TAMILNADU COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

COIMBATORE

RUBBER SEED OIL AS AN

ALTERNATE FUEL

BY

S.SANTHOSH

P.SARAVANA KUMAR

santhosh.rose@gmail.com

CELL NO: 9443403136.

ABSTRACT

The global fuel crises in the 1970 have generated awareness amongst many countries of

their vulnerability to oil embargoes and shortages. Considerable attention was focused on the

development of alternative fuel sources as Blends of Rubber seed oil and diesel fuel were

investigated and found to be technically feasible. Research on the use of biodiesel has been

ongoing during the last 20 years and is being used quite extensively in parts of the world where

petroleum fuels are more expensive. As a result the use of alternative fuels as a means of meeting

these requirements has generated much attention. Hence there has been renewed interest in the

rubber seed oil-diesel blends with particular emphasis as a alternate fuel in diesel engine. When

considering an alternative fuel for use in diesel engines, a number of issues are important. This

purpose of this paper is to review these issues with particular reference to safety and distribution.

The experiment analysis of different proportion and evolutions of important properties such as

flash point, fire point, viscosity and calorific value, the result of which are tabulated and graphs

drawn. Graphical representation of brake thermal Efficiency, Specific fuel consumption and

mechanical efficiency characteristics of and its comparison is shown and the variation shown by

each proportion is compared and discussed. The result of this concluded that 8:2 proportion of

diesel and rubber seed oil was most efficient proportion.

Keywords. Biofuel, blend, diesel engines, Alternative fuels, Methyl-ester

INTRODUCTION

The scare and rapidly depleting conventional petroleum resources have promoted research for

alternative fuels for internal combustion engines. The increasing industrialization and

motorization of the world hassled to steep rise for demand of petroleum based fuels. petroleum

based fuels are obtained from limited reserves hence it is necessary to look for alternative fuels

which can be produced from resources available locally within the country such as alcohol,bio-

diesel, vegetable oil etc., In recent years much research has been carried out to find suitable

alternative fuels to petroleum products. The use of renewable fuels like ethanol, bio gas, bio-

diesel in diesel is significant in this context. The fuels we are using currently are hydro-carbons

such as petrol, diesel, coal etc., we can find these fuels for another 75 years in order to excuse

from forth coming danger there exists a needs for searching alternative fuels to meet our

minimum energy needs. Fuels like biodiesel (mono alkyl ester) can be utilized for another 800

years.

Biodiesel appears to be an excellent alternative fuel extender for diesel fuel. Biodiesel is derived

from vegetable oils and as the name implies, it is similar to diesel fuel except it is produced from

commonly grown oil crops. Several excellent oil crops are grown in the region, including canola,

sunflower, soybean and safflower. They are all capable of producing several gallons of fuel per

acre that can be used in an unmodified diesel engine. For example, sunflower and canola can

produce 75 to 100 gallons of vegetable oil per acre which will convert into about an equal

amount of biodiesel.

Bio diesel is the name for is clean burning alternative fuels produced from domestic renewable

resources. There is nothing new under the sun, Rudolph diesel used peanut oil his engine for

automobiles.bio diesel contains no petroleum, but it can blended at any level with petroleum

diesel to create a bio diesel blend.bio diesel has a viscosity similar to petrol diesel, the industry

term for diesel produced from petroleum. It can be used as an additive in formulation of diesel to

increase the lubricity of pure ultra low sulpur diesel (ULSD) fuel, which is an advantage because

it has virtually no sulpur content. Hence it can be used in compression ignitions(diesel)engines

with little or no modification.bio diesel is simple to use,biodegradable,non toxic and essentially

true or sulpur and aromatics.bio-diesel is the only alternative to have fully completed the health

effect testing requirement of 1990 clear air act amendment.bio-diesel that meet ASTM D6751

and is legally registered with environmental protection agency is a legal motor fuel for sale and

distribution.raw vegetable oil cannot meet bio-diesel fuel specification.bio-diesel is define as

mono alkyl Easter of long chain fatty acids derived from vegetable oil and animals fats, which

confirm to ASTM D6751 specification for using disel engines.bio-diesel refer to pure fuel

blending with diesel fuel.

In the present investigation bio diesel is produced using unrefined rubber seed or rubber (heva

brusiliensis) seed oil was extracted and its physical and chemical properties like viscosity, flash

point, fire point, specific gravity etc., were determined. The natural form of rubber seed oil is

highly acidic.fuctional groups such as carbonyl, oeifinic unsaturation, Easter, glyceryl,

methylene and terminal methyl are present in rubber seed oil. The crude oil was bleached and a

two step trans-esterification process (acidic-alkaline Trans easterification) is developed for the

production of methyl Easter of rubber seed oil. The difficulty of alkaline easterification of oil is

that they often contain large amount of free fatty acids. These free fatty acids quickly react with

alkaline catalyst to produce soap that inhibit the separation of easter and glycerine.the first step,

acid catalyst easterification reduces the free fatty acid content of oil to less than 2%.

The second step, alkaline catalyzed trans-easterification converts the product of first step to its

monoeasters and glycerol. The viscosity of biodiesel is nearer to that of diesel and calorific value

is 14% less than that diesel. The properties of this bio-diesel fuel are closely matched with those

of diesel fuels, the performance test are carried out on CI engine using different proportion of

rubber seed oil and diesel blend and also comparison on different fuels proportion are found out.

LITERATURE REVIEW

In recent years much research has been carried out to find suitable A.F to petroleum products.

The use of renewable fuels like ethanol, biogas and bio-diesel in diesel engine is significant in

this context. The recent concern is to opt for AF which can be produced from resources available

locally with in the country such as alcohol, bio-diesel, vegetable oil etc.this reviews the

production, characterization and current statuses of vegetable oil and bio–diesel as well as the

experiment research work carried out in many countries.

Ethanol is a attractive fuels because, it is a renewable bio-based source, and it is oxygenated

there by providing the potential to reduce particulars emission in CI engines. In this review, the

properties and specification of ethanol and diesel blend are also diesel blend are also discussed.

So special emphasis is placed on the factor critical to the potential and commercial area of these

blends. The effect of fuel on engine performance and emissions and material compact ability is

also studied.

Hydrogen will play an important role in developing sustainable transportation in the United

States, became in future it may be produced (i.e.) virtually unlimited quantities using renewable

resources. Hydrogen has been used effectively in a number of IC engine vehicles as pure

hydrogen mixed with natural gas.

Natural gas is another important alternative fuel. It is domestically produced and readily

available to end-users throughout the utility infrastructure. It is also clean burning and produces

significantly fewer harmful emissions than reformulated gasoline or diesel when used in natural

gas vehicles. This is also blended with water has a high boiling point and low vapor pressure.

This is effectively used in IC engines in many places.

Bio diesel is methyl or ethyl ester of fatty acid made from virgin or used vegetable oils and

animals fats. The main resources for bio-diesel production can be non-edible oils obtained from

plant species such as jastrophacyras, pongamia pinnata, soybean, plam oil,rice bran oil, coconut

oil etc.these all can be blended in any proportion with mineral diesel to create bio diesel blend or

can be used in its pure form. Just like petroleum diesel, bio diesel operates in compression

ignition (diesel)engine and essentially require very little or no engine modifications because bio

diesel has properties similar to mineral diesel.

The need for petroleum is growing at an alarming rate since petroleum is a finite source

renewable fuels, such as ethanol and bio-diesel, will help alleviate this dependence. So here need

for development of new technologies for converting bio-oils to fuels or other high value added

products are strongly felt in several developing countries. a new technology called supercetane

technology is increasingly used in the field of bio-oils. This technology is a catalytic hydro

cracking process which reduces the boiling range of most plant oils. Now much research is being

carried out in the field of alternative fuels.

Materials and Methods

Fuel

The fuels were prepared by mixing the diesel and RSO at different proportion such as 9:1, 8:2,

7:3, 6:4 and 5:5.then their flash point, fire point, viscosity, density and calorific value were found

out. Then the performance characterics were found out by using the different blends of fuel. Here

one proportion of fuel is taken at time and it is poured in to the tank. Initial precautions such as

checking the fuel and proper connection of pipes are noticed. After this the rated power, load and

speed of the engine are found from the name plate details of the engine. Now the engine is

started and at a constant speed, time taken for consumption of 25cc fuel is noted by using stop

watch.

Method:

This alternate fuel study was completed with a 4-stroke diesel engine, Engine speed was set at a

high idle of 1500 RPM and loaded to 1500 RPM for all tests. Performance of pure biodiesel and

mixtures of biodiesel and diesel fuel was the objective of these trials. Biodiesel looks to be an

excellent alternative to diesel fuel. It will mix with diesel fuel in any proportion and looks to stay

mixed while in storage. residents are showing good interest as various mixtures the diesel and

RSO at different proportion such as 9:1,8:2,7:3,6:4 and 5:5 .The biodiesel being used is a methyl

ester of rubber seed oil.

SPECIFICATION DIESEL ENGINE

`Name of the manufacturer Kirloskar

Rated speed of engine 1500 rpm

Rated power of the engine 7.4Kw

Stroke 139.7mm

Bore 114.3mm

Table1: Summary of specification for four stroke diesel engine

The four stroke twin cylinder is used to participate in this project. The engine was operated on

standard and controls of diesel and RSO.specification for engine are summarized in table1.

In-field performance data for engine implements were collected in addition to a daily log of

overall fuel usage, type of operation and operator observation.

BLEND PROPERTIES:

There are a number of fuel properties that are essential to the proper operation of a diesel engine.

The addition of RSO to diesel fuel affects certain key properties with particular reference to

blend stability, viscosity and lubricity, energy content are also important factor that need to be

considered properties that effect safely should before most in any fuel evolution. These included

flash point and flammability and are discussed in latter section.

VISCOSITY AND LUBRICITY:

Fuel viscosity and lubricity play significant roles in the lubrication of fuel injection systems,

particularly those incorporating rotary distributor injection pumps that rely fully on the fuel for

lubrication within the high pressure pumping mechanism. In the common rail accumulator fuel -

injection system, the high-pressure pump that delivers fuel to the rail also relies on the fuel for

lubrication. In in-line pumps and unit injectors, there is less reliance on the fuel for lubrication.

However, there are still some metal interfaces that require lubrication by the fuel such as

between plunger and barrel. Injector lubrication is also affected, particularly at the needle guide-

nozzle body interface. Lower fuel viscosities lead to greater pump and injector leakage reducing

maximum fuel delivery and hence power output. Hot start problems may also be encountered as

insufficient fuel may be injected at cranking speed when fuel leakage in the high-pressure pump

is amplified because of the reduced viscosity of the hot fuel.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

The following inferences were made after conducting the experiment based on

brake thermal efficiency:

7:3 and 6:4 proportion of diesel and RSO blend shows almost similar brake thermal

efficiency at lower loads

8:2 proportion gives higher brake thermal efficiency at higher loads its about 25%

Here the lowest brake thermal efficiency is at 7:3 proportion and it is about 22% at

higher loads

6:4 proportion shows the lowest brake thermal efficiency at lower loads

Here steady increase in brake thermal efficiency is seen at 8:2 proportion of diesel and

RSO blend

7:3 and 6:4 proportion shows the most poor performance among the different proportions

The following inference were made after conducting the experiment based on

mechanical efficiency

Mechanical efficiency is ZERO AT zero load

At 8:2 proportion mechanical efficiency is maximum at lower loads

8:2 proportion shows a maximum mechanical efficiency at all loads

Here there is a steady increase in mechanical efficiency at 8:2 proportion

The following inferences were made after conducting the experiment based on

SFC:

SFC is gradually decreasing as the load increases

8:2 proportion shows the lower SFC at higher loads it’s about 0.32Kg/KWh at 8 Kg

loads

7:3 proportion shows the maximum SFC at higher loads and 6:4 proportion shows the

maximum SFC at lower loads

CONCLUSION

From the graph it is found that

8:2 proportions of diesel and RSO blends has a better brake thermal efficiency

than other blends at higher loads. it helps to get an improvement of 1 to 2%

comparing to other blends

9:1 proportion also shows decrease in SFC but it is less comparing to 8:2

proportions of diesel and RSO blend.

8:2 proportions of diesel and RSO blends show a higher mechanical efficiency.

it shows an increase of approximately 2 or 3% comparing to other blends.

Mechanical efficiency is lowest in 9:1 proportion of diesel and RSO blends and

higher in 8:2 proportion

Therefore it’s recommended that 8:2 proportions is the best performance in diesel

engine.

REFERENCE:

1. BALLANEY P.L,I.C Engines, Khanna publishers,1980

2. CHAUHAN D.S, Non-conventional energy resources, New age international private Ltd,

2004.

3. RAMALINGAM K.K, I.C Engines, SCI TECH Publication Pvt Ltd, 2000.

4. RAMASWAMY M.C, Proceeding 15th National Conference on IC Engines and

Combustions, Volumes2, Allied Publishers Ltd, December, 1997.