PERFORMANCE OF DIESEL ENGINE FUELED BY BIODIESEL CONTAINING DIFFERENT CONCENTRATIONS OF Jatropha curcas OIL

Leaves

Flowers

Fruits

Seeds

The process of taking a triglyceride molecule or a complex fatty acid, neutralizing the free fatty acids, removing the glycerin, and creating an alcohol ester (Biodiesel).

Biodiesel production process: Instruments: -Hot Plate -Stirring Rod (KOH) -Thermometer - 2 beaker (500ml) Materials: - 70ml Methanol (CH3OH) - 1.75g Potassium Hydroxide

- 350ml Jatropha curcas crude oil

- 1 beaker (1000ml) - 500ml separatory funnel

Amount of methanol and potassium hydroxide to be used:

1 Liter of Jatropha crude oil = 200ml of methanol (CH3OH) = 5grams of potassium hydroxide (KOH).

By ratio and proportion:

1000ml Jat. Oil = 200ml CH3OH 350ml X X= 70ml of CH3OH

1000ml Jat. Oil = 5grams KOH 350ml Y

Y= 1.75g of KOH

Filtering :
Filter the oil to remove solid particles using filter paper. You may have to warm it up a bit first to get it to run freely, 35oC should be enough.

Removing the water:

Heat the oil first to remove any water content. Waste oil will probably contain water, which can slow down the reaction and cause saponification (soap formation). The less water in the oil the better. Raise the temperature to 100oC, hold it for 10 minutes. Remove heat and allow to cool.

Preparing potassium methoxide:

The 70ml methanol is mixed into a solution with the KOH and stir for 20mins, creating potassium methoxide in an exothermic reaction (it gets warm from bonds forming). Keep all utensils the KOH comes in contact with as dry as possible.

CAUTION : Treat potassium methoxide with extreme caution! Do not inhale any vapors! If any potassium methoxide gets splashed on your skin, it will burn you without your feeling it (killing the nerves). Wash immediately with lots of water. Potassium methoxide is also very corrosive to paints. KOH reacts with aluminum, tin and zinc. Use glass, enamel or stainless steel containers, stainless steel are best.

Heating and Mixing:

Pre-heat Jatropha crude oC. Add the oil at 60 potassium methoxide to the oil while stirring; stir the mixture for 30 minutes to an hour. The transesterification process separates the methyl esters from the glycerine.

Settling and separation: Allow the solution to settle and cool for at least eight hours, preferably longer. The methyl esters (biodiesel) will be floating on top while the denser glycerine will have congealed on the bottom of the container forming a hard gelatinous mass. The semi-liquid glycerine has a dark brown color and the biodiesel is honeycolored.

When not enough KOH is used the reaction does not go far enough so some unreacted oil will be mixed with the biodiesel and glycerine. This will form three levels with biodiesel on top above unreacted oil with glycerine on the bottom. If there is too much water in the oil it will form soaps and settle right above the glycerine forming a fourth level in the container.

Biodiesel recovery

By transesterification, the instruments and materials and processes were carefully computed and analyzed. On January 21, 2010, 24hrs after the transesterification conducted, the biodiesel recovery was 100ml out of 350ml and it shows 26% biodiesel recovery. 1week after, January 28, 2010, another 100ml of biodiesel were recovered and it shows 57% biodiesel recovery. After 1 month, the highest recovery of biodiesel recovered was 230ml out of 350ml and the result is 66% of the total biodiesel recovery.

Biodiesel recovery By transesterification, the instruments and materials and processes were carefully computed and analyzed. On January 21, 2010, 24hrs after the transesterification conducted, the biodiesel recovery was 100ml out of 350ml and it shows 26% biodiesel recovery. 1week after, January 28, 2010, another 100ml of biodiesel were recovered and it shows 57% biodiesel recovery. After 1 month, the highest recovery of biodiesel recovered was 230ml out of 350ml and the result is 66% of the total biodiesel recovery.

. Selected Diesel Engine

Diesel

95% Diesel + 5% Biodiesel

90% Diesel + 10% Biodiesel

Mixing of Biodiesel and Pure diesel

5% biodiesel + Pure diesel

Fuelling the tank

Draining the Fuel Tank

Exhaust Quality

10% Biodiesel, Drained 5% Biodiesel & Pure Diesel

Drained pure Diesel, 5% Biodiesel and Unused pure diesel

Drained 20% Biodiesel

Drained 40% Biodiesel