Production of Biodiesel from Neem Oil and Performance Measurement by Engine Testing

Project Title

Production of Biodiesel from Neem Oil and Performance Measurement by Engine Testing

Project Area of Specialization Mechanical EngineeringProject Summary

Introduction:

Due to increasing use of non-renewable energy sources, the world is anxious about the protection of world. As it’s consumption emits dangerous gases that are dangerous for environment, so they are considering about the development of different sources of energy to reduce the use of fossil fuels.

The biodiesel can be produced from vegetable oils as well as non-edible oils. The production of biodiesel is an easy process and has many advantages on environment. The use of non-edible oil and waste cooking oils for production of biodiesel is cheap as compared to other.

Increasing population has given rise the use of automobile that operates on petroleum products. So we have to develop an alternative fuel such as biodiesel from vegetable oils and animal fats.

Production of Biodiesel:

Vegetable oils consist of complex esters of fatty acids. These are known as tri-glycerides of fatty acids and are present in oil seeds naturally. As the molecular weights of these molecules are high, so we have to split them into simple molecules so that they have the properties such as viscosity and density close to that of standard diesel.

Modification of the vegetable oils can be done in different ways, such as Transesterification, Pyrolysis and Micro emulsification. However, transesterification is one of the most commonly used process and used to produce eco-friendly light vegetable oil fuel such as biodiesel commercially.

Transesterification:

Transesterification is a process used to produce biodiesel from a chemical reaction. It can also be defined as the chemical conversion of oil into its esters in the presence of a catalyst. The two methods of transesterification for the industrial production of biodiesel are:

1. Base Catalyzed Transesterification
2. Acid Catalyzed Transesterification

Purification of Biodiesel:

Biodiesel can be purified by using two washing processes that are:

1. Wet Washing Process
2. Dry Washing Process

Storage of Biodiesel:

After the production of biodiesel it is stored in air tight glass bottles and store at room temperature.

Performance Measurement by Engine Testing:

After the production of biodiesel, Engine Testing is the next step to be performed for performance measurement. For this different properties of biodiesel are taken into account.

Project Objectives

The main objectives of this work are:

1. Production of Biodiesel from Neem oil using trans-esterification process.
2. Performance Measurement by Engine Testing.

Project Implementation Method

Though many processes have been developed for biodiesel production but transesterification is mostly used process of all.

Transesterification:

Transesterification is a process used to produce biodiesel from a chemical reaction. It can also be defined as the chemical conversion of oil into its esters in the presence of a catalyst. The two methods of transesterification for the industrial production of biodiesel are:

1. Base Catalyzed Transesterification
2. Acid Catalyzed Transesterification

According to our requirements, we used acid catalyzed transesterification.

Acid Catalyzed Transesterification:

In this type of reaction a strong acid such as HCL or H2SO4 is used to produce biodiesel. This reaction is very fast as compare to base catalyzed but conversion rate is very low. This reaction is useful in conditions where FFAs amount in the given feedstock is greater than 1%. This process does not lead to the formation of soap.

Benefits of the Project

1. Biodiesel will be produced from single step acid-catalyzed process and has better conversion rate and does not led the soap formation.
2. Biodiesel emissions e.g. CO, HC, SO2 and CO2 will be fewer as compared to pure diesel.
3. Biodiesel will reduce maintenance needs by prolonging engine life.
4. Biodiesel will be produced locally so that it will be cost-efficient after comparing with diesel.
5. Biodiesel will need not to be drilled, refined and transported like diesel.

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

1. The daily increasing need of energy will only be tackled only by the use of fossil fuels, but these fossils fuels are ending day by day so we have to move to alternative solution which should be renewable and gives enough energy which can be used to overcome our daily need.
2. Biofuels are best alternative fuels for this because it is sustainable power source and it can be prepared from creature fats and vegetable oils. Moreover, greenhouse gases (GHGs) in this case are effectively reduced which is greater in fossil fuels. So, biodiesel is preferably using as an alternative fuel because it can be produced again and again and its environmental effects are very low. But there are some problems to use these fuels in engines so achievements are keeping doing to make efficient it for combustion purpose.

Final Deliverable of the Project Hardware SystemCore Industry EducationOther Industries Petroleum , Agriculture , Energy , Transportation Core Technology Clean TechOther Technologies OthersSustainable Development Goals Good Health and Well-Being for People, Affordable and Clean Energy, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, Sustainable Cities and Communities, Climate Action, Life on LandRequired Resources

Item Name	Type	No. of Units	Per Unit Cost (in Rs)	Total (in Rs)
			Total in (Rs)	77800
Bubble Reactor	Equipment	1	35000	35000
Neem Oil	Equipment	5	4600	23000
250ml Glass Jar	Equipment	10	500	5000
500ml Glass Jar	Equipment	4	700	2800
Ethanol	Equipment	2	1000	2000
Final Year Report Printing	Miscellaneous	8	750	6000
Transportation	Miscellaneous	4	1000	4000