Saroj Kumar Mohapatra

Abstract: The present work aimed at the standardization of transesterification process parameters for the production of methyl ester of filtered neem oil and fuel characterization for engine performance. The effect of process parameters such as molar ratio, preheating temperature, catalyst concentration and reaction time was studied to standardize the transesterification process for estimating the highest recovery of ester with lowest possible viscosity. Based on the observations of the ester recovery and kinematic viscosity, it was found that filtered neem oil at 6:1 M ratio (methanol to oil) preheated at 55 °C temperature and maintaining 60 °C reaction temperature for 60 min in the presence of 2 percent KOH and then allowed to settle for 24 h in order to get lowest kinematic viscosity (2.7 cSt) with ester recovery (83.36%). Different fuel properties of the neem methyl ester and neem oil were also measured. Results show that the methyl ester of neem obtained under the optimum condition is an excellent substitute for fossil fuels.

Abstract: Recent studies on the exploration of eco-friendly approach by utilizing large-scale waste materials as potential catalyst in biodiesel production have attracted much attention. The development of heterogeneous catalysts especially from calcium has gained much awareness due to the large availability of calcium-rich waste materials and their corresponding high catalytic activity in the transesterification of oil. Most of the waste materials employed as heterogeneous catalysts have an abundance of natural Ca content and they have high catalyst activity and selectivity despite being environment-friendly and cost-effective. Heterogeneous catalysts with high activity can be produced from Ca based waste materials when calcined at high temperatures. This review gives a brief overview of the developments of various Ca based catalysts derived from waste materials as an efficient catalyst for biodiesel production with significant yield. Industrial wastes (red mud, slag, ash) and biological catalysts (chicken eggshells, mollusk shells, animal bones) possess enormous potential towards developing an economical catalyst and subsequently, low-cost biodiesel generation. However, future challenges await a better utilization of useless wastes into a useful resource to satisfy human needs.

Abstract: In the present work, the optimum biodiesel conversion from waste cooking oil to biodiesel through transesterification method was investigated. The base catalyzed transesterification under different reactant proportions such as the molar ratio of alcohol to oil and mass ratio of catalyst to oil was studied for optimum production of biodiesel. The optimum condition for base catalyzed transesterification of waste cooking oil was determined to be 12:1 and 5 wt% of zinc doped calcium oxide. The fuel properties of the produced biodiesel such as the calorific value, flash point and density were examined and compared to conventional diesel. The properties of produced biodiesel and their blend for different ratios (B20, B40, B60, B80 and B100) were comparable with properties of diesel oil and ASTM biodiesel standards. Tests have been conducted on CI engine which runs at a constant speed of 1500 rpm, injection pressure of 200 bar, compression ratio 15:1 and 17.5, and varying engine load. The performance parameters include brake thermal efficiency, brake specific energy consumption and emissions parameters such as Carbon monoxide (CO), Hydrocarbon (HC), Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) and smoke opacity varying with engine load (BP). Diesel engine's thermal performance and emission parameters such as CO, HC, and NOx on different biodiesel blends demonstrate that biodiesel produced from waste cooking oil using heterogeneous catalyst was suitable to be used as diesel oil blends and had lesser emissions as compared to conventional diesel.

Abstract: The present study reports on the performance characteristics of the centrifugal slurry pump with multi-sized particulate slurry of bottom ash and fly ash mixtures. The performance characteristic of the pump was experimentally evaluated at rotational speed 1450 rpm for bottom ash slurries with and without the addition of fly ash in the concentration range of 10% to 50% (by weight). Addition of fly ash in the bottom ash was varied from 10% to 30% (by weight). The pump total head, overall efficiency, and pump input power at different flow rates were evaluated. The performance characteristics results show that the value of head and the efficiency of the pump depend on the solid concentration. It was also observed that the performance parameter of the pump strongly depends on slurry properties. The addition of fine particles fly ash in the coarser particles of bottom ash slurry, leads to reduce the additional head losses in the pump. The pump performance in terms of head and efficiency improved with addition o...

Abstract: Currently, the unsustainable fossil fuels have been chiefly used for power generation in CI engines. From the standpoint of fossil fuels depletions and environmental concerns, it is imperative to hunt out alternative energy resources that could replace hydrocarbon fossil fuels in the existing engines. In this regards, enormous studies have focused on the utilization of renewable fuels along with conventional petroleum fuel in existing compression ignition (CI) engine. The induction of gaseous fuels under dual fuel mode have emanated as a potential energy carrier to address the environmental aspects related to CI engines. This review focussed to analyze the influence of gaseous fuels (like H2, biogas, syngas) addition to CI diesel engine under dual fuel mode with diesel/biodiesel as a pilot fuel. Various engine characteristics such as combustion, performance, and emission of the dual fuel CI engine using gaseous fuels as a secondary fuel were analyzed and compared with CI engine working under single fuel mode. Findings of some experimental studies have been presented in the form of graphs for selective important parameters as case studies. The overall impression from the review suggests that the performance of the dual fuel CI engine slightly deteriorates while enriching the gaseous fuel, but the improvement in environmental emissions have been reported. Furthermore, various approaches are discussed comprehensively in order to evaluate the performance of dual fuel CI engine along with a check on harmful emissions.

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.

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.

Abstract: Energy demand is increasing dramatically because of the fast industrial development, rising population, expanding urbanization, and economic growth in the world. To fulfill this energy demand, a large amount of fuel is widely used from different fossil resources. Burning of fossil fuels has caused serious detrimental environmental consequences. The application of biodiesel has shown a positive impact in resolving these issues. Edible vegetable oils are one of the potential feedstocks for biodiesel production. However, as the use of edible oils will jeopardize food supplies and biodiversity, non-edible vegetable oils, also known as second-generation feedstocks, are considered potential substitutes of edible food crops for biodiesel production. This paper introduces some species of non-edible vegetables whose oils are potential sources of biodiesel. These species are Pongamia pinnata (karanja), Calophyllum inophyllum (Polanga), Maduca indica (mahua), Hevea brasiliensis (rubber seed), Cotton seed, Simmondsia chinesnsis (Jojoba), Nicotianna tabacum (tobacco), Azadirachta indica (Neem), Linum usitatissimum (Linseed) and Jatropha curcas (Jatropha). Various aspects of non-edible feedstocks, such as biology, distribution, and chemistry, the biodiesel’s physicochemical properties, and its effect on engine performance and emission, are reviewed based on published articles. From the review, fuel properties are found to considerably vary depending on feedstocks. Analysis of the performance results revealed that most of the biodiesel generally give higher brake thermal efficiency and lower brake-specific fuel consumption. Emission results showed that in most cases, NOx emission is increased, and HC, CO, and PM emissions are decreases. It was reported that a diesel engine could be successfully run and could give excellent performance and the study revealed the most effective regulated emissions on the application of karanja, mahua, rubber seed, and tobacco biodiesel and their blends as fuel in a CI engine.

Abstract: Plant biomass are woody and non-wood materials (e.g., oil palm, bamboo, rattan, bagasse, and kenaf) and are abundant and renewable resource. Unfortunately, the heavy reliance on this resource is a threat to forest ecosystems and a recipe for accelerated land resource degradation. Due to the increasing scarcity of wood resources, many rural communities have shifted to utilization of crop residues for many different applications. The non-wood biomass is readily available, environmental friendly, and technologically suitable, and therefore, an excellent raw material for the future. The non-wood materials like bamboo, rattan, oil palm, and bagasse have superior properties and durability, which can be further prolonged by the modifi cation treatment. The modifi cation treatments increase the performance of the non-wood and could make it suitable for applications in many fi elds ranging from construction industry to automotive industry. This chapter deals with the properties improvement techniques of the selected non-wood biomasses and evaluates its applications for various purposes. The new developments dealing with the improvement of non-wood properties have also been presented in the chapter. The performance of non-wood biomass materials has been compared to the wood-based materials. Recent studies pertaining to the above topics have also been cited. Finally, the advanced applications of the improved non-wood biomasses have been highlighted.

Abstract: Due to fast climate change and foreseen damage through global warming, access to clean and green energy has become very much essential for the sustainable development of the society, globally. Biomass based energy is one of the important renewable energy resources to meet the day to day energy requirements and is as old as the human civilization. Biomass gasification is among few important aspects of bioenergy for producing heat, power and biofuels for useful applications. Despite, the availability of vast literature, technological and material advancements, the dissemination of gasification technology could not overcome the critical barriers for the widespread acceptability over the conventional energy resources. This article presents a comprehensive review on the technical advancements, developments of biomass gasification technology and the barriers being faced by different stakeholders in the wide dissemination of the technology for day to day requirements of the society, followed by recommendations for policy makers to make this technology popular while serving the society.