity was about 847.9 mm2/s, density was 3.1578 kg/m3, flash point was 214.0°C, acid value was 0.4 mg KOH/g, oxidation stability was 6.35 h, FAME content was 97.77 % w/w and heating value was 40.49 MJ/kg. After analysing these properties, it has been found that there is a huge chance to produce biodiesel from this seed which complies with the limits of ASTM 6751 and EN 14214 specifications and therefore it can boost the future production of biodiesel from non-edible sources

Experimental investigation, techno-economic analysis and environmental impact of bioethanol production from banana stem

© 2019 by the authors. Banana stem is being considered as the second largest waste biomass in Malaysia. Therefore, the environmental challenge of managing this huge amount of biomass as well as converting the feedstock into value-added products has spurred the demand for diversified applications to be implemented as a realistic approach. In this study, banana stem waste was experimented for bioethanol generation via hydrolysis and fermentation methods with the presence of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast) subsequently. Along with the experimental analysis, a realistic pilot scale application of electricity generation from the bioethanol has been designed by HOMER software to demonstrate techno-economic and environmental impact. During sulfuric acid and enzymatic hydrolysis, the highest glucose yield was 5.614 and 40.61 g/L, respectively. During fermentation, the maximum and minimum glucose yield was 62.23 g/L at 12 h and 0.69 g/L at 72 h, respectively. Subsequently, 99.8% pure bioethanol was recovered by a distillation process. Plant modeling simulated operating costs 65,980 US$/y, net production cost 869347 US$ and electricity cost 0.392 US$/kWh. The CO2 emission from bioethanol was 97,161 kg/y and SO2 emission was 513 kg/y which is much lower than diesel emission. The overall bioethanol production from banana stem and application of electricity generation presented the approach economically favorable and environmentally benign

Techno-economic analysis and physicochemical properties of Ceiba pentandra as second-generation biodiesel based on ASTM D6751 and EN 14214

© 2019 by the authors. Processing biodiesel from non-edible sources of feedstock seems to be thriving in recent years. It also has also gathered more attention than in the past, mainly because the biodiesel product is renewable and emits lower pollution compared to fossil fuels. Researchers have started their work on various kinds of biodiesel product, especially from a non-edible feedstock. Non-edible feedstocks such as Ceiba pentandra show great potential in the production of biodiesel, especially in the Southeast Asia region because the plants seem to be abundant in that region. Ceiba pentandra, also known as the Kapok tree, produces hundreds of pods with a length of 15 cm (5.9 in) and diameter 2-5 cm (1-2 in). The pods consist of seeds and fluffin the surrounding areas inside the pod, which itself contains yellowish fibre, a mixture of cellulose and lignin. The seeds of Ceiba pentandra can be used as feedstock for biodiesel production. The study for Ceiba pentandra will involve techno-economic, as well as a sensitivity analysis. Moreover, the study also shows that the techno-economic analysis of a biodiesel processing plant for 50 ktons Ceiba pentandra with a life span of 20 years is around $701 million with 3.7 years of the payback period. Besides that, this study also shows the differences in operating cost and oil conversion yield, which has the least impact on running cost. By improving the conversion processes continuously and by increasing the operational effciency, the cost of production will decrease. In addition, the study also explains the differences of final price biodiesel and diesel fossil fuel, both showing dissimilar scenarios subsidy and taxation. Biodiesel has a subsidy of$0.10/L and $0.18/L with a total tax exemption of 15%. The value was obtained from the latest subsidy cost and diesel in Malaysia. Finally, further research is needed in order to fully utilize the use of Ceiba pentandra as one of the non-edible sources of biodiesel

Production process and optimization of solid bioethanol from empty fruit bunches of palm oil using response surface methodology

© 2019 by the authors. This study aimed to observe the potential of solid bioethanol as an alternative fuel with high caloric value. The solid bioethanol was produced from liquid bioethanol, which was obtained from the synthesis of oil palm empty fruit bunches (PEFBs) through the delignification process by using organosolv pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis. Enzymatic hydrolysis was conducted using enzyme (60 FPUg-1 of cellulose) at a variety of temperatures (35 °C, 70 °C, and 90 °C) and reaction times (2, 6, 12, 18, and 24 h) in order to obtain a high sugar yield. The highest sugars were yielded at the temperature of 90 °C for 48 h (152.51 mg/L). Furthermore, fermentation was conducted using Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The bioethanol yield after fermentation was 62.29 mg/L. Bioethanol was extracted by distillation process to obtain solid bioethanol. The solid bioethanol was produced by using stearic acid as the additive. In order to get high-quality solid bioethanol, the calorific value was optimized using the response surface methodology (RSM) model. This model provided the factor variables of bioethanol concentration (vol %), stearic acid (g), and bioethanol (mL) with a minus result error. The highest calorific value was obtained with 7 g stearic acid and 5 mL bioethanol (43.17 MJ/kg). Burning time was tested to observe the quality of the solid bioethanol. The highest calorific value resulted in the longest burning time. The solid bioethanol has a potential as solid fuel due to the significantly higher calorific value compared to the liquid bioethanol

The performance and exhaust emissions of a diesel engine fuelled with Calophyllum inophyllum- palm biodiesel

© 2019 by the authors. Nowadays, increased interest among the scientific community to explore the Calophyllum inophyllum as alternative fuels for diesel engines is observed. This research is about using mixed Calophyllum inophyllum-palm oil biodiesel production and evaluation that biodiesel in a diesel engine. The Calophyllum inophyllum-palm oil methyl ester (CPME) is processed using the following procedure: (1) the crude Calophyllum inophyllum and palm oils are mixed at the same ratio of 50:50 volume %, (2) degumming, (3) acid-catalysed esterification, (4) purification, and (5) alkalinecatalysed transesterification. The results are indeed encouraging which satisfy the international standards, CPME shows the high heating value (37.9 MJ/kg) but lower kinematic viscosity (4.50 mm2/s) due to change the fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) composition compared to Calophyllum inophyllum methyl ester (CIME). The average results show that the blended fuels have higher Brake Specific Fuel Consumption (BSFC) and NOx emissions, lower Brake Thermal Efficiency (BTE), along with CO and HC emissions than diesel fuel over the entire range of speeds. Among the blends, CPME5 offered better performance compared to other fuels. It can be recommended that the CPME blend has great potential as an alternative fuel because of its excellent characteristics, better performance, and less harmful emission than CIME blends

Physicochemical properties of biodiesel synthesised from grape seed, Philippine tung, kesambi, and palm oils

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The production of biodiesel using vegetable oil is an effective way to meet growing energy demands, which could potentially reduce the dependency on fossil fuels. The aim of this study was to evaluate grape seed (Vitis vinifera), Philippine tung (Reutealis trisperma), and kesambi (Schleichera oleosa) oils as potential feedstocks for biodiesel production to meet this demand. Firstly, biodiesels from these oils were produced and then their fatty acid methyl ester profiles and physicochemical properties were evaluated and compared with palm biodiesel. The results showed that the biodiesel produced from grape seed oil possessed the highest oxidation stability of 4.62 h. On the other hand, poor oxidation stability was observed for Philippine tung biodiesel at 2.47 h. The poor properties of Philippine tung biodiesel can be attributed to the presence of α-elaeostearic fatty acid. Furthermore, synthetic antioxidants (pyrogallol) and diesel were used to improve the oxidation stability. The 0.2 wt.% concentration of pyrogallol antioxidant could increase the oxidation stability of grape seed biodiesel to 6.24 h, while for kesambi and Philippine tung, biodiesels at higher concentrations of 0.3% and 0.4 wt.%, respectively, were needed to meet the minimum limit of 8 h. The blending of biodiesel with fossil diesel at different ratios can also increase the oxidation stability

Performance and Emission Parameters of Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) Engine: A Review

Strict emission regulations and demand for better fuel economy are driving forces for finding advanced engines that will be able to replace the conventional internal combustion engines in the near future. Homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engines use a different combustion technique; there are no spark plugs or injectors to assist the combustion. Instead, when the mixtures reach chemical activation energy, combustion auto-ignites in multiple spots. The main objective of this review paper is to study the engine performance and emission characteristics of HCCI engines operating in various conditions. Additionally, the impact of different fuels and additives on HCCI engine performance is also evaluated. The study also introduces a potential guideline to improve engine performance and emission characteristics. Compared to conventional compression ignition and spark ignition combustion methods, the HCCI combustion mode is noticeably faster and also provides better thermal efficiency. Although a wide range of fuels including alternative and renewable fuels can be used in the HCCI mode, there are some limitation/challenges, such as combustion limited operating range, phase control, high level of noise, cold start, preparation of homogeneous charge, etc. In conclusion, the HCCI combustion mode can be achieved in existing spark ignition (SI) engines with minor adjustments, and it results in lower oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and soot emissions, with practically a similar performance as that of SI combustion. Further improvements are required to permit extensive use of the HCCI mode in future.</p

Optimization of cerbera manghas biodiesel production using artificial neural networks integrated with ant colony optimization

© 2019 by the authors. Optimizing the process parameters of biodiesel production is the key to maximizing biodiesel yields. In this study, artificial neural network models integrated with ant colony optimization were developed to optimize the parameters of the two-step Cerbera manghas biodiesel production process: (1) esterification and (2) transesterification. The parameters of esterification and transesterification processes were optimized to minimize the acid value and maximize the C. manghas biodiesel yield, respectively. There was excellent agreement between the average experimental values and those predicted by the artificial neural network models, indicating their reliability. These models will be useful to predict the optimum process parameters, reducing the trial and error of conventional experimentation. The kinetic study was conducted to understand the mechanism of the transesterification process and, lastly, the model could measure the physicochemical properties of the C. manghas biodiesel

A Mini Review on the Cold Flow Properties of Biodiesel and its Blends

© Copyright © 2020 Hazrat, Rasul, Mofijur, Djavanroodi, Khan, Azad, Bhuiya and Silitonga. Biodiesels are renewable fuel that may be produced from various feedstock using different techniques. It is endorsed in some countries of the world as a viable substitute to diesel fuel. While biodiesel possesses numerous benefits, the cold flow properties (CFP) of biodiesel in comparison with petro-diesel are significantly less satisfactory. This is due to the presence of saturated and unsaturated fatty acid esters. The poor CFP of biodiesel subsequently affects performance in cold weather and damages the engine fuel system, as well as chokes the fuel filter, fuel inlet lines, and injector nozzle. Previously, attempts were made to minimize the damaging impact of bad cold flow through the reduction of pour point, cloud point, and the cold filter plugging point of biodiesel. This study is focused on the biodiesel CFP-related mechanisms and highlights the factors that initialize and pace the crystallization process. This review indicates that the CFP of biodiesel fuel can be improved by utilizing different techniques. Winterisation of some biodiesel has been shown to improve CFP significantly. Additives such as polymethyl acrylate improved CFP by 3-9 ° C. However, it is recommended that improvement methods in terms of fuel properties and efficiency should be carefully studied and tested before being implemented in industrial applications as this might impact biodiesel yield, cetane number, etc

Current Progress of Jatropha Curcas Commoditisation as Biodiesel Feedstock: A Comprehensive Review

This article looks at the national and global actors, social networks, and narratives that have influenced Jatropha’s worldwide acceptability as a biofuel crop. Jatropha Curcas is a genus of around 175 succulent shrubs and trees in the Euphorbiaceae family (some of which are deciduous, such as Jatropha Curcas L.). It’s a drought-tolerant perennial that thrives in poor or marginal soil and produces a large amount of oil per hectare. It is easy to grow, has a fast growth rate, and can generate seeds for up to 50 years. Jatropha Curcas has been developed as a unique and promising tropical plant for augmenting renewable energy sources due to its various benefits. It is deserving of being recognised as the only competitor in terms of concrete and intangible environmental advantages. Jatropha Curcas is a low-cost biodiesel feedstock with good fuel properties and more oil than other species. It is a non-edible oilseed feedstock. Thus it will have no impact on food prices or the food vs fuel debate. Jatropha Curcas emits fewer pollutants than diesel and may be used in diesel engines with equivalent performance. Jatropha Curcas also makes a substantial contribution to the betterment of rural life. The plant may also provide up to 40% oil yield per seed based on weight. This study looks at the features characteristics of Jatropha Curcas as biodiesel feedstock and performance, and emissions of internal combustion engine that operates on this biodiesel fuel