1Department of Farm Machinery and Power, College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, OUAT, Bhubwaneswar-751003
2Department of Chemistry, C.V. Raman College of Engineering, Janla, Bhubwaneswar – 752054
3Department of Mechanical Engineering, Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management, Bhubaneswar-752054
*Email: mohanty65_m@yahoo.co.in
Global concerns about the depletion of the world's non-renewable energy sources and the associated environmental impact of fossil fuel provided the incentives to seek alternatives to petroleum-based fuels. Alternative renewable fuel, found in non-edible oils such as Karanja, Polanga, Simarouba, Mahua, Kusum and Jatropha oil, which abound in Indian forests, are characterised with high viscosities, thus limiting their applications as fuel. The use of transesterified vegetable oils as fuel has been yielding successful results, besides being a domestic, renewable resource that provides environmental benefits with lower emissions. In this work, a small-scale production unit has been developed for the production of methyl ester of different tree-borne oils like Karanja, Polanga, Simarouba, Mahua and Jatropha, and characterised as diesel fuel. Potassium hydroxide was selected to catalyse the transesterification process. The bio diesel produced was characterised as alternative diesel fuel through tests for specific gravity, viscosity, flash point, carbon residue by following the American Society for Testing and Materials ASTM standard test procedures. The transesterification process yielded more than 90% of biodiesel for all the oils. These findings will find useful applications in rural energy sector of India.
Biodiesel, Transesterification, Jatropha, Karanja, Polanga, Simarouba, Mahua, Reactor
