AN EXTRACTION AND PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF RUBBER SEED-METHYL ESTER ON AN IC ENGINE AT VARIOUS COMPRESSION RATIOS

摘要

Energy, Environment, and Economy are the 3E's which drive GDP growth of any country in the world. Energy security is the need of the hour due to high uncertainty prevailing globally, especially for countries like India which depend heavily on oil import to meet their growing energy needs. Use of edible bio-oil for biodiesel production may not be a viable option due to its high demand for cooking purpose. However, nonedible and discarded oils like rubber seed oil can be harnessed to supplement the increasing need for automobile fuels. High free fatty acid (FEA) content of the raw rubber seed oil increases the viscosity which makes it unsuitable for direct use in IC engines. The viscosity was reduced in two stage esterification process by conducting planned sets of experiment. The process parameters were optimized to maximize the oil yield. Fuel properties were ascertained by standard test procedure before conducting performance test in IC Engine. Better performance of the engine, while using biodiesel was found at the CR of 20. The results were compared with standard diesel for performance and emission standards. The emission analyses were done with standard procedure and found to be satisfactory. Biodiesel being an oxygenated fuel yields higher combustion efficiency, in spite of having slightly higher specific gravity than diesel.