Engines, Motors, and

Mobility
[ME F317]
BITS Pilani Dr. Saket Verma
Department of Mechanical Enginerring
Pilani Campus
 BITS Pilani
Pilani Campus

Lecture No.: 11-12

Alternate Fuels
Introduction

• Alternative fuels, known as non-conventional fuels, are any fuel

other than conventional fuels like; fossil fuels petroleum (oil), coal,
and natural gas.
• Several alternative fuels are being considered to replace
conventional gasoline and diesel in the transportation sector. They
could be of solid, liquid and gaseous fuels.
• Alternative fuels has been used since long time (originally Otto run
his engine using H2 based gaseous fuel), however in small number
due to ease of availability of petroleum based fuel.
• In one of the earliest official effort, The U.S. Department of Energy
(DOE) brought Alternative Motor Fuels Act of 1988 and the Clean
Air Act Amendments of 1990.

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Why alternative fuels?

Improving India’s Energy Security – Reduced dependence

on Imports of crude oil
– The Indian auto industry is the 4th largest in the world. It was the 7th
largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles in 2018.
– More than 80% of India’s oil consumption is through imports. (1.5-1.8%
GDP)
– GOI target to reduce crude oil imports by 10% by 2021-22
Improving Environment – Reduced impact from transport
sector in terms of CO2 and tailpipe emissions
– Transport accounted for about 23% of global carbon dioxide emissions in
2010 (IPCC).
– Reducing the energy emissions intensity by 33%-35% by 2030 as per the
Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) targets agreed in COP21 at
Paris agreement.

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Type of alternative fuels

Solid Fuel: Liquid Fuels:

Renewable fuel
Fine particles of  Biodiesels
(Biofuels)
Coal dispersed  Alcohol based fuels
in water: They  Methanol
were used in  Ethanol
primitive diesel  Butanol Renewable fuel
engines.  Synthetic fuels Or
 Gas to liquids (GTL) Can be derived
 Dimethyl Ether from fossil
(DME) sources
 P-Series fuel

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Type of alternative fuels

Blend with Gaseous Fuels:

fossil fuels:  Natural gas
Very commonly  Liquefied petroleum gas Fossil based
a blend of (LPG)
alternative fuels  Blast furnace gas
e.g. biofuels  Coke oven gas Renewable fuel
with gasoline  Producer gas Or
and diesel are  Hydrogen Fossil based
also used in  Biogas
vehicles. Renewable fuel
(Biofuels)

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Types of alternative fuels: Based on
suitability of SI and CI engines

SI engine fuels: CI engine Fuels:

 Alcohol based  Biodiesels
fuels  Alcohol based blend
 Methanol with diesel
 Ethanol  Synthetic fuels
 Butanol  Gas to liquids
 All gaseous fuels (GTL)
 Their blends  Dimethyl Ether
 Gasohol (DME)
 H2+Gasoline  Diethyl Ether
(DEE)
 Gaseous fuel+diesel
(Dual fuel)

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ALCOHOL BASED FUELS

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BITS Pilani, Deemed to be University under Section 3 of UGC Act, 1956
Alcohol based fuels

1.0 ETHANOL
• Ethanol (ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, EtOH) is a clear, colourless
liquid with a characteristic agreeable odor.
• Ethanol(CH3CH2OH) is a group of chemical compounds whose
molecule contains a hydroxyl group, -OH, bonded to a carbon atom.
• Ethanol made from cellulosic biomass materials instead of
traditional feedstocks (starch crops) is called bioethanol.
• In some areas ethanol is blended with gasoline to form an E10 blend
(10% ethanol and 90% gasoline), but it can be used in higher
concentrations such as E85 or in its pure form.
• Bio-ethanol and bio-ethanol/gasoline blends have a long history as
alternative transportation fuels. It has been used in Germany and
France as early as 1894 by the then incipient industry of internal
combustion (IC) engine. Brazil has utilized bio-ethanol as a
transportation fuel since 1925.

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Production

Ethanol can be produced from a

variety of feed stocks such as
• sweet potatoes,
 sugar cane
• cassava,
 bagasse,
• sunflower,
 miscanthus,
• fruit,
 sugar beet,
• molasses,
 sorghum,
• corn,
 grain,
• stover,
 switchgrass,
• grain,
 barley,
• wheat,
 hemp,
• straw,
 kenaf
• cotton

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Production

Sugar cane plant Sorghum plant

Cassava plant corn plant

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Production

• The production of ethanol or ethyl alcohol from starch or sugar-

based feed stocks is among man's earliest ventures into value-added
processing.
• There are two production processes: wet milling and dry milling.
The main difference between the two is in the initial treatment of the
grain.

The Ethanol Production Process - Dry Milling

• In dry milling, the entire corn kernel or other starchy grain is first
ground into flour.
• The meal is slurried with water to form a "mash." Enzymes are
added to the mash to convert the starch to dextrose, a simple sugar.
The mash is transferred to fermenters where yeast is added and the
conversion of sugar to ethanol and carbon dioxide (CO2) begins.
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Production

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Production

The Ethanol Production Process - Wet Milling

• In wet milling, the grain is soaked or "steeped" in water and dilute
sulphurous acid for 24 to 48 hours. This steeping facilitates the
separation of the grain into its many component parts.

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Production of Ethanol

The Production of Ethanol from Cellulosic Biomass

• there are a variety of options for pre-treatment and other steps in the
process and that several technologies combine two or all three of the
hydrolysis and fermentation steps within the shaded box.

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Performance in SI engine

• Ethanol have higher antiknock characteristic compared to gasoline.

As such with an ethanol fuel engine compression ratios between
11:1 and 13:1 are usual (Gasoline 7:1 or 9:1).
• The higher compression ratios in an ethanol-only engine allow for
increased power output and better fuel economy.
• Ethanol energy content per unit volume is 34% lower than that of
gasoline. The stoichiometric air fuel ratio is lesser for ethanol.
• In a properly designed engine and fuel system, alcohol produces
fewer harmful exhaust emissions.
• In flexible fuel vehicles, the lower compression ratio requires
tunings that give the same output when using either gasoline or
hydrated ethanol.

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Methanol and Butanol

• 100 percent butanol could be used to power a spark ignition engine.

• One of the advantages of butanol is that it can be synthesized from
either petroleum or from biomass feedstocks.
• While the energy content of butanol is not as great as gasoline, it is
higher than ethanol.
• Butanol is a good oxygenate, which means that like ethanol it will
help to reduce the amount of carbon monoxide in engine exhaust.
• One of the beneficial aspects of the use of methanol as a blend with
gasoline should be the fact that engine modifications are not
necessary.
• However, methanol has only half the energy content per volume of
gasoline. Ethanol is two-thirds the intensity of gasoline.
• So, keeping in mind the food crisis around the world - on the long
term perspective methanol share in the transportation sector has to
be increased

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PROPERTIES OF GASOLINE AND
ALCOHOL FUELS

Energy Air-fuel Specific Heat of

Fuel density ratio energy vaporization RON MON

Gasoline 32 MJ/L 14.6 2.9 MJ/kg air 0.36 MJ/kg 91–99 81–89

Butanol 29.2 MJ/L 11.2 3.2 MJ/kg air 0.43 MJ/kg 96 78

Ethanol 19.6 MJ/L 9.0 3.0 MJ/kg air 0.92 MJ/kg 129 102

Methanol 16 MJ/L 6.5 3.1 MJ/kg air 1.2 MJ/kg 136 104

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Another Fact…

• David E. Ramey presented a demonstration with 100%

butanol on spark ignition engine without any modification
up to 10,000 Miles across America.

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Methanol production and end use

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BIODIESEL

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Introduction

• Bio-diesel is a methyl or ethyl ester of fatty acids (fatty acid methyl ester,
FAME) produced from non-edible vegetable oils, acid oil, used cooking oil
or animal fat and bio-oil.
• Biodiesel operates in compression ignition engines like petroleum diesel
thereby requiring no essential engine modifications.
• The bio-diesel blending so far is approximately 0.01% (overall Very less)

• Announced / Notified Policies of Government of India:

1. 2005: National Biodiesel Mission (NBM): Biodiesel blend of 20%
with conventional diesel by 2017
2. 2009: National Policy on Biofuels - 20% blending of Bio-Diesel by
2017
3. 2018: National Policy on Biofuels – 5% blending of biodiesel by
2030.

• Vehicle Compatibility
Passenger vehicles and commercial vehicles today are material
compatible with 5% bio-diesel blended diesel
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Production of biodiesel
Karanja fruits on the tree
Karanja (Pongamia
pinnata) belongs to
the family
Leguminaceae

It is a hardy tree
borne oilseed

Grows under a
wide range of
agroclimatic
conditions

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Production of biodiesel

Yields of Extraction of Oil :

Karanja Fruits, Seeds & Oil
Mechanical expeller : 27%
Soxhlet extraction : 32%
Cold percolation : 21%
Characteristics of Karanja Oil :
Density :0.92 gm/cm3
Acid value :5.06 mg KOH/gm
Soponification value : 187 mg
KOH/gm
Unsoponifiable matter : 2.6 w/w
percent

Iodine value : 86.5 g I2/100gm

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Production of biodiesel
Hopper

Striking wall

Patented:
Indian Patent No.: 1592/DEL/2007

Controller

Outlet Motor

Capacity 40 kg/hr
Motor 0.5hp
Karanja Decorticator

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Decorticator for Jatropha Fruits

Hopper

Handle

Eccentric pulley Fruits, Husk & Seeds

Shifter
Shell out let

Capacity : 40 kg/hr

Decorticated Jatropha Fruits

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Design of efficient Oil Expeller Unit for
Tung , Jatropha

Tung Oil Expeller

The efficiency of the machine is about 70% and capacity is nearly

20 kg of seeds / hr.

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Production of biodiesel

Transesterification (in Lab)

Removal of
Karanja Oil excess
KOH Biodiesel Alcohol free
(unrefined) alcohol by Biodiesel
(Catalyst) vacuum
Alcohol Glycerine distillation Washing with
(Methanol/Ethanol) water
(unrefined)
Byproduct : separated Waste water
from biodiesel by
Biodiesel
settling
(with moisture)
Moisture removal by
Anhydrous Sodium
Sulphate or by heating
Neat or blended Neat
CI Engine with diesel Biodiesel
(B100)

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 Production of biodiesel
Transestrification in presence of base catalyst CH2OH
{Potassium Hydroxide (KOH)} | Glycerol
O
CHOH
∥
|
CH2-O-C-R1 CH2OH

O
∥ OH- +
+
CH2-O-C-R2 O
3R4 OH 650 C
Alcohol Heat ∥
Fatty
O + R4OCR1
∥ O acid
CH2-O-C-R3 ∥ Alkyl
+ R4OCR2
Triglycerides O Esters

∥
+ R4OCR3 BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Some properties of different
biodiesel fuels

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Biodiesel Emissions Compared
to Conventional Diesel

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NATURAL GAS

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Introduction

• Natural gas is a mixture of hydrocarbons-mainly methane (CH4)

and is produced either from gas wells or in conjunction with crude
oil production.
• Due to its low energy density for use as a vehicular fuel, it is
compressed to a pressure of 200-250 bars to facilitate storage in
cylinders mounted in vehicle and so it is called compressed natural
gas (CNG).
• India's recoverable resources of more than 690 billion cubic meters
make it a long-term substituted fuel for use in petrol and diesel
engines.
• Low exhaust emissions, low noise, less maintenance, not prone to
adulteration, driver's comfort, etc. are some of the attractive features
of CNG as an automotive fuel.

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PHYSICAL PROPERTIES

Hydrogen Gasoline Diesel Methanol Propane Methane

H2 Fuel CH3OH C3H8 CH4

Mol. 2.016 110* 150* 32.04 44.11 16.04

wt.

Nor. -253 25-220 150- 65 -42 -162

Boil 350
pt.
(C)
Freez. -259 - - -98 -190 -183
pt.
(C)

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PHYSICAL PROPERTIES

Heat of 445 310 500 1100 420 520

vaporization
(KJ/kg)
Density of gas 0.09 6** 7** 1.5** 2.00 0.72
at NTP (g/l)

Density of liquid 70 720-760 820-850 790 510 420

(g/l)
Diffusivity 0.63 0.08 0.16 - -
(m2/s x 104)
Critical 1.29 3* 79 4.2 4.6
Pressure
(MPa#)
Critical temp. -240 +300* +240 +97 -82
(C)

* Non-unique values, since they are not refer to single substances. …Contd.
**Approximate density of vapour at room temperature and atmospheric
pressure.
# MPa = 1000 kPa = 9.88 atmospheres. BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
 PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
Hydrogen Gasoline Diesel Methanol Propane Methane
H2 Fuel CH3OH C3H8 CH4
Auto- 580 400 220 380 490 650
ignition
temp.(C)
Stoichio. % 29.6 1.76 1.25 12.3 4 9.47
fuel*
kg air/kg 34 14.8 14.5 6.4 15.6 17.2
fuel
Flame temp 2100 1800 2000 2000
(C)
Flame 2.7 0.35 0.3 0.5 0.4 0.4
speed (m/s)

Quench. 0.07 0.02 0.15 0.2 0.2

dist. (cm)
# Also referred to as the lower hating value (LHV); it does not include
latent heat of condensation of combustion products (mainly water).
* Percent gas or vapour in air.
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Vehicle Compatibility

• Manufacturers developed vehicles to run on CNG and today

most of these vehicles are made in-house, meeting all emission
and safety norms.
• Currently there are 30 lakh CNG vehicles in India. These CNG
vehicle are able to substitute 3% of the oil imports.
• CNG vehicles have seen huge customer acceptance wherever
there is widespread availability of CNG infrastructure.

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CNG Vehicle

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CNG Vehicle

CNG vehicle sales (Source: PPAC)

Recommendation for number of CNG stations

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Advantages of CNG

• Following are some of the benefits of CNG when used as an

automotive fuel:
• - No visible (smoke) tail pipe emissions.
• - Eliminates sulphur and lead from the exhaust emissions.
• - Reduction in CO and Particulate emissions.
• - Significant reduction in benzene and other toxic emissions.
• - Higher octane value of CNG reduces knocking problems of a
vehicle.
• - Reduces noise from running vehicles.

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HYDROGEN

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Introduction

• Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, but is rarely

found in its uncombined form on the earth.
• Hydrogen gas (H2) is being explored for use in combustion engines
and fuel cell electric vehicles.
• When combusted (oxidized) it creates only water vapor as a by-
product.
• When burned in an internal combustion engine, however,
combustion also produces small amounts of nitrogen dioxides and
small amount of unburned hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide
because of engine lubricants but the exhaust is free from carbon
dioxide.
• Storage systems being developed include compressed hydrogen,
liquid hydrogen and chemical bonding between hydrogen and a
storage material (for example, metal hydrides).

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Production

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Storage

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Storage

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Hydrogen-IC engines/Fuel Cell ??

 HFC vehicle could decrease primary energy use and

greenhouse gas emissions compared to gasoline and natural
gas vehicles, but that HICE vehicles increased both

 In near future HICE hybrid-electric vehicle (HEV) would only

consume 9% more than a H2FC HEV, as a result of the recent
and expected future significant improvements in hydrogen
engine technology

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Utilization Route in
Engines/Vehicles

Neat Hydrogen IITD

IIT Delhi Hydrogen Supplementation

August 18, 2004 (Petrol+ Hydrogen )

H2
Hydrogen + CNG

Dual Fuelling
( Diesel + Hydrogen)

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Hydrogen Boats

• Bristol hydrogen boats:

• Commissioned by Bristol City Council in 2010 as part of
its Green Capital initiatives.
• Powered by a 12kW fuel cell via two permanent magnet
DC motors, the ferry carries 12 passengers and two
crew.
• The hydrogen fuel and refuelling station for the ferry are
supplied by Air Products.

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Hydrogen-powered
submarines

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Advantages and Disadvantages of
Hydrogen
Some of the advantages of hydrogen as a fuel include:
- Very less emissions.
- High octane rating.
- High energy content.
- Large base source for production is available.
Disadvantages of hydrogen fuel are:
- Infrastructure.
- Problem of fuel storage.
- Vehicle range and power loss.
Wider flammability limits.
- Costly production.
- Limited field trial experience

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 BITS Pilani
Pilani Campus

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