BUTANOL- A POSSIBLE ALTERNATE FUEL FOR IC

ENGINES

SUBMITTED BY:-
AMANPREET SINGH(07109006)
SATWINDER SINGH(07109051)

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 BUTANOL
• Its chemial formula is

• An alcohol having 4 carbon atoms.

• (Density: 0.81g/cm3@20oC; BP:118oC; Viscosity:3 cP@25oC)

• Produced from Biomass as well as fossil fuels.

• Better tolerates water contamination and less corrosive than

Ethanol.

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BUTANOL -FUEL PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS

• Energy Content / Density & Fuel Economy : Fuel

Economy not proportional to change in energy content.

• Octane (RON & MON) :Similar to gasoline but lower than

ethanol.

• Air-Fuel Ratio :Need to run ‘Richer’ than gasoline (But closer

and can be mixed in higher ratios for use in existing cars w/o
modification).

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.Specific Energy (MJ / kg air):Butanol -3.2; Ethanol-
3.0; Gasoline-2.9;

•KinematicViscosity (@ 20oC) :Butanol –3.64 cSt;

Ethanol –1.52 cSt; Gasoline - 0.8cSt

•Heat of Vapourization: half of ethanol (better co-

blended synergy with gasoline)

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 PROPERTIES OF GASOLINE AND
ALCOHOL FUELS

Fuel Energy Air- Speific RON MON

density Fuel energy
ratio

Gasoline 32 MJ/L 14.6 2.9 MJ/kg of 91-99 81-89

air

Butanol 29.2 MJ/L 11.2 3.2 MJ/kg of 96 78

air

19.6 MJ/L 9.0 3.0 MJ/kg of 129 102

Ethanol air

Methanol 16 MJ/L 6.5 3.1 MJ/kg of 136 104

air
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 REPORTED STATUS FOR BUTANOL
AS FUTURE FUEL

• Forget Ethanol: it's hard to transport and gives bad mileage per
gallon. Another alcohol, Butanol, is a much better renewable fuel.

• Oil Companies also working in this direction.

• Butanol can be blended in any percentage with gasoline seamlessly

with increase in perfomance.

• Let us work for the near future.

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 AVANTAGES OF BUTANOL AS A FUEL

• More suitable for distribution through existing pipelines for

gasoline.

• It redues emissions of hydroarbons by 95%,oxides of

nitrogen by 37% and co by 0.01%.

• It can be used in gasoline engines without any modification.

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DISADVANTAGES OF BUTANOL AS A FUEL
• Less RON and MON values.

• Low combustion efficiency.

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 BUTANOL -PRODUCTION

•CHEMICAL

– Reaction of syn-gas (CO+H2) (From Coal / Petroleum / Biomass)

with propylene to Butyraldehyde and Hydrogenation.

•BIOLOGICAL
– Anaerobic Bacterial (Clostridium) fermentation (Also produces
acetone and small amount of ethanol) called AB or ABE
fermentation. Acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation is a
process that uses bacterial fermentation to produce acetone,
n-butanol and ethanol from starch. 9
The process produces these solvents in a ratio of 3-6-1, or 3
parts acetone, 6 parts butanol and 1 part ethanol.

Clostridia Acetone- Butanol fermentation from

renewable carbohydrates used to be largest bio-technological
process second to Yeast ethanol fermentation and largest ever
run under sterile conditions. It usually uses a strain of bacteria
from the Clostridia Class (Clostridium Family).Clostridium
acetobutylicum is the most well known strain.

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 SUITABILITY OF BUTANOL IN SI ENGINES
• Butanol is an alcohol that replaces gasoline.

• Butanol can be blended in any percentage with gasoline

seamlessly with increase in perfomance.

• Currently no production vehicle is known to be approved by

the manufacturer for use with 100% butanol.

• Common butanol fuel mixtures for fuel sold as gasoline

currently range from 8 % to 16%.

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 SUITABILITY OF BUTANOL IN CI ENGINES

• Butanol can be used in Biodiesel applications.

• Effect of butanol addition to diesel fuel on a performance of a
single cylinder CI engine compared to the base line diesel fuel is as
follows :
 As the engine speed increased exhaust gas temperature, brake
power and brake specific fuel consumption are increased while air
fuel ratio and brake thermal efficiency decreased for all fuel test .
 Air-fuel ratio decreases due to the increase in the fuel mass flow
rate of fuel blends.
• 30% of butanol can be added to diesel fuel to obtain the desired
engine performance.

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