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© 2019 Elsevier Ltd In this research work, the four ternary blends were prepared with 30% and 40% by volume of higher alcohol (decanol and hexanol) with biodiesel while maintain 50% of diesel concentration. All ternary blends of diesel-biodiesel-higher alcohols were used in single cylinder engine and the results were compared with binary blend of 50%–50% biodiesel, pure diesel and biodiesel. It was revealed that thermal efficiency of ternary blends was higher than biodiesel and in some cases it is closer to pure diesel. In contrary, specific fuel consumption is found to lower with increase in alcohol fractions in ternary blends. Moreover, hydrocarbon, smoke, carbon monoxide emissions from alcohol-infused fuel blends were observed to be lower than both biodiesel and pure diesel. Significant reduction in oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions was also observed by the addition of higher alcohols to the fuel blend when compared to biodiesel fuel. It is to be noted that decanol 40% addition with diesel and biodiesel blend has shown better results in emission characteristics. Furthermore, the heat release rate and in-cylinder pressure for biodiesel were significantly lower compared to pure diesel fuels. However, addition of 40% decanol with fuel blend improved the heat release rate and in-cylinder pressure.

© 2022 Elsevier LtdMicroalgae are a promising feedstock source for third-generation biofuels. However, applying microalgae as a raw feedstock for biodiesel production presents several challenges regarding its economic feasibility, particularly during the harvesting stage. The microalgal harvesting stage is crucial from an economic perspective, and it impacts the feedstock quality during subsequent downstream processing steps. The factors of microalgae fatty acid profile (FAP) and lipid yield (LY) are subject to variability throughout the harvesting process. Successful harvesting relies on the application of strategies that provide optimal performance without imposing any qualitative or quantitative reduction in FAP and LY (FAP&LY). Although the promotion of the harvesting efficiency of microalgae has been studied extensively, little is known about how the harvesting process impacts FAP&LY, and even less is known about how it influences the lipid extraction process. This paper provides a compendium of technical developments intended to promote FAP&LY during the harvesting process. In this study, the importance of pre-harvesting, harvesting, and post-harvesting strategies for enhancing the FAP&LY is discussed. It was shown that co-cultivation specific microalgae with fungi, bacteria, or other microalgae strains could improve the flocculation efficiency and FAP&LY. Algae-algae co-cultivation had higher FAP quality compared to others. Appropriate wet storage conditions and stress induction strategies could promote the FAP&LY efficiency and reduce the expenses incurred by cell drying and associated instruments. Enhancing FAP&LY via the harvesting process could be exploited as breakthrough technology for cost-efficient microalgae-based biodiesel production.

A batch study for biohydrogen production was conducted using raw palm oil mill effluent (POME) and POME sludge as a feed and inoculum respectively. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used to design the experiments. Experiments were conducted at different reaction temperatures (30–50 °C), inoculum size to substrate ratios (I:S) and reaction times (8–24 h). An optimum condition of biohydrogen production was achieved with COD removal efficiency of 21.95% with hydrogen yield of 28.47 ml H2 g−1 COD removed. The I:S ratio was 40:60, with reaction temperature of 50 °C at 8 h of reaction time. The study showed that a lower substrate concentration (less than 20 g L−1) for biohydrogen production using pre-settled POME was achievable, with optimum HRT of 8 h under thermophilic condition (50 °C). This study also found that pre-settled POME is feasible to be used as a substrate for biohydrogen production under thermophilic condition.

Deposition of asphaltene in wellbore, pipelines and processing equipment can lead to serious problems to oil and gas industries and has remained a critical issue for years. In this study, the effect of dilution ratio and temperature on the rate of deposition of asphaltene particles was investigated using Malaysia light crude oil. A standard direct experimental method was employed on 1:5, 1:10, 1:15, 1:20, 1:25, 1:30, 1:35 and 1:40 of crude oil-to-n-pentane ratio. Results revealed that the rate of deposition of asphaltene particles increased with the crude oil-to-diluent ratio. However, the rate of deposition decreased with increasing temperature. Results also showed that the particle size of the deposited asphaltene has the same trend as the total volume. The higher the dilution ratio, the larger the size distribution as the flocculation phase was extended. In this study, asphaltene mean particle size was between 34 and 113 µm. A correlation for the rate of asphaltene deposition was developed to represent the overall relationship of asphaltene deposition under different compositions

Third generation micro algae feedstock cultivation and fuel production have sustainable and economic benefits due to their microscopic nature. Each process in the production of micro algae biodiesel such as cultivation, harvesting and extraction can be optimized to negate the factors affecting production. Optimized micro algae biodiesel blends can be utilized to obtain ideal engine maps by calibrating engine parameters at stationary or dynamic engine tests. Numerous studies are available on micro algae based biodiesel production and its application in IC engines. Even though few consolidated articles are available on the effects of using micro algae biodiesel in IC engines, little to no article is available clubbing the production and optimization aspects of micro algae biodiesel with engine testing. To address this issue, this article intends to consolidate studies which have utilized different reactors for cultivating diverse micro algae species with multiple growth mediums. Furthermore, this combination also includes different biomass preprocessing and extraction techniques in producing micro algae biodiesel. Also, the implementation of micro algae biodiesel in IC engines and its output characteristics for different micro algae biodiesels have been highlighted and analyzed. To understand the current commercial status of micro algae biodiesel, a techno-economic analysis has been drawn. Studies revealed that closed type reactors are effective for continuous cultivation due to the constant regulation and availability of optimized growth factors. Furthermore, the techno-economic assessment revealed that the maintenance costs involved in the production should be lowered by 2–3 times the original to make micro algae biodiesel commercially available.

© 2020 Elsevier Ltd The present research work aims at investigating the effect of newly developed multifunctional additive with diesel and Calophyllum Inophyllum biodiesel on compression ignition engine characteristics. A newly developed hydrocarbon based multifunctional fuel additive named as “Thermol-D” which comprises of various ingredients at suitable composition like surfactant, demulsifier, lubricity enhancer, dispersant, cetane improver, antioxidant and combustion catalyst. In this present study, the Thermol-D has been doped with conventional diesel and Calophyllum Inophyllum biodiesel at 0.5 ml, 1 ml and 2 ml concentrations. Moreover, the Thermol-D addition with diesel and biodiesel has shown remarkable stability at all concentrations without any phase separation issues. All the fuel comparative analysis is carried out using all the fuel samples at same operating conditions under load variation from No load to full load at constant engine speed. It has been noticed that the doping of Thermol-D with diesel and biodiesel has increased the brake thermal efficiency by 21% and 43% at 100% loading conditions due to the presence of combustion catalyst and cetane improver in the additive. The multifunctional additive presence in the fuel blends is reduced the carbon monoxide and unburnt hydrocarbon emissions by 32–36% and 20% respectively. Furthermore, the oxides of nitrogen emission has also reduced at significant rate in the range of 18–20.5% for 2% Thermol-D addition with diesel and biodiesel. The Thermol-D contains slight fraction of antioxidant and cetane improvers which has resulted in combustion temperature. All the combustion characteristics are improved by the addition of Thermol-D with diesel and biodiesel.

Experiment was carried out to study the feasibility of biomass derived solid acid catalyst for the production of biodiesel using Palm Fatty Acid Distillate (PFAD). Malaysia indigenous seaweed was selected as the biomass to be carbonized as the catalyst support. Sulfonation of seaweed based carbon material was carried out by thermal decomposition of ammonium sulfate, (NH4)2SO4. The effects of carbonization temperature at 200 to 600°C on the catalyst physical and chemical properties were studied. The effect of reaction parameters on the fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) yield was studied by varying the concentration of ammonium sulfate (5.0 to 40.0 w/v%) and thermal decomposition time (15 to 90 min). Characterizations of catalyst were carried out to study the catalyst surface morphology with Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), acid density with back titration and functional group attached with FT-IR. Results showed that when the catalyst sulfonated with 10.0 w/v% ammonium sulfate solution and heated to 235°C f...

The present work offered a comprehensive investigation on engine characteristics of single cylinder Direct Injection (DI) diesel engine fuelled with Lemon oil (LO) biofuel. LO was obtained from the peels of lemon using steam distillation process. The physio-chemical properties of LO were analysed based ASTM biodiesel standard and compared with diesel. The chemical composition of LO was observed with Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry (GC–MS). In-order to enhance the properties of LO, a cetane enhancer namely Pyrogallol (PY) was added. The engine combustion chamber components namely piston head, cylinder head and intake and exhaust valves were thermally coated with Partially Stabilized Zirconia (PSZ) which converted the conventional engine into low heat rejection engine. In the PSZ coated engine, enhanced performance and combustion characteristics were observed with LO and PY blend. Declined carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbon (HC) and smoke emissions were observed with LO and PY blend in coated engine. Further, the work was extended with the application of Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) and Catalytic Converter (CC) as post treatment system for the reduction of NOx emission. With post treatment, LO and pyrogallol in PSZ coated engine showed lower NOx emission than diesel and LO. Consequently, LO and pyrogallol in PSZ coated engine with post treatment was considered as more advantageous than other fuel samples on account of its performance, combustion and emission characteristics.