ALTERNATE FUELS

ABSTRACT
Necessity is the mother of invention. Energy crisis is
the cry of future.
The historical and the present-day civilization are
closely interwoven with energy and in future, our
existence will be more dependent upon energy. The
conventional sources of energy, the single most
important pre-requisite for power generation, are
depleting fast. The world is heading towards a global
energy crisis mostly due to running out of these energy
sources; decreasing the dependency on fossil fuels is
recommended.

The reason motivating the development of alternate

fuels for the ic engine is the concern over the emission
problem of gasoline and diesel engines.
Another reason for alternate fuels development is the
fact that a large percentage of crude oil must be
imported from other countries which control the larger
oil field
Now most of the alternate fuels are very costly (ex;
methanol &natural gases) since the quantity used is
very less but many of these fuels will cost much less if
the amount of their usage get to the same order of
magnitude as gasoline
Problem with alternate fuels is the lack of distribution
points where the fuel is distribution for public.
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ETHANOL-
Among the various options, Ethanol, an alcohol seems to be a most
promising option for countries like India because of its availability from
agriculture products. Alcohol can be used in diesel engines in following
ways.
One method is injection of ethanol with inlet air using carburetion or
electronic injection system and other is emulsion of diesel and ethanol.
And also enable a reduction in exhaust NOX, smoke and particulate
matter.
WHY TO ADOPT ETHANOL AS ALTERNATE FUEL-
Many alternate fuels are being considered for automotive vehicles
and ETHANOL of the best alternate fuels. Ethanol has been used as
automobile fuel for many years in various countries of the world.
Brazil is probably the leading user that is about 5 million vehicles
operated on fuel that were 93% ethanol .Ethanol is produced from
molasses, which is a by-product of sugarcane.
Ethanol can be produced in large quantities at low cost from these
molasses
Its high oxygen content improves the combustion characteristics
It also reduces the harmful emissions from IC engines such as
sulphur-di-oxide, oxides of nitrogen, particulate emissions.

USE OF ETHANOL IN I.C ENGINES

The various techniques by which the ethanol can be used as a fuel
for compression ignition engines are_
1. Blend formation
2. Fumigation
3. Dual injection
4. Spark ignition
5. Ignition improvers
6. Surface ignition

BLEND FORMATION:
The easiest method by which ethanol could be used is in the form of
diesel ethanol blend. But ethanol has limited solubility in diesel;
hence ethanol/diesel solutions are restricted to small percentages
(typically 20%). This problem of limited solubility has been overcome
by emulsions, which have the capability of accommodation larger
displacement of diesel up to 40% by volume. But the major
drawbacks of emulsions are the cost of emulsifiers and poor low
temperatures physical properties.
DUAL INJECTION:
Dual injection is a method by which nearly 90%Displacement of
diesel by ethanol is possible. The drawback of this method includes
the complexity and expense of a second injection system and a
second fuel tank and system.
SPARK IGNITION:
Spark ignition of neat ethanol in diesel engines provides a way of
displacing 100% of diesel. A spark plug and the associated ignition
system components must be added to the engine. Space must be
available for spark plugs in the cylinder head and its also important
for sparkplugs in the cylinder head and its also important for proper
plug cooling.
IGNITION IMPROVERS:
Another method of using neat ethanol is to increase their cetane
numbers sufficiently with ignition improving additives to ensure that
compression ignition will occur. This method saves the expense and
complexity of engine components changes, but adds fuel costs.
SURFACE IGNITION:
This is another method of using ethanol 100% ethanol in diesel
engines. Surface ignition occurs when the temperature of the air-fuel
mixture adjacent to a hot surface exceeds its self-ignition limit.
FUMIGATION:
Fumigation is a method by which ethanol is introduced in to engine by
carbureting or vaporizing the ethanol into the intake stream. This
method requires addition of a carburetor or vaporizer along with a
separate fuel tank, lines and controls. But with the emergence of
electronic injection techniques the fumigation technique has been
made possible by using an injector in the intake manifold.
METHANOL-
Also known as wood alcohol, methanol is a convenient liquid fuel that
is made from a number of different feedstock resources - natural gas
and coal as well as renewable resources like forest thinning or
agricultural waste and even directly from CO2 captured from power
plant and factory emissions. Methanol is a basic building block for
hundreds of essential chemical commodities that touch our daily lives
including building materials, plastic packaging, paints and coatings,
even windshield washing fluid. Methanol is also a transportation fuel,
a hydrogen carrier for fuel cell technologies, and an efficient fuel for
electric power generation. With the chemical structure CH3OH,
methanol is the simplest alcohol, with the lowest carbon content and
highest hydrogen content of any liquid fuel.
METHANOL FUEL AND THE
ENVIRONMENT:-
Ten or more years ago, a typical methanol manufacturing plant
would emit about 0.9 - 1.0 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide for
every tone of methanol produced. In addition to the
environmental concerns, large CO2 emissions represent
operational inefficiencies in a methanol plant, since the carbon
emitted as CO2 is not available for making methanol molecules.
In fact, excess CO2 from other industrial facilities can also be
captured and consumed to increase methanol production.
Through the implementation of efficiency improvements and
 through replacing of older facilities with newer plants that use
more efficient technologies, over the last decade methanol
plants have been able to significantly reduce CO2 emissions by
up to 40%. When burned as fuel, methanol cuts emissions of
nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds that form
ground-level ozone or smog. Methanol is much less reactive
than gasoline in the atmosphere, with the only toxic component
of the emissions being formaldehyde, as compared to dozens
of carcinogenic components of gasoline emissions, which also
contains formaldehyde. The use of heated catalytic converters
has shown that methanol-fueled auto emissions meet and
exceed Californias stringent Ultra Low Emission Vehicle
(ULEV) emission targets for formaldehyde. Methanol fuel also
does not contain the toxic BTEX additives found in gasoline
benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, and xylems. These
compounds are highly carcinogenic, do not readily biodegrade
in the environment, and are capable of contaminating
groundwater supplies.
ADVANTAGE AND DISADVANTAGE OF ALCHOL
FUELS:-
Advantages
It can be obtained from a number of source, both natural and
manufactured.
It is a high octane fuel with anti-knock index number (octane
number) of over 100. Engines using high-octane fuel run more
efficiently by using higher compression ratios. Alcohols have
higher flame speed.
It produces less overall emissions compared to gasoline.
When alcohols are burned, it forms more moles of exhaust
gases, which give higher pressure and more power in the
expansion stroke.
Alcohol have low sulphur content in the fuel.
Disadvantages
Alcohol have low energy content or in other words the calorific
value of the fuel is almost half of the gasoline fuel
Alcohol have poor ignition characteristics in general
Alcohols have almost invisible flames, which is considered
dangerous when handling fuel.
 Many people find strong order of alcohol very offensive.
There is a possibility of vapor lock in fuel delivery system.

VEGETABLE OIL AS ALTERNATE FUEL:-

Vegetable oil is considered as one of the alternative fuel for diesel
engines However, the viscosity of vegetable oil is higher compared to
diesel. Therefore it must be lowered to allow for proper atomization in
engines designed to burn diesel fuel. Otherwise, incomplete
combustion and carbon build up will ultimately damage the engine.
Some literatures classify vegetable oil as Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO)
and straight vegetable oil (SVO) or Pure Plant Oil (PPO) to
distinguish it from biodiesel. Free Fatty Acid (FFA) in WVO have a
detrimental effect on metals. Copper and its alloy, such as brass, are
affected by WVO. Tin, lead, iron, and steel are affected too.
The main form of SVO/PPO used in various countries is rapeseed oil
which has a freezing point of -10C. Use of Sunflower oil, which gels
at around -12C, is currently being investigated as a means of
improving cold weather starting.
BIODIESEL:-
Biodiesel refers to a vegetable oil or animal fat based diesel engine
fuel consisting of long chain alkali ester. Biodiesel is typically
produced by chemically reacting lipids with an alcohol.
More efficiently we can say that biodiesel is an alternate fuel which is
eco- friendly, highly oxidized, sulpher-free, nontoxic.
FEED STOCK FOR BIODIESEL:-
Rapeseed (Germany)
Sunflower oil
Soybean Oil (USA & brazil)
Palm oil(Malaysia)
Linseed, olive oil (spain)
Used oil
Cottonseed oil
WHY BIODIESEL?
 SUSTAINABILITY
POLLUTION THREAT
REDUCTION OF GREEN HOUSE GAS EMISSIONS
REGIONAL DEVLOPMENT
SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND AGRICULTURE.
IMPORTANCE OF BIODIESEL:-
Environment friendly
Clean burning
Renewable fuel
NO engine modification
Biodegradable and non-toxic
Easy to Handle and store.

Production:-
Biodiesel is commonly produced by the transesterification of the
vegetable oil or animal fat feedstock.

Fatty acid alkyl ester prepared from any oil or fat..

BIODIESEL-WHY LOWER EMISSIONS?

Biodiesel has high cetane
In built Oxygen Content
Burns fully
Has no-sulphur
No aromatic
 Complete CO2 cycle
Road Block for Biodiesel Industry.
Feedstock Scarcity
Food vs. Fuel controversy
Pricing of biodiesel is not attractive to anybody
BIODIESEL-INDIAN SCENARIO:-
Presently importing about tones of edible oil to take
care the edible oil application- 65% of our consumption
is being imported.
Clean oil are not available for biodiesel production in
india
It is very difficult for India to get the required feedstock
for biodiesel production in the present scenario.
Gaseous Fuel:-
Gaseous fuels are best suited for Ic engines since physical delay
is almost zero. However, as fuel displaced equal amount of air the
engines may have poor volumetric efficiency. There are quite few
gaseous fuels that can be used as alternate fuels.
Hydrogen:-
A number of automobile manufacturer have built with prototype or
modified engines which operates on hydrogen fuel..
Advantages of using Hydrogen:-
Low emission. Essentially no CO or HC in the exhaust and
there is no carbon in the fuel
Fuel availability. There are a number of ways of making
hydrogen, including electrolysis of water
Fuel leakage to environment is not a pollutant.
High energy content per volume when stored as liquid.
Disadvantages of using hydrogen fuel:-
Difficult to refuel and the possibility of detonation.
Fuel cost would be very high at present day technology and
availability
 High NOx emission because of high flame temperature.
Requirement of heavy, bulky fuel storage both in vehicle and at
the service station.
Hydrogen can be used in SI engines by three Methods:
By manifold induction
By direct introduction of hydrogen into the cylinder
By supplementing gasoline.
Since, hydrogen is highly reactive fuel it requires great care in
handling. Flash black arresters have to be provided between the
engine and the storage Tank to prevent flash back from going to the
tank
NATURAL GAS:-
Natural gas is found in various localities in oil and gas bearing sand
strata located at various depth below the earth surface. The gas
usually considerable pressure and flows out naturally from the oil
well. Natural gas obtained from oil wells is called casing head gas. It
is usually treated for the recovery of gasoline. Natural gas is mixture
of components, consisting mainly of methane (60% to 90%) with the
small amount of other hydrocarbon fuel components. The
composition varies considerably from place to place and time to time.
ADVANTAGES OF NATURAL GAS:--
Octane number is around 110, which makes it a very good SI
engine fuel.
Low engine emission.
Fuel is fairly abundant.
DISADVANTAGES OF NATURAL GAS:-
Low energy density resulting in low engine performance.
Low engine volumetric efficiency because it is a gaseous fuel.
Inconsistent fuel properties
Refueling is a slow process.
Compressed natural gas:-
Petroleum and natural gas obtained by process of drilling wells. As
already known crude oil petroleum is composed of hydrocarbons. It
contains small amount of water, sulphur and other impurities.
Petroleum when mixed with natural gas produces a highly volatile
liquid. This liquid is known as natural gasoline.
The natural gas can be compressed and then it is called compressed
natural gas (CNG). CNG is used in automobile vehicle just like LPG.
The CNG fuel feed system is just like the CNG fuel feed system.
Emission levels and comparison between CNG-driven vehicle and
petrol driven vehicle
pollutants Emission norms Petrol with catalytic CNG with
converter catalytic
converter
CO(g/Km) 5.60 0.92 0.05
HC(g/km) - 0.36 0.24
NOx(g/Km) 1.92 0.25 0.93

LIQUEFIED PETROLIUM GAS (LPG):-

Propane and butane are obtained from oil and gas wells. They are
also the product of the petroleum refining process. For automobile
engines, two types of LPG are used. One is propane and other is
butane. Sometimes, a mixture of propane and butane is used as
liquid petroleum gas in automobile engines. LPG gases are
compressed and cooled to form liquid. This liquid is kept in pressure
tank which are sealed.
Now they are used widely in buses, car and trucks.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF LPG:-

ADVANTAGES:-
LPG contains less carbon than petrol. LPG powered vehicle
produces 50% less carbon monoxide per kilometer, so the
emission is much reduced by the use of LPG.
LPG mix with air at all temperature
Since the fuel is in the form of vapour, there is no crankcase
dilution.
LPG has high antiknock characteristics.
 Running on LPG translates into a cost saving of about 50%.
The engine may have 50% more longer life.
DISADVANTAGES:-
A special fuel feed system is required for liquid petroleum gas
The vehicle weight is increased due to the heavy pressure
cylinder for storing of LPG
A good cooling system is quite necessary.
Running on LPG could lead to five percent reduction in valve
life.
OTHER POSSIBLE FUELS:-

BIOGAS:-
Biogas is another alternate fuel tried in diesels. Biogas can be
produced by anaerobic digestion of organic matter. Potential raw
materials available on a large scale are cow dung, municipal wastes,
etc
The main advantages of biogas are that it can be produce in rural
areas from readily available material. Biogas consists mainly
methane and carbon dioxide. Its calorific value is low but its knock
resistance is more and ignition quality (cetane number) is low

BENZOL:-
Benzol is a coal tar distillate that consist of about 70% benzene (),
20% Toluene and 10%xylene and trace amounts of sulphur burning
compounds. It has high antiknock characteristic. It has a freezing
point of 6C. This eliminates it as a fuel in cold climates. Its specific
gravity is 0.88., specific heat 0.4
DIETHYL ETHER:-
It is a very volatile fuel. It is use with other fuels to increase the
volatility of the blend.
ACETONE:-
Acetone is more volatile than methanol. This may be used as fuel
without blending with other volatile fuels. Its antiknock quality is
higher than that of butanol. Hence, it is a desirable fuel to blend with
butanol.