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The present investigation aims at optimizing the biodiesel production of Grape seed bio-oil. Modelling proficiencies like Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Interference System, Artificial Neural Network and Response Surface Methodology (RSM) approaches are used to assess the optimal biodiesel yield by considering the input variable parameters like molar ratio, reaction time and catalyst concentration. Two-stage transesterification process is deployed using sodium hydroxide and methanol. The RSM predicted optimized grape seed biodiesel yield was noticed as 97.62% at 1.045 g/g catalyst concentration, 1.11 hr. reaction duration and 0.2758 v/v molar ratios which were in correlation with the actual yield. Further, the obtained grape seed biodiesel is amalgamated with n-butanol (20%) and Di-ethyl carbonate (10%) to understand its efficacy on the combustion characteristics of the compression ignition engine at variable compression ratios of 17, 17.5 and 18. The outcomes including the in-cylinder pressure, rate of heat release, rate of pressure rise, cumulative heat release, mean gas temperature and mass fraction burnt of the oxygenated fuel blends were compared with straight diesel and diesel – grape seed biodiesel blends.

In this research work, the characterization of the palm stearin biodiesel was made using Nuclear Magnetic resonance (NMR), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FITR) and GC/MS methods. Analysis of the composition of fatty acids was done using the GCMS apparatus based on the retention time. Fourier transform infrared spectrometer was used for the spectrum analysis of the various functional groups and bands located in it. The properties of the palm stearin biodiesel were predicted adopting the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards. Measured values of the properties were the density at 18°C as 0.88 g/m3, kinematic viscosity at 35°C as 3.4 mm2/s, the calorific value of the palm stearin as 37121 kJ/kg and the flash and fire points of the biodiesel as 130°C and 160oC respectively. The rapid and correct characterization of the palm stearin biodiesel was made by the NMR.

Biodiesel is one among the recent developments in the field of renewable energy research. To enhance the combustion characteristics of compression ignition engine, industry and academicians were working towards clean and renewable energy resource. Algal biodiesel was one of the major research arenas in the recent decade of renewable energy. Bio-oil from marine brown macro algae, Stoechospermum marginatum was used as the test fuel in this study. The purpose of this numerical study was to analyse the combustion behaviour of compression ignition engine when fuelled with Stoechospermum marginatum biodiesel as a fuel. The numerical study was performed using the zero-dimensional combustion model by incorporating the dynamic combustion duration during the heat transfer using the MATLAB Simulink software. The developed model which incorporated the instantaneous combustion duration was a novel approach. Validations of the numerical results on combustion features like in-cylinder pressure, rate of pressure rise, rate of heat release, and cumulative heat release were done by comparing it with the experimental data. The deviation between the numerical and experimental values was found to be within 5 to 6%.

As the fossil fuel reserves are getting depleted, the focus is towards alternative fuels to meet the future energy demand. Literatures showed that 20% biodiesel blend will be more appropriate in diesel engine without engine modifications. Few researches are performed on varying the compression ratio to understand the combustion behavior. The focus of this study is use understand the combustion behavior by varying compression ratios using third grade sesame oil. The blended fuel (B20) and its fuel properties are found to be within the stipulated standards. The in-cylinder pressure increases as the compression ratio is increased. Also, the rate of pressure rise and rate of heat release is higher as the compression ratio is increased. This confirms the fact that blended sesame biodiesel can be used as an alternate fuel source for diesel at higher compression ratio (18:1).

Weight reduction of about 100 kg in an automobile decreases the fuel consumption of about 0.7 L for every 100 km of traveling is the reasoned fact that many research are fielded towards conversion of metal to plastic. This was the main idea for executing this project i.e. replacement of wheel housing of a four-wheeler from metal to plastics. Sheet molding compound (SMC) is the material selected for this conversion project. The designing of the wheel housing was carried out using the Pro-e software with actual dimensions. The effectiveness, reliability, durability and the strength was analyzed using the ANSYS software. It was noted that the deflection of the material during the application of maximum load was 0.42 mm and the stress developed at the same time was noticed to be 39.008 N/mm2 which was within permissible limits. Based on the outcomes, SMC could be viable replacement for the metal wheel housing.

Improvement in performance of the diesel engines is carried out by focusing on several parameters. One among these is piston which undergoes higher thermal loads and thermal stresses during its entire working cycle and duration. Therefore, it is necessary to analyse the stresses that the piston can be able to withstand and give its contribution to maximize the engine performance. In this study, four different piston shapes were considered namely, flat, dome, cup and bowl type pistons. 3D models were developed for these pistons and simulations was carried out in the ANSYS at steady state conditions using finite element method (FEM). Based on the investigations, it was observed that the maximum temperature distributed was nearly same in all the types of pistons as 1133K which appeared near the combustion area. The thermal stress and total deformation values of the piston was found to be lesser for the flat and dome types of pistons. Based on the data obtained for thermal stress, temperature distribution, heat flux and total deformation, it can be suggested that flat or dome type pistons can be considered for use in the IC engine to maximize the performance of diesel engine.

The demand and usage of fossil fuels has been increasing drastically, leading us to search for alternate fuels. The sesame seed is selected as an alternate fuel source, as a focus for this research paper. The sesame biodiesel is a type of fuel that has been obtained through the transesterification process from sesame oil using base catalyst transesterification. The sesame biodiesel was blended with four different ratios B10, B20, B30 and B40, among which B20 resulted with better stability, tested in the Kirloskar 240PE VCR engine at a compression ratio of 17.5:1 and 18:1 in various loads. The FTIR test was performed on sesame biodiesel, and it has shown that ester content was present in the test sample confirming its usage as the biodiesel. The fuel properties were found for all the three: sesame oil, sesame biodiesel(B20), diesel and it was found to be within the permissible limit. The result reveals that B20 is the best possible blend that has given good results in emission characteristics. The smoke emission testing was done on AVL emission analyser. It has been noted and observed that there is good reduction in CO, CO2, and HC than with standard diesel rate at all loads. An increased amount of NOx is observed as the load increases. It was also noted among the two compression ratios, 18:1 depicted best results considering the emission levels. It is observed that the sesame biodiesel can be used in IC diesel engines with a better outcome than the standard diesel rate. Hence, the work established the need for conversion of sesame seed oil to biodiesel and also suggests that sesame oil could be effectively used as feedstock for biodiesel production.

Purpose The purpose this experimentation is to study the combustion characteristics of compression ignition engine fuelled with mineral diesel. The reason behind the numerical simulation is to validate the experimental results of the combustion characteristics. Design/methodology/approach The numerical analysis was carried out in this study using MATLAB Simulink, and the zero dimensional combustion model was applied to predict the combustion parameters such as in cylinder pressure, pressure rise rate and rate of heat release. Findings Incorporating the dynamic combustion duration with respect to variable engine load in the zero dimensional combustion model using MATLAB Simulink reduced the variation of experimental and numerical outputs between 5.5 and 6 per cent in this analysis. Research limitations/implications Validation of the experimental analysis is very limited. Investigations were performed using zero dimensional combustion model, which is the very appropriate for analysing the combustion characteristics. Originality/value Existing studies assumed that the combustion duration period as invariant in their numerical analysis, but with the real time scenario occurring in CI engine, that is not the case. In this analysis, mass fraction burnt considering the dynamic combustion duration was incorporated in the heat transfer model to reduce the error variation between experimental and numerical studies.

Purpose Vast areas have been studied toward combustion and emission analysis in vegetable oil methyl esters and quite a few in algal oil biodiesel. To analyze the better alternate source for diesel engine, this study aims to investigate the combustion behavior and emission characteristics between cottonseed biodiesel and algal oil biodiesel on comparison with mineral diesel in a compression ignition engine. Design/methodology/approach The fuel properties like density, kinematic viscosity, calorific value and Cetane number have met the biodiesel standards for both algal and cottonseed biodiesel. At rated power, engine was operated on all three test fuels, where combustion analysis describing in-cylinder pressure, peak pressure, rate of pressure rise and rate of heat release and emission characteristics including hydrocarbon (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and smoke for both biodiesel comparing mineral diesel. Findings Algal and cottonseed biodiesel showed up to 2-3°CA delayed start of combustion comparing mineral diesel curve. The in-cylinder pressure of algal biodiesel was found to be 68 bar, whereas cottonseed biodiesel exhibited 65 bar at full load condition. Similarly, the rate of pressure rise and rate of heat release of algal biodiesel depicted 7.9 and 10.7 per cent rise than cottonseed biodiesel, respectively. As the load increased, ignition delay showed decreasing trend, while combustion duration showed an increasing trend. HC, CO and smoke emissions were seen to be lower than mineral diesel with noticeable increase in NOx emission. Originality/value In this present investigation, biodiesel from Stoechospermum Marginatum, a marine marco algae, was used to fuel the compression ignition engine. Its combustion behavior and emission characteristics are compared with cottonseed biodiesel, a vegetable oil-based biodiesel having similar physio-chemical characteristics to understand the suitability of algal biodiesel in compression ignition engine. This study involves the assessment of straight biodiesel from macro algae and cottonseed oil on standard operating conditions.

This comparative study aims at experimental investigation on the combustion behaviour of a single-cylinder compression ignition (CI) engine using oxygenated blends of algal and cottonseed biodiesel. The algal oil is extracted by a solvent-extraction method using a Soxhlet apparatus and the cottonseed oil is procured from the local market. Base-catalysed transesterification using sodium hydroxide and methanol yield their respective methyl esters, and the physiochemical properties are found to be comparable with diesel and within American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) limits. The test fuels formulated for the study are D80CBD20, D80ABD20, D80CBD20nB10 and D80ABD20nB10. The combustion phenomenon displayed higher in-cylinder pressure and rate of heat release for oxygenated blended biodiesel than for other fuel blends. This is due to its shorter ignition delay and improved premixed combustion phase. D80CBD20nB10 and D80ABD20nB10 also displayed earlier start of combustion. The higher cetane number and calorific value of the oxygenated fuel blends improved the rate of heat release and cumulative heat release considerably. The oxygenated blends also exhibited a higher rate of pressure rise with comparable trends. Based on this investigation, blending of n-butanol up to 10% with algal biodiesel produces improved combustion behaviour of the CI engine.

The present study compares the effect of algal and cotton seed biodiesel in a single cylinder compression ignition engine. Bio-oil extraction was achieved through grinding operation and soxhlet lip...

Today, exists an innovative thinking amongst the educators and learners in the use of e-learning method in the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) worldwide. Be that as it may, the E-learning framework requires immense up-front infrastructure with many establishments which isn’t anything but difficult to be overseen. Cloud computing accompanies another advancement stage to overcome e-learning issues in a simple and cost-proficient way that HEIs can embrace to improve the nature of their scholarly services toward the end with the thought of an instructive innovation of educational technology. The fundamental point of this explorative study is to develop a conceptual model to examine the factors laid down by Information technology (IT) adoption theory that influencing the E-Learning Based Cloud Computing (ELBCC) by integrating fit-viability theory with the diffusion of innovations (DOI) theory’s factors. The findings of this study demonstrated that the used scale measurement has met the criteria of reliability and validity. Further this study conveyed an integrated model for investigating Cloud Computing adoption for E-Learning in HEIs in Omani context in the Sultanate of Oman, and it provides the foundation for coming studies due to its infancy, and deep insight for cloud computing development, this is a hypothetical commitment. Moreover, this study builds up an empirical mechanism to explore influencing adoption features for the Omani HEIs perspective. In Composing, this is the first kind of an empirical study in Omani HEIs setting. At long last, the outcome will help the Omani HEIs to make sense of their preparation for E-Learning Based Cloud Computing, and what are the critical elements decision makers ought to consider prior to implementation.