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Potential of bio diesel production from scraped coconut refuse for agricultural tractors
By Admin | July 11, 2009
Fossil oil resources of the world diminish due to high using rate than forming rate. Therefore price of the mineral oil is increased continuously. Fuel oil price is badly affected to any sector in the world. Therefore any countries have been looking for alternative energy sources to substitute for petroleum oil. Biodiesel or Methyl ester, produced from transesterification of plants oil or animal fats is one of the alternative fuels for diesel engine. Different sources of oil are identified for bio diesel production in Sri Lanka..
The objective of the research study was to conduct the comparative assessment of the CME (Coconut Methyl Ester) with the mineral diesel (MD) (Lanka Auto diesel). The CME were produced from the oil extracted from Scraped Coconut Refuse(SCR- Discarded scraped coconut after extraction of coconut milk for domestic uses) with transesterification process. The single cylinder diesel engine was run by using CME and mineral diesel. The performance characteristics such as Torque (?), Break Power (PB), Specific Fuel Consumption (SFC), and thermal efficiency were measured. The fuel property such as Kinematics viscosity, Specific gravity, Flash point, Heating value, distillation curve, pH, Copper strip corrosion, CO and NOx in exhaust gas were measured of the different fuels.
Torque of the engine fueled by CME was not significantly different (p<0.05) from MD. PB and SFC of the engine using CME was not significantly different (p<0.05) from MD. But, thermal efficiency of the CME was significantly different (p<0.05) from MD.
The higher kinematics viscosity of CME was observed according to the ASTM limits. Specific gravity of the CME was higher than mineral diesel. The pH value of the CME was in base region and Mineral diesel was in acidic region. The higher heating value was observed in mineral diesel than in CME. Other properties of the CME, such as, Flash point, distillation curve, copper strip corrosions were fulfilled the ASTM standards. The CO emission was reduced by around 54.68% in CME, but NOx was increased by 13.83% when compared with MD.
The performance characteristics of the engine fuelled by CME showed the better results when compared with standard condition and the CME showed better fuel property, The CO emission also comparatively lower than mineral diesel. Therefore CME has high potential to use as an alternative fuel for tractor engine under local condition.
Key words: Bio fuel, Coconut Methyl Ester, Scraped Coconut Refuse, Alternative fuel, Engine performances
KT Ariyawansha1, LWS Pamasiri1, S weerakkody2, CP Rupasinghe1
1 Department of Agric. Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna.
2 Bio fuel Departments, Hayleys Industrial Solution, Colombo.
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