Renewable Energy 29 (2004) 727742 www.elsevier.

com/locate/renene

Data bank

Use of vegetable oils as I.C. engine fuelsA review

A.S. Ramadhas , S. Jayaraj, C. Muraleedharan
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Calicut, Calicut REC P.O., Calicut 673 601, India Received 28 April 2003; accepted 15 September 2003

Abstract The increasing industrialization and motorization of the world has led to a steep rise for the demand of petroleum products. Petroleum based fuels are obtained from limited reserves. These nite reserves are highly concentrated in certain regions of the world. Therefore, those countries not having these resources are facing a foreign exchange crisis, mainly due to the import of crude oil. Hence, it is necessary to look for alternative fuels, which can be produced from materials available within the country. In addition, the use of vegetable oil as fuel is less polluting than petroleum fuels. This paper reviews the production and characterization of vegetable oil as well as the experimental work carried out in various countries in this eld. In addition, the scope and challenges being faced in this area of research are clearly described. # 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Alternative fuel; Vegetable oil; Bio-diesel; Renewable energy

1. Introduction Bio-diesel, which can be used as an alternative diesel fuel, is made from renewable biological sources such as vegetable oil and animal fats. It is biodegradable, non-toxic and possesses low emission proles. Also, the uses of bio-fuels are environmentally benecial. The name bio-diesel was introduced in the United States during 1992 by the National Soy Diesel Development Board (presently

Corresponding author. Tel.: 91-0495-2286443; fax: 91-0495-2287250. E-mail address: mey2df09@nitc.ac.in (A.S. Ramadhas).

0960-1481/$ - see front matter # 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.renene.2003.09.008

728

A.S. Ramadhas et al. / Renewable Energy 29 (2004) 727742

National Bio-diesel Board) which has pioneered the commercialization of biodiesel in the US. Chemically, bio-diesel is referred to as the mono-alkyl-esters of long-chain-fattyacids derived from renewable lipid sources. Bio-diesel is the name for a variety of ester based oxygenated fuel from renewable biological sources. It can be used in compression ignition engines with little or no modications [1]. One hundred years ago, Rudolf Diesel rst tested vegetable oil as fuel for his engine. With the advent of cheap petroleum, appropriate crude oil fractions were rened to serve as fuel and diesel fuels and diesel engines started evolving together. Later in the 1940s, vegetable oils were used again as fuel in emergency situations, during the period of World War II. Because of the increase in crude oil prices, limited resources of fossil fuels and the environmental concern, there has been renewed focus on vegetable oils and animal fats for the production of bio-diesel fuel. Bio-diesel has the potential to reduce the level of pollution and the level of global warming [2]. This paper gives a comprehensive review of the methods used for producing biodiesel, experimental investigation on dierent oils, characterization, merits, demerits and challenges faced by bio-diesel are described.

2. Production and usage of bio-diesel Many standardized procedures are available for the production of bio-diesel fuel oil [3]. The commonly used methods for bio-fuel production are elaborated on below. 2.1. Blending Vegetable oil can be directly mixed with diesel fuel and may be used for running an engine. The blending of vegetable oil with diesel fuel were experimented successfully by various researchers. A diesel eet was powered with a blend of 95% ltered used cooking oil and 5% diesel in 1982. In 1980, Caterpiller Brazil Company used pre-combustion chamber engines with a mixture of 10% vegetable oil to maintain total power without any modication to the engine. A blend of 20% oil and 80% diesel was found to be successful [2]. It has been proved that the use of 100% vegetable oil was also possible with some minor modications in the fuel system. The high fuel caused the major problems associated with the use of pure vegetable oils as fuel viscosity in compression ignition engines. Micro-emulsication, pyrolysis and transesterication are the remedies used to solve the problems encountered due to high fuel viscosity. 2.2. Micro-emulsication To solve the problem of high viscosity of vegetable oil, micro emulsions with solvents such as methanol, ethanol and butanol have been used. A micro emulsion is dened as the colloidal equilibrium dispersion of optically isotropic uid

A.S. Ramadhas et al. / Renewable Energy 29 (2004) 727742

729

microstructures with dimensions generally in the range of 1150 nm formed spontaneously from two normally immiscible liquids and one or more ionic or non-ionic amphiphiles. These can improve spray characteristics by explosive vaporization of the low boiling constituents in the micelles. All micro emulsions with butanol, hexanol and octanol will meet the maximum viscosity limitation for diesel engines. Czerwinski [4] prepared an emulsion of 53% sunower oil, 13.3% ethanol v and 33.4% butonal. This emulsion had a viscosity of 6.3 centistokes at 40 C, a cetane number of 25. Lower viscosities and better spray patterns were observed with an increase in the percentage of butanol. 2.3. Cracking Cracking is the process of conversion of one substance into another by means of heat or with the aid of catalyst. It involves heating in the absence of air or oxygen and cleavage of chemical bonds to yield small molecules. The pyrolyzed material can be vegetable oils, animal fats, natural fatty acids and methyl esters of fatty acids. The pyrolysis of fats has been investigated for more than 100 years, especially in those areas of the world that lack deposits of petroleum [5]. Since World War I, many investigators have studied the pyrolysis of vegetable oil to obtain products suitable for engine fuel application. Tung oil was saponied with lime and then thermally cracked to yield crude oil, which was rened to produce diesel fuel and small amounts of gasoline and kerosene. 2.4. Transesterication Transesterication is otherwise known as alcoholysis. It is the reaction of fat or oil with an alcohol to form esters and glycerin. A catalyst is used to improve the reaction rate and yield [6].

Among the alcohols, methanol and ethanol are used commercially because of their low cost and their physical and chemical advantages. They quickly react with tri-glycerides and NaOH and are easily dissolved in them. To complete a transesterication process, 3:1 molar ratio of alcohol is needed. Enzymes, alkalis or acids can catalyze the reaction, i.e. lipases, NaOH and sulphuric acid, respectively. Among these, alkali transesterication is faster and hence it is used commercially. A mixture of vegetable oil and sodium hydroxide (used as catalyst) are heated v and maintained at 65 C for 1 h, while the solution is continuously stirred. Two distinct layers are formed, the lower layer is glycerin and the upper layer is ester. The upper layer (ester) is separated and moisture is removed from the ester by using calcium chloride. It is observed that 90% ester can be obtained from

730

A.S. Ramadhas et al. / Renewable Energy 29 (2004) 727742

Table 1 Yield of methyl esters of vegetable oils by transesterication process Temperature (K) 620 630 640 Sunower oil (%) 79.6 93.6 96.8 Corn oil (%) 80.5 95.8 97.2 Cottonseed oil (%) 82.3 96.5 97.6 Soyabean oil (%) 84.2 96.8 97.9

vegetable oils. The percentage yield (by weight) of some common vegetable oil methyl esters is given in Table 1.

3. Characterization Vegetable oils provide engine performances similar to that obtained with diesel fuels. The following are the important characteristics of good vegetable oil required to substitute diesel fuel [7]. 3.1. Ignition quality Satisfactory diesel combustion demands self-ignition of the fuel as it is sprayed near TDC into the hot swirling compressed cylinder gas. Long ignition delay is not acceptable as it leads to knock. Therefore, the cetane number of the substitute fuel should be high enough, which is a measure of knock tendency of the fuel. Satisfactory fuels must have a cetane number between 40 and 60. 3.2. Viscosity Fuel viscosity plays an important role in the combustion of fuel used. The direct injection in the open combustion chamber through the nozzle and pattern of fuel spray decides the ease of combustion and thermal eciency of the engine. Too low viscosity can lead to excessive internal pump leakage whereas system pressure reaches an unacceptable level and will aect injection during the spray atomization. The eect of viscosity is critical at low speed or light load conditions. 3.3. Heating value Although the diesel combustion chamber system can accept wide variations in heating value, practical systems are only suitable when caloric value of the fuel is high. This helps to reduce the quality of fuel handled and maximizes the equipment operating range. It is always desirable for the vegetable oils to have a caloric value nearer to that of diesel. 3.4. Important temperatures Pour point and cloud point are important for cold weather operations of the I.C. engine. For satisfactory working, the values of both should be well below the freezing point of the oil used. Flash point is an important temperature from a safety

A.S. Ramadhas et al. / Renewable Energy 29 (2004) 727742

731

point of view. This temperature should be as high as practically possible. Typical v values of commercial vegetable oils fuel range between 50 and 110 C. Vegetable oildiesel blend should not decrease the ash point temperature. 3.5. Other properties The sulphur content, carbon residue and ash are responsible for corrosion and forming a residue on the engine parts which will aect the engine life. These values should be as small as possible. Practical values are 0.5% sulphur, 0.27% carbon residue and 0.01% ash. The properties of some important vegetable oils, which have the potential for diesel oil replacement and their esters, are given in Table 2 [8].

Table 2 Comparisons of properties of vegetable oils and their esters with diesel fuel Fuel type Diesel fuel Sunower oil Sunower methyl ester Cotton seed oil Cotton seed methyl ester Soyabean oil Soyabean methyl ester Corn oil Opium poppy oil Rapeseed oil Caloricc value (kJ/kg) 43,350 39,525 40,579 39,648 40,580 39,623 39,760 37,825 38,920 37,620 Density (kg/m3) 815 918 878 912 874 914 872 915 921 914 Viscosity at 27 C (mm2 /s) 4.3 58.5 10.3 50.1 11.1 65.4 11.1 46.3 56.1 39.2
v

Cetane number 47.0 37.1 45.5 48.1 45.5 38.0 37.0 37.6 37.6

4. Experiments A large number of experiments were carried out with vegetable oils as a replacement of I.C. engine fuel by researchers from various parts of the world. Most of these experiments were reported from US, Europe, India, Malaysia and Germany. A summary of these experimental results is given below. Christopher et al. [9] conducted two tests in Chicago using bio-diesel as an alternative fuel for in-service motor coaches. This was an exploratory investigation to determine the eect of fuel on the engine performance characteristics and infrastructure needed to use this fuel. The testing proved that the bio-diesel could be used as a feasible alternative fuel. Montague [10] conducted experiments by using rapeseed oil in diesel engines. The introduction of 5% of RME led to a reduction in the volumetric eciency around 0.4%. It has been reported that, even after a 71,50,000 km run by vehicles no abnormal aging was observed. The increase in

732

A.S. Ramadhas et al. / Renewable Energy 29 (2004) 727742

NOx and decrease in HC were detected. The increase of noise and smoke level occurrence during cold start was also noted. Hohl [11] conducted experiments by using rapeseed methyl ester and used cooking oil to produce this. It has been reported that performance, emissions, oil changing intervals, engine wear and knocking characteristics remain unchanged when compared with the diesel fuel. Used cooking oil and ethyl ester exhaust emissions are lower than that of diesel. Tests were conducted on direct injection diesel engine for its performance and emission characteristics analysis for a fuel mixture of 30% ethanol, 15% rapeseed oil with diesel by Czerwinski [4]. The same emissions as those of diesel fuel have been reported but with reduced (up to 15%) power output. The Ministry of Research and Technology in the Federal Republic of Germany, is promoting the use of agricultural raw material. In Germany, rapeseed oil was analyzed and found to be one of the major agricultural renewable materials. Hemmertein et al. [12] conducted experiments on naturally aspirated exhaust gas turbocharged air cooled and water cooled engines using rapeseed oil. Experiments were conducted using ltered rapeseed oil. It has been reported that the brake power and torque using rapeseed oil as fuel are 2% lower than that of diesel. The heat release rate is very similar for both fuels. With all the engines tested, maximum brake power was obtained with rapeseed oil. Also, lower mechanical stresses and lower combustion noise were observed. The emission of CO and HC are higher, whereas NOx and particulate emission were lower in comparison with diesel fuel. Jose et al. [13] conducted a study based on the comparison of three dierent fuels, namely standard gas oil, rapeseed methyl ester and a rapeseed methyl ester gas oil mixture. They analyzed the injection rate and the spray behavior characteristics by using an optical pressurized chamber. When rapeseed methyl ester was used in the place of gas oil there was no signicant variation in injection rate and spray behavior. Only an increase in fuel droplet size was observed and this was due to higher viscosity of rapeseed methyl ester. The rapeseed methyl ester has a low equivalence airfuel ratio and rate of evaporation. Hence, at higher air temperav tures (i.e. beyond 700 C), NOx decreased slightly with a spectacular improvement in smoke and CO. Tadashi et al. [14] evaluated the feasibility of rapeseed oil and palm oil for diesel fuel in a naturally aspirated direct injection diesel engine. It was found that vegetable oil fuels gave an acceptable engine performance and exhaust emission levels for short-term operation. However, they caused carbon deposit buildups and sticking of piston rings with extended operation. Senator [15] analyzed the performance and emission of a turbocharged direct injection diesel engine fueled with a mixture of rapeseed methyl ester and diesel fuel. It has been reported that performance is substantially unaected if the comparison is made in terms of equivalence ratio. With a fall in equivalence ratio (i.e. as the load is increased), CO and particulate matter emission sharply are increased. The concentration of NOx showed a signicant increase up to 20% in part load condition, compared to that of diesel. This analysis showed that in the case of biofuel, the heat release rate was always taking place in advance with respect to TDC

A.S. Ramadhas et al. / Renewable Energy 29 (2004) 727742

v

733

(about 35 ) in comparison with diesel. This behavior determines the peak temperature in combustion chamber and hence concentration of NOx in exhaust gases. Chio [16] conducted tests on bio-diesel blended with diesel fuel in the concentration of 20 and 40% by volume on a single cylinder caterpillar engine, using both single and multiple injection strategies. At high loads using single injection, particulate and CO emissions were decreased. A slight increase in NOx was noticed as the bio-diesel concentration increased. But in the case of multiple injection, a decrease in particulate emission was observed with little or no eect on NOx. At low loads, addition of bio-diesel and multiple injection schemes were found to be detrimental to particulate matter and CO emission. Rapeseed oil esters are mixed with diesel and performance and emission characteristics studied by Peter [17]. This study has shown that there was a reduction in emissions when rapeseed oil was used as fuel. A turbocharged diesel engine has been tested under steady state conditions to investigate the combustion characteristics of the blends of methyl isopropyl and methyl esters of soyabean oil with diesel. All the fuel blends revealed a signicant emission reduction of CO, HC, particulate matter and solid carbon with similar engine performance. All ester blends experienced shorted ignition delay under both 100 and 20% load engine conditions. At full load, they had a lower amount of premixed burning [18]. Ghormade et al. [19] used soyabean oil as fuel to run a compression ignition engine. He found that there was only a slight variation in part load eciency. And there was no improvement in brake specic fuel consumption by blending. Pangavhane et al. [20] conducted experiments by using soyabean oil in diesel engines. From the experiments it was reported that CO emissions and HC emissions reduced by 21 and 47%, respectively. However, NOx was found to increase with load. Jacobus et al. [21] conducted trials on four vegetable oils, namely sunower, cottonseed, soyabean oil and peanut oil blend with diesel. They compared the engine performance and emission characteristics and reported that all the oils provided almost similar characteristics. Mariusz et al. [22] conducted experiments on sunower oil and recommended incorporating dual fuel pre-heater for durability improvements of diesel engines. The durability of the engine increased through the prevention of engine operation at low load and low speed conditions, reduced exposure time of fuel injection system at very high temperature conditions during transition process from high to light loads and elimination of fuel injection of oil during shut down period. Samaga [23] operated a single cylinder water-cooled dual fuel engine using sunower oil and groundnut oil. The performance characteristics obtained are comparable to that of diesel. He suggested some remedies to the practical problems encountered in the dual fuel operation of I.C. engines. Periodic cleaning of the nozzle tip is necessary to ensure adequate spray characteristics. Starting and stopping with diesel oil while running with vegetable oil eliminates lter clogging. Bio-diesel produced from vegetable oil is of higher unsaturated fatty acids and bio-diesel from animal fats is of higher content in saturated fatty acids. Kelvin et al. [24] attempted to identify the mechanism for bio-diesel emission reduction and

734

A.S. Ramadhas et al. / Renewable Energy 29 (2004) 727742

engine performance by blending. He concluded that bio-diesels particulate reducing eect could be attributed to its displacement of aromatic and short chain paran hydrocarbon and its oxygen content. Barsic et al. [25] conducted experiments using 100% sunower oil, 100% peanut oil, 50% of sunower oil with diesel and 50% of peanut oil with diesel. A comparison of the engine performance was presented. The results showed that there was an increase in power and emissions. In another study, Rosa et al. [26] used sunower oil to run the engine and it was reported that it performed well. Blends of sunower oil with diesel and saower oil with diesel were used by Zeiejerdki et al. [27] for his experimentation. He demonstrated the least square regression procedure to analyze the long-term eect of alternative fuel and I.C. engine performance. Experiments on a D.I. turbocharged diesel engine using methyl esters of rapeseed oil was carried out by Salvatore et al. [28]. It has been reported that at the same injection timing, methyl ester promoted a rise in NOx emissions and decrease of HC and CO together with large reduction of smoke. NOx, HC and CO emissions of bio-diesel were reduced by an adaptation of exhaust gas recirculation in the presence of an exhaust oxidizing catalyst. Yasufumi et al. [29] investigated engine performance with a stable emulsied fuel including frying oil composed of vegetable oil discarded from restaurants and households. To reduce the viscosity of the oil as fuel, equal proportions of used frying oil and gas oil were mixed and emulsions of this blended fuel and water were prepared. Performance tests showed that the NOx concentration and smoke density were reduced without worsening BSFC with water to fuel volume ratios of 1530% at rated output. Waste cooking oil is produced after repeated frying of a variety of foods in vegetable oil. A study in Japan estimated that a total of 46 lakh tonnes of waste cooking oil are generated annually in that country, of which only about 50% is retained for industrial use. Yu et al. [30] conducted a study on waste cooking oil collected from the noodle industry. The oil was used as fuel in the engine without any further treatment. The performance and emission characteristics have also been compared with diesel fuel. The experimental results indicated that combustion characteristics were generally similar to that of diesel. The energy released at the late combustion phase was higher, which was due to heavier molecular weight materials present in the waste cooking oil. The engine performance was similar to that of diesel fuel. The emissions of CO, NOx and SOx were higher for waste cooking oil compared to that of diesel. At high temperatures, tar like substances were found to be depositing in the combustion chamber. Dynamometer tests have been carried out by Masjuki et al. [31] to evaluate the performance, emission and wear characteristics of an indirect diesel engine fueled by blends of coconut oil and diesel fuel. The performance and emission characteristics results showed that 1030% coconut oil blends produced a slightly higher performance in terms of brake power than that of diesel. All the coconut oil blends produced lower exhaust emissions including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and particulate matter. The wear and lubricating oil characteristics results showed that coconut oil blends up to 30% produced similar results to that of diesel.

A.S. Ramadhas et al. / Renewable Energy 29 (2004) 727742

735

Silvico et al. [32] used heated palm oil as the fuel in a diesel generator. Studies revealed that exhaust gas temperature and specic fuel consumption were increased with an increase in charge percentage. The carbon monoxide emission was increased with the increase of load. Unburned HC emissions were lower at higher loads, but tended to increase at higher loads. This was due to a lack of oxygen resulting from the operation at higher equivalence ratios. Palm oil NOx emissions were lower as compared to the diesel fuel. They also reported that a diesel generator can be adapted to run with heated palm oil and would give better performance. Recently, in India, karanjia oil was experimented for analyzing its performance characteristics by Srinivasa Rao [33]. Karanjia oil was found to give a better performance compared to that of diesel. Senthil Kumar et al. [34] conducted experiments by blending jatropha oil with diesel. It has been reported that exhaust gas temperature, smoke, HC and CO are higher compared to diesel. Deshpande [35] used blends of linseed oil and diesel to run the CI engine. Minimum smoke and maximum brake thermal eciency were reported in this study. Masjuki et al. [36] used preheated palm oil to run a compression ignition engine. Preheating reduced the viscosity of fuel and hence better spray and atomization characteristics were obtained. Torque, brake power, specic fuel consumption, exhaust emission and brake thermal eciency were found to be comparable to that of diesel. Prasad et al. [37] used the esteried jatropha oil to conduct experiments on I.C. engines. It has been reported that NOx and smoke decreased with an increase in engine speed. Abbas et al. [38] experimented with pure sunower oil and reported a higher value of particulate matter, CO, NOx and HC as compared to that of diesel due to a shorter ignition delay and higher diusive burning. Indian Railway, the largest transport corporation in India, is experimenting with jatropha oil ester to run passenger trains. If bio-diesel is used as per plans, to the extent of 10% mixture with the conventional diesel, the railways would be able to save on its rising fuel bill and also to control the atmospheric pollution levels (sulphur and lead emissions). The Railways annual fuel (diesel) bill of Rs. 3400 crores could be reduced by nearly Rs. 300 crores to 400 crores per annum by using biodiesel [39]. Dhinagar et al. [40] tested neem oil, rice bran oil and karanji oil on a low heat rejection engine. An electric heater was used to heat the oil. The exhaust gas was also utilized for heating the oil. Without heating, 14% lower eciency was reported compared to that of diesel. However, with heating, the eciency was improved. Abdul [41] analyzed the impact of oxidized bio-diesel on engine for its performance and emissions. Oxidized neat bio-diesel produced 15% lower exhaust carbon monoxide and 16% lower hydrocarbon emissions. No signicant dierence was found between oxides of nitrogen and smoke emissions from oxidized and unoxidised bio-diesel.

736

A.S. Ramadhas et al. / Renewable Energy 29 (2004) 727742

5. Engine performance comparison Recep et al. [8] ran a single cylinder engine with various types of vegetable oils. Some of the results obtained by them are presented here in the form of bar charts (Figs. 17). These gures give a very good comparison of I.C. engine performance when various vegetable oils are used as fuel. The engine was operated at 1300 rpm. Diesel fuel performance was used as reference. The observed maximum torque dierences between the reference value and peak values of the vegetable oil fuels were about 10% obtained with that of raw sunower oil, raw soyabean oil and opium poppy oil fuels (Fig. 1). The maximum power dierences between the reference value and peak values of the vegetable oil fuels were about 18% obtained with raw cottonseed oil and raw soyabean oil fuels (Fig. 2). The minimum torque and power dierence was about 3% between reference value and oils. These results may be due to the higher viscosity and lower heating values of vegetable oils.

Fig. 1. Maximum engine torque obtained at 1300 rpm.

Fig. 2. Maximum engine power obtained at 1300 rpm.

The specic fuel consumption of diesel was very low in comparison with all vegetable oils and their esters. Specic fuel consumption values of methyl esters were

A.S. Ramadhas et al. / Renewable Energy 29 (2004) 727742

737

generally less than those of the raw oil fuels. The higher specic fuel consumption values of vegetable oils are due to their lower energy content (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3. Minimum specic fuel consumption at 1300 rpm.

Relatively low CO emissions were obtained with the esters in comparison with raw vegetable oils (Fig. 4). Maximum CO2 emissions were about 10.5% with diesel fuel and slightly lower with vegetable oil. It was due to better spraying qualities and more uniform mixture preparation of these esters (Fig. 5). NOx emissions with vegetable oil fuels were lower than those with diesel fuel and NOx values of methyl esters were higher than those of raw fuels. NOx formation was due to maximum combustion temperatures. Since the injected particle size of the vegetable oils were greater than those of diesel fuel, the combustion eciency and maximum combustion temperatures with each of the vegetable oils were lower and NOx emissions were less (Fig. 6). Smoke opacity percentage during each of the vegetable oil operations were greater than that of diesel fuel. The opacity values of methyl esters were between those of diesel fuel and raw vegetable oil fuels. The greater smoke opacity percentages of vegetable oil fuels are mainly due to the heavier molecules of hydrocarbons (Fig. 7).

Fig. 4. CO emission at 1300 rpm (engine torque 35 N-m).

738

A.S. Ramadhas et al. / Renewable Energy 29 (2004) 727742

Fig. 5. CO2 emissions at 1300 rpm (engine torque 35 N-m).

Fig. 6. NO2 emissions at 1300 rpm (engine torque 35 N-m).

Fig. 7. Exhaust smoke density at 1300 rpm (engine torque 35 N-m).

6. Advantages From the review of literature available in the eld of vegetable oil usage, many advantages are noticeable. The following are some of the advantages of using vegetable oil as I.C. engine in India:

A.S. Ramadhas et al. / Renewable Energy 29 (2004) 727742

739

(i) Vegetable oil is produced domestically which helps to reduce costly petroleum imports; (ii) Development of the bio-diesel industry would strengthen the domestic, and particularly the rural, agricultural economy of agricultural based countries like India; (iii) It is biodegradable and non-toxic; (iv) It is a renewable fuel that can be made from agricultural crops and or other feed stocks that are considered as waste; (v) It has 80% heating value compared to that of diesel; (vi) It contains low aromatics; (vii) It has a reasonable cetane number and hence possesses less knocking tendency; (viii) Low sulphur content and hence environment friendly; (ix) Enhanced lubricity, thereby no major modication is required in the engine; v (x) Personal safety is improved (ash point is 100 C higher than that of diesel); (xi) It is usable within the existing petroleum diesel infrastructure (with minor or no modication in the engine). 7. Challenges The major challenges that face the use of vegetable oil as I.C. engine fuels are listed below [42]: (i) The price of vegetable oil is dependent on the feed stock price; (ii) Feed stock homogeneity, consistency and reliability are questionable; (iii) Homogeneity of the product depends on the supplier, feed stocks and production methods; (iv) Storage and handling is dicult (particularly stability in long term storage); (v) Flash point in blends is unreliable; (vi) Compatibility with I.C. engine material needs to be studied further; (vii) Cold weather operation of the engine is not easy with vegetable oils; (viii) Acceptance by engine manufacturers is another major diculty; (ix) Continuous availability of the vegetable oils needs to be assured before embarking on the major use of it in I.C. engines.

8. Technical diculties The major technical areas (with respect to the use of vegetable oils as fuels in I.C. engines), which need further attention are the following: (i) Development of less expensive quality tests; (ii) Study of the eects of oxidized fuel on engine performance and its durability; (iii) Emission testing with a wide range of feed stocks;

740

A.S. Ramadhas et al. / Renewable Energy 29 (2004) 727742

(iv) Studies on developing specic markets such as mining, municipal water supplies etc. which can specify bio-diesel as the fuel choice for environmentally sensitive areas; (v) Co-product development like the recovery of glycerol at reduced cost; (vi) Eorts to be focused on responding to fuel system performance, material compatibility, petroleum additive compatibility and low fuel stability under long term storage; (vii) Continued engine performance, emissions and durability testing in a variety of engine types and sizes need to be developed to increase consumer and manufacturer condence; (viii) Environmental benets oered by vegetable oil over diesel fuel needs to be popularized; (ix) Studies are needed to reduce the production cost, develop low cost feed stocks and identify potential markets in order to balance cost and availability; (x) Research on the eect of glycerol on engine durability, emission and material compatibility; (xi) Development of additives for improving cold ow properties, material compatibility and prevention of oxidation in storage, etc.

9. Conclusion Researchers in various countries carried out many experimental works using vegetable oils as I.C. engine fuel substitutes. These results showed that thermal eciency was comparable to that of diesel with small amounts of power loss while using vegetable oils. The particulate emissions of vegetable oils are higher than that of diesel fuel with a reduction in NOx. Vegetable oil methyl esters gave performance and emission characteristics comparable to that of diesel. Hence, they may be considered as diesel fuel substitutes. Raw vegetable oil can be used as fuel in diesel engines with some minor modications. The use of vegetable oils as I.C. engine fuels can play a vital role in helping the developed world to reduce the environmental impact of fossil fuels. References
[1] www.biodiesel.com [2] Narayan CM. Vegetable oil as engine fuelsprospect and retrospect. Proceedings on Recent Trends in Automotive Fuels, Nagpur, India, 2002. [3] Fangrui Ma. Milford A. Bio-diesel productionreview. Bioresource Technology, New Delhi, India, 1999. [4] Czerwinski J. Performance of D.I. Diesel engine with addition of ethanol and rapeseed oil, SAE 940545, 1994. [5] Srinivasa Rao P, Gopalakrishnan KV. Esteried oils as fuel in diesel engines, 11th National Conference on I.C. Engines, I.I.T. Madras, India, 1983.

A.S. Ramadhas et al. / Renewable Energy 29 (2004) 727742

741

[6] Ramadhas AS, Jayaraj S, Lakshmi Narayana Rao K. Experimental investigation on non-edible vegetable oil operation in diesel engine for improved performance, National Conference on Advances in Mechanical Engineering, J.N.T.U., Anantapur, India, 2002. [7] Domkundwar V. A course on I.C. engines. Dhanpat Rai & Co; 2001. [8] Recep Altan, Selim Cetinkay, Huseyin Serdar Yucesu. The potential of using vegetable oil fuels as fuel for diesel engines, No. 529538, Energy Conversion and Management, 2001. [9] Christopher W. The practical implementation of bio-diesel as an alternative fuel in service motor coaches, SAE 973201, 1997. [10] Montague X. Introduction of rapeseed methyl ester in Diesel fuelthe French National Program, SAE 962065, 1996. [11] Hohl GH. Rape oil methyl ester and used cooking oil methyl ester as alternative fuels, SAE 952755, 1995. [12] Norbert Hemmerlein, Volker Korte, and Herwig Richter. Performance, exhaust emission and durability of modern diesel engines running on rapeseed oil, SAE 910848, 1991. M, Desantes, Jean Arregle, Santiago Ruiz. Characterization of the injectioncombustion pro[13] Jose cess in a DI Diesel engine running with Rape seed oil methyl ester, SAE 1999-01-1497, 1999. [14] Tadashi, Young. Low carbon build up, low smoke and ecient diesel operation with vegetable oil by conversion to monoesters and blending with diesel oil or alcohols, SAE 841161, 1984. [15] Senatore A. A comparative analysis of combustion process in D. I. diesel engine fueled with biodiesel and diesel fuel, SAE 2000-01-0691, 2000. [16] Choi CY. Eect of bio-diesel blended fuels and multiple injections on D.I. diesel engines, SAE 970218, 1997. [17] Peter Klee. Characterization of dierent vegetable oil fuel with regard to their suitability as diesel fuel substitutes under special consideration of their physical and chemical properties, SAE VDI Nr.375, 1983. [18] Zhang Y. Combustion analysis of esters of soyabean oil in a diesel engine, SAE 960765, 1996. [19] Ghormade TK, Deshpande NV. Soyabean oil as an alternative fuels for I. C. engines, Proceedings of Recent Trends in Automotive Fuels, Nagpur, India, 2002. [20] Pangavhane DR, Kushare PB. Bio-diesel need of India, Proceedings of Recent Trends in Automotive Fuels, Nagpur, India, 2002. [21] Jacobus MJ, Geyer SM. Single cylinder diesel engine study on four vegetable oils, SAE 831743, 1983. [22] Mariusz Ziejwski, Goettler J. Design modications for durability improvements of diesel engines operating on plant oil fuels, SAE 921630, 1992. [23] Samaga BS. Vegetable oil as alternative fuels for C.I. engines, 8th National Conference on I. C. Engines, Trivandrum, India, 1983. [24] Kelvin Schimidt, Jonvan Gerpan. The eect of bio-diesel fuel composition on diesel combustion & emission, SAE 961086, 1996. [25] Barsic NJ, Humke H. Performance and emission characteristics of a naturally aspirated diesel engine with vegetable oil, SAE 810262, 1981. [26] Rosa Radu. The use of sunower oil in diesel engines, SAE 972979, 1997. [27] Zeiejerdki K, Pratt K. Comparative analysis of the long term performance of a diesel engine on vegetable oil, SAE 860301, 1986. [28] Salvatore A, Maddaleena A. The eect of methyl ester of rapeseed oil on combustion and emissions of D.I. diesel engines, SAE 932801, 1993. [29] Yasufumi Yoshimoto, Masayuki Onodera and Hiroya Tamaki. Reduction of NOx, smoke, B S F C in a diesel fueled bio-diesel emulsion used frying oil, SAE 1999-01-3598, 1999. [30] Yu CW, Bari S, Ameen A. A comparison of combustion characteristics of waste cooling oils as fuel in a D. I. Diesel engines, Part E, 216D3, I. Mech. E., 2002. [31] Masjuki HH, Kakm MA, Maleque MA, Kubo A, Nonaka T. Performance, emissions and wear characteristics of an I.D.I. diesel engine using coconut blended oil, Part D 215, I. Mech. E., 2001. [32] Silvico CA, Carlos R, Marious VG, Leonardodos SR, Guilherme F. Performance of a diesel generator fueled with palm oil. Journal of Fuels 2002;81:2097102.

742

A.S. Ramadhas et al. / Renewable Energy 29 (2004) 727742

[33] www.goodnewsindia.com [34] Senthil Kumar M, Ramesh A, Nagalingam B. Experimental investigation on Jatropha oil Methonal dual fuel engines, SAE 2001-01-0153, 2001. [35] Deshpande NV. Bio-diesel: An alternative fuel for compression ignition engines, Proceedings on Recent trends in alternative fuels, Nagpur, India, 2002. [36] Masjuki H, Abdulmin. Investigation on preheated palm oil-methyl ester in diesel engine, SAE 15Z10-A2-131. [37] Prasasd MV, Krishna M. Performance evaluation of non-edible vegetable oil as substitute fuel in LHR engine, SAE 18- 214-D2-181. [38] Abbas MK, Davis IL. The composition of organic fraction of particulate emission of a diesel engine operated on vegetable oil, SAE 901563, 1990. [39] The Hindu, Daily Newspaper dated 4.1.2003. [40] Dhinagar S, Nagalingam B. Experimental investigation on non-edible vegetable oil operation in a LHR diesel engine for improved performance, SAE 932846, 1993. [41] Abdul M. The eects of bio-diesel oxidation on engine performance and emissions, Biomass and Bio-energy, 2001. [42] Peterson E. Conference summaryCommercialization of bio-diesel: Producing a quality fuel, Boise, Idaho, 1999.