K. Anand

Bio: K. Anand is an academic researcher from Indian Institute of Technology Madras. The author has contributed to research in topics: Diesel fuel & Biodiesel. The author has an hindex of 15, co-authored 25 publications receiving 863 citations. Previous affiliations of K. Anand include University of Wisconsin-Madison & Indian Institutes of Technology.

Estimating the Viscosity of Vegetable Oil and Biodiesel Fuels

Abstract: Among the various alternative fuels, vegetable-oil-based fuels have been attracting greater attention as a promising alternative to fossil diesel fuel in compression ignition (CI) engines. Fuel viscosity has a definite effect on fuel injection, spray development, and combustion processes of CI engines; hence, the viscosity estimation of new candidate fuels is significant. This paper discusses the methodologies used to estimate the viscosities of vegetable oil and biodiesel fuels, based on their fatty acid composition. While the methyl ester composition of biodiesel is directly related to the fatty acid composition of the oil, a basis for determining the triglyceride composition to estimate the straight vegetable oil viscosity is elucidated in the paper. The proposed methodologies are validated over a wide range of available viscosity data for vegetable oils and biodiesel fuels of varying composition and for varying temperatures. A comparison of the estimated viscosities with the measured values for 13 veg...

Predicting the Cetane Number of Biodiesel Fuels from Their Fatty Acid Methyl Ester Composition

Abstract: One of the important properties of fuel related to compression ignition (CI) engine applications is the cetane number. The present work aims to develop a universal model to predict the cetane number of any candidate biodiesel fuel based on its fatty acid methyl ester composition using a multi-linear regression approach. The biodiesel composition effects on the cetane number are captured through two new parameters, viz., straight-chain saturated factor (SCSF) and modified degree of unsaturation (DUm), which can be estimated directly from the measured biodiesel composition data. The proposed composition-based approach for predicting the cetane number of biodiesel is not limited to a specific data set. The predictions from the proposed correlation are compared to the measured cetane number of nine different biodiesel fuels of varied compositions, having wide variations of the cetane number in the range of 49–62. The comparison is found to be quite satisfactory, with a regression coefficient of 0.95 and an av...

Predicting the Density of Straight and Processed Vegetable Oils from Fatty Acid Composition

Abstract: Because of the renewable nature, emission advantage, and easy adaptation, vegetable-oil-based fuels are emerging as the most promising alternatives to fossil diesel for use in compression-ignition engines. In this study, a unified approach is proposed for predicting the densities of straight and processed vegetable oils from their fatty acid composition, obviating the need of measured values particularly for use in process modeling studies. The proposed methodology has been validated using the measured densities of 11 different vegetable oils and 13 different processed vegetable oils. The predictions are found to be in good agreement (∼1% error) even at higher temperatures up to 90 °C.

Review of biodiesel composition, properties, and specifications

Abstract: Biodiesel is a renewable transportation fuel consisting of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME), generally produced by transesterification of vegetable oils and animal fats. In this review, the fatty acid (FA) profiles of 12 common biodiesel feedstocks were summarized. Considerable compositional variability exists across the range of feedstocks. For example, coconut, palm and tallow contain high amounts of saturated FA; while corn, rapeseed, safflower, soy, and sunflower are dominated by unsaturated FA. Much less information is available regarding the FA profiles of algal lipids that could serve as biodiesel feedstocks. However, some algal species contain considerably higher levels of poly-unsaturated FA than is typically found in vegetable oils. Differences in chemical and physical properties among biodiesel fuels can be explained largely by the fuels’ FA profiles. Two features that are especially influential are the size distribution and the degree of unsaturation within the FA structures. For the 12 biodiesel types reviewed here, it was shown that several fuel properties – including viscosity, specific gravity, cetane number, iodine value, and low temperature performance metrics – are highly correlated with the average unsaturation of the FAME profiles. Due to opposing effects of certain FAME structural features, it is not possible to define a single composition that is optimum with respect to all important fuel properties. However, to ensure satisfactory in-use performance with respect to low temperature operability and oxidative stability, biodiesel should contain relatively low concentrations of both long-chain saturated FAME and poly-unsaturated FAME.

A comprehensive review on biodiesel as an alternative energy resource and its characteristics

Abstract: As the fossil fuels are depleting day by day, there is a need to find out an alternative fuel to fulfill the energy demand of the world. Biodiesel is one of the best available resources that have come to the forefront recently. In this paper, a detailed review has been conducted to highlight different related aspects to biodiesel industry. These aspects include, biodiesel feedstocks, extraction and production methods, properties and qualities of biodiesel, problems and potential solutions of using vegetable oil, advantages and disadvantages of biodiesel, the economical viability and finally the future of biodiesel. The literature reviewed was selective and critical. Highly rated journals in scientific indexes were the preferred choice, although other non-indexed publications, such as Scientific Research and Essays or some internal reports from highly reputed organizations such as International Energy Agency (IEA), Energy Information Administration (EIA) and British Petroleum (BP) have also been cited. Based on the overview presented, it is clear that the search for beneficial biodiesel sources should focus on feedstocks that do not compete with food crops, do not lead to land-clearing and provide greenhouse-gas reductions. These feedstocks include non-edible oils such as Jatropha curcas and Calophyllum inophyllum , and more recently microalgae and genetically engineered plants such as poplar and switchgrass have emerged to be very promising feedstocks for biodiesel production. It has been found that feedstock alone represents more than 75% of the overall biodiesel production cost. Therefore, selecting the best feedstock is vital to ensure low production cost. It has also been found that the continuity in transesterification process is another choice to minimize the production cost. Biodiesel is currently not economically feasible, and more research and technological development are needed. Thus supporting policies are important to promote biodiesel research and make their prices competitive with other conventional sources of energy. Currently, biodiesel can be more effective if used as a complement to other energy sources.

Non-edible vegetable oils: A critical evaluation of oil extraction, fatty acid compositions, biodiesel production, characteristics, engine performance and emissions production

Abstract: World energy demand is expected to increase due to the expanding urbanization, better living standards and increasing population. At a time when society is becoming increasingly aware of the declining reserves of fossil fuels beside the environmental concerns, it has become apparent that biodiesel is destined to make a substantial contribution to the future energy demands of the domestic and industrial economies. There are different potential feedstocks for biodiesel production. Non-edible vegetable oils which are known as the second generation feedstocks can be considered as promising substitutions for traditional edible food crops for the production of biodiesel. The use of non-edible plant oils is very significant because of the tremendous demand for edible oils as food source. Moreover, edible oils’ feedstock costs are far expensive to be used as fuel. Therefore, production of biodiesel from non-edible oils is an effective way to overcome all the associated problems with edible oils. However, the potential of converting non-edible oil into biodiesel must be well examined. This is because physical and chemical properties of biodiesel produced from any feedstock must comply with the limits of ASTM and DIN EN specifications for biodiesel fuels. This paper introduces non-edible vegetable oils to be used as biodiesel feedstocks. Several aspects related to these feedstocks have been reviewed from various recent publications. These aspects include overview of non-edible oil resources, advantages of non-edible oils, problems in exploitation of non-edible oils, fatty acid composition profiles (FAC) of various non-edible oils, oil extraction techniques, technologies of biodiesel production from non-edible oils, biodiesel standards and characterization, properties and characteristic of non-edible biodiesel and engine performance and emission production. As a conclusion, it has been found that there is a huge chance to produce biodiesel from non-edible oil sources and therefore it can boost the future production of biodiesel.

Digital Twin: Values, Challenges and Enablers From a Modeling Perspective

Abstract: Digital twin can be defined as a virtual representation of a physical asset enabled through data and simulators for real-time prediction, optimization, monitoring, controlling, and improved decision making. Recent advances in computational pipelines, multiphysics solvers, artificial intelligence, big data cybernetics, data processing and management tools bring the promise of digital twins and their impact on society closer to reality. Digital twinning is now an important and emerging trend in many applications. Also referred to as a computational megamodel, device shadow, mirrored system, avatar or a synchronized virtual prototype, there can be no doubt that a digital twin plays a transformative role not only in how we design and operate cyber-physical intelligent systems, but also in how we advance the modularity of multi-disciplinary systems to tackle fundamental barriers not addressed by the current, evolutionary modeling practices. In this work, we review the recent status of methodologies and techniques related to the construction of digital twins mostly from a modeling perspective. Our aim is to provide a detailed coverage of the current challenges and enabling technologies along with recommendations and reflections for various stakeholders.