M.A. Fazal

Bio: M.A. Fazal is an academic researcher from University of Malaya. The author has contributed to research in topics: Biodiesel & Diesel fuel. The author has an hindex of 27, co-authored 53 publications receiving 2787 citations. Previous affiliations of M.A. Fazal include Peninsular Malaysia.

Biodiesel feasibility study: An evaluation of material compatibility; performance; emission and engine durability

Abstract: Biodiesel, derived from the transesterification of vegetable oils or animal fats, is composed of saturated and unsaturated long-chain fatty acid alkyl esters. In spite of having some application problems, recently it is being considered as one of the most promising alternative fuels in internal combustion engine. From scientific literatures, this paper has collected and analyzed the data on both advantages and disadvantages of biodiesel over conventional diesel. Since the aim of this study is to evaluate the biodiesel feasibility in automobiles, the first section is dedicated to materials compatibility in biodiesel as compared to that in diesel. The highest consensus is related to enhanced corrosion of automotive parts due to its compositional differences. In the subsequent sections, data on performance, emission and engine durability have been analyzed and compared. In this case, the highest consensus is found in reducing emissions as well as in increasing moving parts sticking, injector coking and filter plugging. This paper has also summarized the factors of biodiesel in contributing these technical performances.

Tribology with biodiesel: A study on enhancing biodiesel stability and its fuel properties

Abstract: Biodiesel is a potential renewable and biodegradable fuel source comprising of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME). It is produced from transesterification reaction of animal fats and vegetable oils. It has been selected as a suitable alternative to conventional diesel fuel as it furnishes several advantages such as reduced environmental emissions, renewability and enhanced lubricity. However, biodiesel poses various tribological challenges. It has compatibility issues with certain materials, is inherent instable and highly corrosive in nature. Sporadic efforts have been carried out to understand the aforementioned issues, however significant knowledge has not been obtained until yet, especially on stability of biodiesel of biodiesel and its lubrication behaviour. In this review, different tribological aspects of biodiesel have been highlighted by critically analysing the recent available literature. Commencing from the basics of tribology, this review extends towards the properties of biodiesel and various aspects of metal contamination, moisture absorption, temperature and storage time. Tribological issues arising due to the usage of biodiesel and the use of additives in order to stabilize biodiesel and improve its tribological compatibility have been examined. Various factors affecting the stability and usage of biodiesel (long term/short term), properties have been discussed and improvements in refining technologies for biodiesel production have been summarized. Major concerns ascribed have been reviewed and possible remedies to improve the stability of biodiesel have also been included.

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.

Effect of biodiesel on engine performances and emissions

Abstract: As a renewable, sustainable and alternative fuel for compression ignition engines, biodiesel instead of diesel has been increasingly fueled to study its effects on engine performances and emissions in the recent 10 years. But these studies have been rarely reviewed to favor understanding and popularization for biodiesel so far. In this work, reports about biodiesel engine performances and emissions, published by highly rated journals in scientific indexes, were cited preferentially since 2000 year. From these reports, the effect of biodiesel on engine power, economy, durability and emissions including regulated and non-regulated emissions, and the corresponding effect factors are surveyed and analyzed in detail. The use of biodiesel leads to the substantial reduction in PM, HC and CO emissions accompanying with the imperceptible power loss, the increase in fuel consumption and the increase in NOx emission on conventional diesel engines with no or fewer modification. And it favors to reduce carbon deposit and wear of the key engine parts. Therefore, the blends of biodiesel with small content in place of petroleum diesel can help in controlling air pollution and easing the pressure on scarce resources without significantly sacrificing engine power and economy. However, many further researches about optimization and modification on engine, low temperature performances of engine, new instrumentation and methodology for measurements, etc., should be performed when petroleum diesel is substituted completely by biodiesel.

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.