IEEE-International Conference On Advances In Engineering, Science And Management (ICAESM 2012) March 30, 31, 2012
Transesterified Palm Oil as an Alternate Fuel for
Compression Ignition Engine
B. Deepanraj
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Adhiparasakthi Engineering College
Melmaruvathur, Tamil Nadu, India
babudeepan@gmail.com
V. Sivaramakrishnan
Department of Mechanical Engineering
EGS Pillay Engineering College
Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu, India
siva_vms78@yahoo.co.in
P. Lawrence
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Podhigai College of Engineering & Technology
Tirupattur, Tamil Nadu, India
lawphd2008@gmail.com
AbstractThe use of biodiesel fuels derived from vegetable oils
as a substitute for conventional petroleum fuel in diesel engines is
receiving an increasing amount of attention. This interest is based
on a number of properties of biodiesel, including the fact that it is
produced from a renewable resource, its biodegradability, and its
potential to reduce exhaust emissions. An experimental
investigation is carried out evaluate the effect of palm oil
biodiesel on the performance and exhaust emissions of a single
cylinder, water cooled, direct injection, diesel engine. The engine
performance (brake thermal efficiency, specific fuel consumption
and exhaust temperature) and emission (HC, CO and NOx)
parameters were measured and evaluated. The results proved
that the use of palm oil biodiesel in compression ignition engine is
a viable alternative to diesel.
Keywords- Biodiesel, diesel engine, palm oil, performance,
emissions.
I. INTRODUCTION
The rapid depletion of petroleum fuels and their ever
increasing costs have lead to an intensive search for alternate
fuels. The most promising substitutes for petroleum fuels are
biofuels such as alcohols and biodiesels. It has been predicted
that by the year 2030 all the present sources of fossil fuels
would get depleted and the world would come to a stand still
for need of fuel power. So, it is high time that scientists and
technologists developed an alternate fuel that would run on the
existing engines without any modifications and also one that
would cater to the ever increasing power needs of the countries
and domestic market [1].
The concept of using vegetable oil as a fuel for the
compression ignition engine is not a new idea. Rudolph Diesel
used peanut oil to fuel the diesel engine during the late 1800.
Petroleum based diesel fuel has been the fuel of choice for the
diesel engines for many years due to abundant supply and low
fuel prices. However, vegetable oils (biodiesel) are again being
ISBN: 978-81-909042-2-3 2012 IEEE
389
N. Senthil Kumar
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Adhiparasakthi Engineering College
Melmaruvathur, Tamil Nadu, India
nskumar_1998@yahoo.co.in
A. Santhoshkumar
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Adhiparasakthi Engineering College
Melmaruvathur, Tamil Nadu, India
asankumar88@gmail.com
R. Valarmathi
PG & Research Department of Chemistry
ADM College for Women, Nagapattinam
EGS Pillay Engineering College
Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu, India
rvmathi.09@gmail.com
reevaluated for use as a fuel for diesel engines due to their
clean burning tendencies, environmental benefits, and energy
security reasons [2].
Vegetable oils are renewable and potentially inexhaustible
source of energy with an energetic content close to diesel. One
of the problem faced in utilizing vegetable oils as CI engine
fuels is their higher viscosity, ranging from 9 to 17 times
greater than petroleum diesel fuel which results in poor fuel
atomization, incomplete combustion and carbon deposition on
the injector and the valve seats causing serious engine fouling.
To overcome these constraints, the processes like cracking or
pyrolysis, transesterification, micro-emulsification, and
blending with diesel, etc were developed.
There are many plant species which bear seeds rich in oil.
Of these some promising species produce oils like karanja,
jatropha, palm, sal, neem, mahua, etc have great potential to
make biodiesel for supplementing other conventional sources
like fossil fuels. In the last several years, many studies have
looked at the potential of biodiesel as an alternative fuel for
diesel engines. Pramanik [3] investigated the jatropha curcas
oil blends with diesel in a single cylinder engine and found that
the acceptable thermal efficiencies were obtained and the
specific fuel consumption and exhaust gas temperatures were
higher than the diesel. Lapuerta et al [4] have investigated the
use of waste cooking oil esters as alternative fuel in a naturally
aspirated diesel engine and been reported that the smoke
emission was lower than that of diesel. The NOx emissions
were marginally higher than diesel and the soot formed at the
point of impingement of ester was lower than diesel.
Sharanappa Godiganur et al [5] conducted the performance
and emission tests on Kirloskar HA394 diesel engine operated
on the blends of mahua oil methyl ester and reported that the
blends of mahua oil methyl ester produce lower brake thermal
efficiency compared with diesel due to its higher viscosity and
lower caloric value. The specific fuel consumption of biodiesel
IEEE-International Conference On Advances In Engineering, Science And Management (ICAESM 2012) March 30, 31, 2012 390

increased because of higher heat loss and poor combustion due

to higher viscosity. The CO and HC emissions of the blends are
lower than that of diesel. Dorado et al [6] tested the use of
methyl ester of olive oil as fuel in a DI diesel engine and
reported that the combustion efficiency and engine
performance were found to be the same as that of diesel. Also,
there were reduction in emissions namely, CO, CO2, NOx and
sulphur dioxide as 59%, 8.6%, 32% and 57% respectively.
Further, it has been reported that the smoke emission was low.
The purpose of the present work is to investigate the effect
of palm oil biodiesel on performance and emission
characteristics of a single cylinder, four stroke, direct injection
diesel engine.

II. FUEL PREPARATION

Figure 1. Transesterification setup
Biodiesel is the ester of vegetable oils produced through a
process called transesterification. Transesterification is a
chemical reaction which occurs between triglyceride and III. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP AND PROCEDURE
alcohol (generally methyl alcohol) in the presence of a catalyst
The technical specifications of the engine are given in
(generally sodium hydroxide of potassium hydroxide). It Table.2 and the experimental setup is shown in figure 2. The
consists of a sequence of three consecutive reactions where
experimental setup consists of a four stroke, single cylinder,
triglycerides are converted to diglycerides; diglycerides are direct injection Diesel engine developing 3.68 kW @ 1500
converted to monoglycerides followed by the conversion of
rpm, coupled to an eddy current dynamometer. MRU Delta
monoglycerides to glycerol [7, 8]. In each step an ester is exhaust gas analyzer was used to measure the emission
produced and thus three ester molecules are produced from one parameters and chromyl-alumel (k-type) thermocouple was
molecule of triglyceride. used to measure the exhaust gas temperature.
Palm oil used in the present investigation was taken from
the local market and filtered by cheese cloth to remove the TABLE II. TEST ENGINE SPECIFICATION
solid particles. The moisture content was removed by heating
the oil in an oven up to 110C for one hour. Now the oil is Manufacturer Kirloskar
taken in a round bottom flask of volume 500 cm3 and heated Engine Type
4 stroke, single cylinder, water
cooled, DI engine
around 50-60C on a hot plate having magnetic stirrer Bore & Stroke 80 x 110 mm
arrangement. Then methanol and sodium hydroxide (catalyst) Power 3.68 kW
are added to the oil. The mixture was stirred continuously. Rated speed 1500 rpm
Alcohol to vegetable oil molar ratio is one of the important
Loading type Eddy Current Dynamometer
factors that affect the conversion efficiency of the process. For
the transesterification process, 3 mol of alcohol are required for
each mole of the oil. However, in practice, the molar ratio
should be higher than this theoretical ratio in order to drive the
reaction towards early completion.
After the completion of reaction, the products are allowed
to separate into two layers. The lower layer contains glycerol
and the top layer contains ester which is separated and purified
using distilled water. Hot distilled water (10% by volume) is
sprayed over the ester and stirred gently and allowed to settle in
the separating funnel. The lower layer is discarded and upper
layer (purified biodiesel) is separated [9].
Biodiesel (methyl esters of palm oil) have several
outstanding advantages among other new renewable and clean
engine fuel alternatives. The setup used for the preparation of
biodiesel is shown in the figure 1. The properties of diesel and
biodiesel (palm oil methyl ester) used in the present
investigation were compared with diesel fuel in Table 1.

Figure 2. Test engine setup

TABLE I. PROPERTIES OF DIESEL AND BIODIESEL
Properties Diesel Biodiesel The engine tests were conducted at a constant engine speed
Density (kg/m3) 822 843 of 1500 rpm. The engine was operated on diesel first and then
Calorific Value (MJ/kg) 42.4 39.07
on methyl ester of palm oil (POME). The POME and diesel
Viscosity at 40C (cs) 3.72 7.10
Flash Point (C) 62 108 are subjected to performance and emission tests on the same
Iodine Value 38.3 71.44 engine without any modification. All measurements were taken

ISBN: 978-81-909042-2-3 2012 IEEE

IEEE-International Conference On Advances In Engineering, Science And Management (ICAESM 2012) March 30, 31, 2012 391

at constant static injection timing. An attempt was made to
conduct all experiments without significant fluctuations in inlet
air temperature and lubricating oil temperature as a method to
prevent possible discrepancies in engine operation during the
tests and mainly, to avoid variations in engine loading.
IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
In the present work, palm oil methyl ester has been used as
an alternative to diesel. It was observed that, while operating
the engine with POME it was smooth at all loads. The
performance and emission characteristics such as brake thermal
efficiency, specific fuel consumption, exhaust temperature and
The variation of exhaust gas temperature (EGT) of diesel
and biodiesel are shown in figure 5. The exhaust gas
temperature of the palm oil biodiesel was higher than the
standard diesel operation at all loads. This is due to the slow
combustion of biodiesel due to the high viscosity and poor
volatility. At maximum load, biodiesel exhibits 4.35% higher
EGT than diesel fuel. This result fairly matches with the trend
observed by Sukumar Puhan et al [12].
300
250
200

EGT (O C)
the composition of exhaust gases are presented for different
percentages of load for diesel oil and POME. 150

Figure 3 shows the variation of brake thermal efficiency 100

Diesel
with different loads for diesel and biodiesel operation. The 50
BTE increases with increase in load due to reduction in heat POME
loss and increase in power with increase in load. At maximum 0
load, the palm oil methyl ester produces lower brake thermal 0 20 40 60 80 100 120
efficiency which is 5.1% lower than standard diesel fuel. This Load (%)
is probably due to high density of biodiesel than Diesel and that
affects mixture formation of the fuel thus leads slow Figure 5. EGT vs. Load
combustion.
Figure 6 shown the unburned hydro carbon (UBHC)
35 emission of palm oil biodiesel at various loads compared to
30 that of diesel. It can be observed that, the UBHC emission
25
increases with increase in load. When operating with biodiesel,
the UBHC emission was reduced 24.1% than diesel at
BTE (%)

20 maximum load. As a result of oxygen present in the biodiesel,

15 the oxygen availability during the combustion process
10 Diesel increases and results in better combustion which releases low
UBHC compared to diesel
5 POME
0 70
0 20 40 60 80 100 60
Load (%)
50
HC (ppm)

Figure 3. BTE vs. Load 40

30
Specific fuel consumption (SFC) is a measure of the
efficiency of the engine in using the fuel supplied to produce 20
Diesel
work. It is desirable to obtain a lower value of SFC meaning 10 POME
that the engine used less fuel to produce the same amount of 0
work. The variation of specific fuel consumption with respect
to various load for diesel and biodiesel operation is shown in 0 20 40 60 80 100
Load (%)
figure 4. The biodiesel produced higher SFC than diesel which
is 10.2% at maximum load. This is due to low calorific value as
Figure 6. UBHC emission vs. Load
compared to diesel.
Oxides of nitrogen (NOx) formation is highly depends on
0.8
0.7
gas temperature inside cylinder and availability of oxygen. The
NOx formation increases linearly with increase in load as
SFC (KJ/kW-hr)

0.6
0.5 shown in figure 7. This is because with increasing load, the
0.4 temperature of the combustion chamber increases [13]. From
0.3 the figure, it is observed that the NOx emission of the biodiesel
0.2 Diesel operated engine is higher than the standard diesel operation.
0.1 POME This occurs due to the presence of extra oxygen in the
0 molecules of biodiesel which increases the in-cylinder
0 20 40 60 80 100 temperature of the engine.
Load (%)
The variation of carbon monoxide (CO) emissions with
load exhibits similar trend as that of UBHC. This is shown in
figure 8. The CO emissions of palm oil methyl ester are lower
Figure 4. SFC vs. Load compared to the standard diesel operation. This is due to the

ISBN: 978-81-909042-2-3 2012 IEEE

IEEE-International Conference On Advances In Engineering, Science And Management (ICAESM 2012) March 30, 31, 2012 392

presence of oxygen content in the biodiesel which makes the REFERENCES

combustion better. Similar trend was achieved by Saravanan et [1] Gogoi.T.K and Baruah.D.C, The use of Koroch seed oil methyl ester
al [14] while operated their engine with rice bran oil methyl blends as fuel in a diesel engine, Applied Energy, Vol.88, 2011,
ester. pp.2713-2725.
[2] Sukumar Puhan, Saravanan.N, Nagarajan.G and Vedaraman.N, Effect
700 of biodiesel unsaturated fatty acid on combustion characteristics of a DI
compression ignition engine, Biomass and Bioenergy, Vol.34, 2010,
600 pp.1079-1088.
500 [3] Pramanik.K, Properties and use of Jatropha Curcas Oil and diesel fuel
NOx (ppm)

blends in compression ignition engine, Renewable Energy, Vol.28,

400 2003, pp.239-248.
300 [4] Lapuerta.M, Agudelo.J.R and Rodrguez Fernndez.J, Diesel
Diesel particulate emissions from used cooking oil biodiesel, Bioresource
200 Technology, Vol.99, 2008, pp.731-740.
POME
100 [5] Sharanappa Godiganur, Ch. Suryanarayana Murthy and Rana Prathap
Reddy, Performance and Emission Characteristics of a Kirloskar
0 HA394 Diesel Engine Operated on Mahua Oil Methyl Ester,
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 Thammasat International Journal of Science and Technology, Vol.15,
Load (%) 2010, pp.32-39.
[6] Dorado.M.P, Ballesteros.E, Arnal.J.M, Gomez.J and Lopez.F.J,
Exhaust emissions from a Diesel engine fueled with transesterified
Figure 7. NOx emision vs. Load
waste olive oil, Fuel, Vol.82, 2003, pp.1311-1315.
[7] Fukuda H.M.K, Kondo.A and Noda.H, Biodiesel fuel production by
0.35 transesterification of oils, Journal of Bioscience and Bioengineering.,
0.3 Diesel Vol.92, 2001, pp.405-416.
[8] Vivek and Gupta.A.K, Biodiesel production from karanja oil, Journal
0.25 POME of Scientific and Industrial Research, Vol.63, 2004, pp.39-47.
CO (%)

0.2 [9] Anandram.V, Ramakrishnan.S, Karthik.J, Saravanan.S and

0.15
0.1
0.05
0 encouraging prospect, Renewable Energy, Vol.16, 1999, pp.1078-83.
0 20 40 60
Load (%)
Figure 8. CO emision vs. Load
V. CONCLUSIONS
The comparison of result shows very clearly that the
performance and emission characteristics of C.I engine using
palm oil methyl ester as a fuel are almost matching with the
diesel mode of operation. This justifies that the attempt made to
use palm oil methyl ester as a fuel in the C.I engine is very
effective and can be used as an alternative fuel without
modifying the engine. However due to the lower calorific value
of the palm oil methyl ester, it is found that the thermal
efficiency of the engine is found to be slightly lesser and the
specific fuel consumption is higher when compared to Diesel
fuel.
Lakshmi.N.R, Engine analysis of single cylinder DI diesel engine
fuelled with sunflower oil methyl esters and its blends, Proceedings of
ASME Internal Combustion Engine Division 2006 Fall Technical
Conference, California, USA, 2006, pp: 5-8.
[10] Koerbitz.W, Biodiesel production in Europe and North America, an
[11] Lawrence.P, Koshy Mathews.P and Deepanraj.B, Effect of prickly
80 100 poppy methyl ester blends on CI engine performance and emission
characteristics, American Journal of Environmental Science, Vol.7,
2011, pp.145-149.
[12] Sukumar Puhan, Vedaraman.N, Rambrahamam.B.V and Nagarajan.G,
Mahua seed oil: A source of renewable energy in India, Journal of
Scientific & Industrial Research, Vol.64, 2005, pp.890-896.
[13] Agarwal.A.K and Rajamanoharan.K, Experimental investigations of
performance and emissions of karanja oil and its blends in a single
cylinder agricultural diesel engine, Applied Energy, 2009, 106-112.
[14] Saravanan.S, Nagarajan.G, Lakshmi Narayana Rao.G and Sampath.S,
Role of biodiesel blend in suataining the energy and environment as a
CI engine fuel, International Journal of Energy and Environment,
Vol.2, 2011, pp.179-190.
[15] Deepanraj.B, Dhanesh.C, Senthil.R, Kannan.M, Santhoshkumar.A,
Lawrence.P, Use of palm oil biodiesel blends as a fuel for compression
ignition engine, American Journal of Applied Sciences, Vol.8, 2011,
pp.1154-1158.
[16] Suryawanshi.J.G, Performance and emission characteristics of CI
engine fueled by coconut oil methyl ester, SAE Paper No.320077.

ISBN: 978-81-909042-2-3 2012 IEEE