Experimental Study on Hydrous Methanol Fuelled HCCI Engine Using Air Pre-Heater Assisted Controlled Auto Ignition

The present study investigates the performance and emission characteristics of a hydrous methanol fuelled homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engine using the air preheater assisted controlled auto-ignition method. The HCCI engine has the ability to ignite all kinds of engine fuels irrespective of their octane and cetane number and it has a great potential to reduce NOx and smoke emissions. In this study, a regular diesel engine has been modified to work as an HCCI engine. Hydrous methanol with 15% water is used in this HCCI engine and its performance and emission characteristics are investigated and analyzed. The intake air is preheated by a heater located on the suction side of the engine. The heater helps to raise the temperature of the air which in turn raises the temperature of the fuel-air mixture up to its autoignition point. The temperature of the preheated air is decided upon the load conditions. The experiments are conducted with hydrous methanol as engine fuel to determine the operating limit, heat release rate and exhaust emissions at different load conditions. The investigation reveals that the hydrous methanol operation reduces NO and smoke significantly more than the direct injection CI engine. Thus, hydrous methanol with 15% water operates well in an HCCI engine without any additional operational problems

PRODUCTION OF BIODIESEL FROM NON EDIBLE CEIBA PENTANDRA SEED OIL HAVING HIGH FFA CONTENT

ABSTRACT Recently, most of the biodiesel is produced from edible oils using methanol and an alkaline catalyst. However, large amount of non edible oils are available in India. Often the non edible oil contain high amounts of free fatty acids(FFA), which quickly react with the alkaline catalyst to produce soap then slow down the separation of the ester and glycerin. In the present study, high free fatty acid (14.71%) Ceiba pentandra seed oil was used as a source for biodiesel production. A two-step transesterification process is developed to convert the high FFA oils to its mono-esters. The first step reduces the acid value of the oil to less than 2mg KOH/g of oil using the acid catalyst (H2SO4) and methanol. The second step, alkaline catalyzed transesterification process converts the products of the first step to its mono-esters and glycerol. The reaction parameters such as molar ratio, catalyst concentration, reaction temperature and reaction time were optimized for production of Ceiba pentandra oil methyl ester are analyzed. The two-step esterification procedure converts of crude Ceiba pentandra oil to its methyl esters. The yield of methyl esters from Ceiba pentandra oil under the optimal condition was 92-93%. The viscosity of biodiesel oil is nearer to that of diesel and the calorific value is less than that of diesel because of their oxygen content. The important properties of biodiesel such as density, flash point, fire point and cetane number are found out and compared with that of diesel. This study supports the biodiesel production from nonedible Ceiba pentandra seed oil as a viable alternative to the diesel fuel