CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Vegetable oils present very promising alternate to Diesel oil since they are renewable and
have similar properties. Several research and project in the field of Internal combustion Engine
are being focused on reduced Emission, which not only makes commercial sense but also helps
benefit the environment reducing harmful emission from diesel vehicles helps improve local air
quality which is no becoming increasingly important towards corporate social responsibility. The
use of vegetable oils as fuels for diesel engines is not a new concept. It is known that when Sir.
Rudolph Diesel invented diesel engine he used Peanut oil in his engine.[1]

Jatropha an alternate fuel could be attributed to some important facts. Indian climate
condition is suitable for jatropha cultivation.

It has no insects, pets and not browsed by animals, can survive long periods of drought. It
can grow in saline and alkaline soils, arid and semi-arid condition. Its properties match with that
of petroleum diesel.

From previous studies, it is evident that there are various problems associated with
vegetable oils being used as fuel in compression ignition (C.I.) engines, mainly caused by their
high viscosity. The high viscosity is due to the large molecular mass and chemical structure of
vegetable oils which in turn leads to problems in pumping, combustion and atomization in the
injector systems of a diesel engine. Due to the high viscosity, in long term operation, vegetable
oils normally introduce the development of gumming, the formation of injector deposits, ring
sticking, as well as incompatibility with conventional lubricating oils. Therefore, a reduction in
viscosity is of prime importance to make vegetable oils a suitable alternative fuel for diesel
engines. The problem of high viscosity of vegetable oils has been approached in several ways,
such as preheating the oils, blending or dilution with other fuels, trans-esterification and thermal
cracking/pyrolysis.

In the present investigation jatropha curcas oil, a non-edible vegetable oil which has been
considered as a potential alternative fuel for C.I. engines has been chosen to find out its
suitability for use as fuel oil. Jatropha curcas is a large shrub or tree native to the American
1
tropics but commonly found and utilized throughout most of the tropical and subtropical regions
of the world. Several properties of the plant, including its hardness, rapid growth, easy
propagation and wide ranging usefulness have resulted in its spread far beyond its original
distribution. The jatropha oil is slow-drying oil which is odorless and colorless when fresh but
becomes yellow on standing. The oil content of jatropha seed ranges from 30 to 50% by weight
and the kernel itself ranges from 45 to 60%. The fatty acid composition of jatropha classifies it as
a linoleic or oleic acid type, which are unsaturated fatty acids. The fatty acid composition of
jatropha oil consists of myristic, palmitic, stearic, arachidic, oleic and linoleic acids. The seeds
and oil are toxic due to the presence of cursive and curcasive. However, from the properties of
this oil it is envisaged that the oil would be suitable as fuel oil. The oil compares well against
other vegetable oils and more importantly to diesel itself in terms of its fuel rating per kilogram
or hectare of oil produced. But the greatest difference between jatropha oil and diesel oil is
viscosity.

The high viscosity of curcas oil may contribute to the formation of carbon deposits in the
engines, incomplete fuel combustion and results in reducing the life of an engine.

1.1 Source of jatropha Oil

The plant that is generally cultivated for the purpose of extracting jatropha oil is Jatropha curcas.
The seeds are the primary source from which the oil is extracted. Owing to the toxicity of
jatropha seeds, they are not used by humans. The major goal of jatropha cultivation, therefore, is
performed for the sake of extracting jatropha oil.

Analysis of jatropha curcus seed shows the following Chemical compositions.

Moisture: 6.20%
Protein: 18.00%
Fat: 38.00%
Carbohydrates: 17.00%
Fiber: 15.50%
Ash: 5.30%

The oil content is 25-30% in the seed. The oil contains 21% saturated fatty acids and 79%

2
unsaturated fatty acids. These are some of the chemical elements in the seed, cursin, which is

Poisonous and render the oil not appropriate for human consumption.

Oil has very high saponification value and being extensively used for making soap in some
countries. Also oil is used as an illuminant in lamps as it burns without emitting smoke. It is also
used as fuel in place of, or along with kerosene stoves.

Jatropha curcus oil cake is rich in Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium and can be used as
organic manure. By thermodynamic conversion process, pyrolysis, useful products can be
obtained from the jatropha oil cake. The liquid, solid (char), and gaseous products can be
obtained. The liquid can be used as fuel in furnace and boiler. It can be upgraded to higher grade
fuel by transesterification process.

It is significant to point out that, the non-edible vegetable oil of jatropha curcus has the requisite
potential providing a promising and commercially viable alternative to diesel oil since it has
desirable physical chemical and performance characteristics comparable to diesel. Cars could be
run with jatropha curcus without requiring much change in design.[2]

Fig -1

3
1.2 Variations in the Yield of Jatropha Oil

It is often considered that a more effective extraction technique would yield greater quantities of
oil. This is partly inaccurate, since an effective extraction method would only yield the optimum
quantity and not more than that. The optimum oil content in jatropha plants varies between
species and genetic variants.

Climatic and soil conditions generally affect the yield of the oil as well. However, improper
processing techniques such as prolonged exposure of the harvested seeds to direct sunlight can
impair the oil yield considerably. The maximum oil content that has been reported in jatropha
seeds has been close to 47%. However, the accepted average is 40%, and the fraction that can be
extracted is taken to be around 91%.

1.3 Methods and Devices for Jatropha Oil Extraction

Some of the methods that are usually employed for the extraction of jatropha oil are as follows

Oil Presses:

Oil presses have been used for the purpose of oil extraction as simple mechanical devices - either
powered or manually driven. Among the different oil presses that are used for jatropha oil
extraction the most commonly used presses include the Bielenberg ram press. The Bielenberg
ram press involves the traditional press method to extract oil and prepares oil cakes as well as
soaps. It is a simple device that yields around 3 liters of oil per 12 kg of seed input. Since the
recognition of jatropha as an alternative energy sources (namely, biofuel), jatropha oil extraction
methods have also gained due importance in the market. Since jatropha oil is the primary
ingredient required in the production of biofuels, the development of oil extraction methods and
the optimization of existing methods of extracting the oil have become significant.

Oil Expellers:

Different kinds of oil expellers are used for the purpose of jatropha oil extraction. The most
commonly used ones are the Sayari oil expeller (also called the Sundhara oil expeller) and the
Komet Expeller. The Sayari expeller is a diesel-operated oil extraction device that was originally
developed in Nepal. It is now being developed for use in Tanzania and Zimbabwe for the

4
purpose of jatropha oil extraction and oil cake preparation. The prototype included heavy parts
made of cast iron. The lighter version has the cast iron replaced with iron sheets. A model driven
by electricity is also available. The Komet expeller is a single-screw oil expeller that is often
used for extracting jatropha oil from the seeds and also for the preparation of oil cakes.

Traditional Methods

Traditional methods by which the oil is extracted from the seeds by hand using simple
implements are still practiced in rural and less developed areas.

Modern Concepts

Methods like ultra-sonication have been discovered to be effective in increasing the percentage
of jatropha oil that can be extracted using chemical methods like aqueous enzymatic treatment.
The optimum yield for such methods has been discovered to be around 74%. Jatropha oil
extraction methods are still being researched. The goal of such researches is to discover methods
to extract a greater percentage of jatropha oil from the seeds than the current procedures allow.

Purification of oil

Fig.2

5
1.4 Environmental impact
The environmental impact of the Jatropha biodiesel production has been evaluated by several
studies applying the Life Cycle Assessment approach. This approach shows the total
environmental impact for the production system during its whole life cycle. It determines the
processes in the system that contribute most to environmental impact and where the possibilities
for improvement are. These assessments show varying results, possibly due to differences in
methodology.[3]

1. Energy balance: If the energy output of a given system is greater than the energy input, the
system has a positive energy balance. However, energy balance is affected by energy quality and
the utility of different energy carriers. A high energy input can be acceptable if the input energy
is low-quality and the output a high-quality energy carrier, such as a liquid fuel usable for
vehicle operation. The production of Jatropha biodiesel reportedly has a positive energy balance.
The largest differences in energy requirement between different production sites are derived
from differences in cultivation intensity, as irrigation and use of fertilizers are energy intensive
practices (A. Higher cultivation intensity does not always pay off in higher energy production,
and optimization of inputs and yield is required for maximized positive energy biodiesel, which
implies that the direct use of crude Jatropha oil would improve the energy balance. However, in
the use phase, the combustion of Jatropha oil instead of biodiesel is less energy efficient and
causes balance. Another energy intensive production step is the transesterification of Jatropha oil
into problems to the engine. Hence, possibilities for improvement of energy balance lie in the
cultivation and transesterification steps.

2. Global warming potential

Studies report that production of Jatropha biodiesel releases less greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions compared to production of fossil diesel. The largest GHG contributing phases of the
production are use of fertilizers and irrigation, if applied in the cultivation process, and
transesterification. Hence, intensification of cultivation will have a negative effect on the global
warming potential of Jatropha biodiesel production. However, Prueksakorn and Gheewala (2006)
find the end-use phase of the biodiesel to be the main contributor of GHG emissions, responsible
for 90 percent of total life cycle emissions, and therefore changes in production processes would

6
only affect total emissions marginally. Further, Prueksakorn and Gheewala mention that GHG
emissions from production and use of biodiesel are 23 percent of emissions from fossil diesel.
The main reason for this is that biodiesel is produced from biomass, and its carbon dioxide
(CO2) emissions from combustion in the engine are considered GHG neutral. Biodiesel in
general releases less emissions than fossil diesel, except for emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx),
where emissions are slightly higher. Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from the use of nitrogen
fertilizers also need to be considered; IPCC estimates the emissions to be one percent of nitrogen
input from fertilizers. (IPCC 2006) As nitrous oxide is a potent GHG, with a global warming
potential that is 296 times higher than that of carbon dioxide, it is important to optimize the input
of fertilizer to the output from cultivation to reach a reduction in global warming potential for the
system.
Destruction of carbon stocks by removal of natural and semi-natural forest for plantation
of Jatropha will have significant negative effects on the life cycle global warming potential, and
pay-back of stocks through reduction of GHG emissions by the use of biodiesel will take a long
time.
Jatropha may contribute to GHG savings by carbon fixation in the biomass, as only the
seeds are harvested while the biomass may remain standing for a long period of time. Studies
report carbon uptake by mature Jatropha plants ranging from 25 tC/ha on rain fed Indian
wasteland to 40 tC/ha on irrigated land in Egypt. An IFEU (Institute for Energy and
Environmental Research) report estimates the carbon content of a 3.5 year old plantation on
infertile Indian soil to 5 tC/ha (Reinhardt 2007). Although spacing patterns vary, the number of
plants per hectare is not likely to have significant influence on carbon uptake, since denser
plantations demands increased extent of pruning which results in decreased biomass per plant.

3. Water related impacts

Water scarcity is a problem in large parts of India, and climate change and intensification of
agriculture further increase stress on the scarce water resources. A growing demand for
bioenergy creates increased requirements for water for irrigation of biofuel crops, and conflicts
between water use for energy and use for other agricultural production are becoming an issue.
One of Jatropha’s main mentioned advantages is its resistance to drought and its low water
requirements. The ability to grow Jatropha under dry conditions and increase the vegetation

7
cover on degraded land gives opportunities for channeling of water, which earlier evaporated
from the ground, into positive transpiration. However, a possible negative impact from this is
that the increased evapotranspiration from the plantations causes decreased water supply
downstream.
The use of irrigation for Jatropha plantations puts stress on the limited resources in water-scarce
areas; efficient water management is necessary for optimal use of the scarce resources.
Calculations of the total water footprint of Jatropha exist, but they vary widely. According to
Gerbens-Leenes (2009) the water use for Jatropha biodiesel in India is very inefficient, and the
production of one GJ of energy requires 600 m3 of water, which equals 20,000 liters of water per
litre of biodiesel. For comparison, the water footprint for sugar cane for production of ethanol is
110 m3/GJ. (This high water footprint value is criticized by who claim the value is an
overestimate caused by methodological errors and inappropriate use of data. Maes (2009)
estimate the water footprint at 65 m3/GJ, only 16 percent of the value calculated by Gerbens. To
use water resources more efficiently, the amount of water for irrigation should be optimized
relative to outcome, and waste water from industrial processes, such as oil extraction and
transesterification, should be reduced.
Possible impacts of emissions to water, from for example use of fertilizers and combustion of
fossil fuels, include negative effects on household water and acidification and eutrophication of
water flows.

8
1.5 The Planning Commission’s estimate of available land areas for Jatropha
plantations

Table-1

Potential Area for Jatropha

Type of land
Area MHa (MHa)

Under-stocked forest areas

31.0 3.0

Protective hedge around

agricultural fields 142.0 3.0

Agro-forestry
24.0 2.0

Cultivable fallow land

2.4

Wastelands under Ministry of

Rural Development poverty
alleviation programs 2.0

Public land along railways,

roads, and canals
1.0

1.6 Application of jatropha oil (JO) to CI engine: Jatropha plant bears fruits from second year
of its plantation and the economic yield stabilizers from fourth or fifth year onwards. The
jatropha oil and its derivatives can be used as a liquid fuel for compression ignition engine.
Depending on variety, the decorticated seed of jatropha contain 43–59% of oil. In Madagascar,
Cape Verde and Benin, the seed oil of jatropha was used as a diesel fuel substitute during the
Second World War.[4]

1.7 PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED: A number of vegetable oils like rapeseed oil, neem oil, palm
oil, karanji oil, coconut oil, cottonseed oil, jatropha oil, etc., were tested to evaluate their
performance in diesel engines. Among them, as a compression ignition engine fuel, jatropha oil

9
has a high cetane number, which is very close to diesel. The flash point of jatropha oil is high
240°C as compared with 75°C for diesel. Due to its high flash point, jatropha oil has certain
advantages like greater safety during storage, handling, and transport. However, this may create
problems during starting. The viscosity of jatropha oil is less as compared with other vegetable
oils but is higher than diesel.se, jatropha oil was found as the most suitable for diesel.

The main problem associated with the use of vegetable oils is their high viscosity and poor
volatility. Different methods have been tried to use vegetable oils efficiently. Some of them are
as follows:

1. Transesterification with alcohol

2. Blending of SVO with diesel

3. Dual fueling with gaseous and liquid fuels, and

In the present study the problem of direct using of vegetable oil is reduced to a greater extent
by blending with diesel. Vegetable oils offer the advantage of freely mixing with diesel, and
these blends can be used in the existing diesel engines without modifications. This is a simple
process. Blending of vegetable oils with diesel results in significant improvement in physical
properties. Viscosity and density are considerably reduced. Volatility is also improved.
Vegetable oils in varying proportions in the fuel blend were tried by a number of investigators.
Results obtained from the experiments on a diesel engine using a blend of vegetable oil and
diesel showed improved brake thermal efficiency and reduced exhaust smoke emissions than
neat vegetable oils.

The dual fueling is a well-established technique to use different types of fuels in diesel
engines. A conventional diesel engine can be easily modified to operate in this mode. This
engine can accept a wide range of liquid and gaseous fuels. The dual fuel engine can result in
good thermal efficiency and extremely low smoke emissions particularly at high power outputs.
In a dual fuel engine, a volatile liquid or gaseous fuel with a high octane number is inducted
along with air through the intake manifold. The resulting homogeneous mixture is compressed to
a temperature below its self-ignition point. A pilot fuel (with a high cetane number) is injected
through the standard injection system. This self-ignites and initiates the combustion in the

10
primary fuel air mixture. Alcohols were widely used as inducted fuels in the dual fuel engine.
However, dual fuel operation with alcohol induction results in higher hydrocarbon and carbon
monoxide emissions. Use of hydrogen due to its high flame velocity can enhance the combustion
rate of vegetable oils and reduce emissions. Dual fuel operation normally poses problems of low
efficiency when the concentration of the inducted fuel is low. This is because the lean mixture of
the inducted fuel with air does not burn well. Use of fuels with wide flammability limits and high
flame velocity can overcome such problems in the dual fuel engine. Since vegetable oils produce
high smoke emissions, dual fuel approach can be a viable option for improving their
performance. Vegetable oils can be used as the pilot fuel and alcohol can be the inducted fuel.
The high flame velocity of alcohols and hydrogen can improve the overall combustion process.

11
 CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 HISTORY

Historical records show that jatropha was used by native Indians of Central America and perhaps
South America, where it was traditionally used in herbal medicine. Jatropha seeds were
commercially produced on the Cabo Verde Islands already in 1836. The seeds were exported to
Portugal and France and the oil was used for street lighting and soap production. Due to the
toxicity of the leaves and its fast growth and resilience, jatropha is often used as a hedge or living
fence since it is not browsed by cattle. There are many other current uses for jatropha. Figure 1‐
gives an overview of the several applications of jatropha and its products.[6]

Fig-2

12
2.2 Previous Works On Jatropha Oil: Reddy and Ramesh reported the experimental work on a
CI engine fuelled with jatropha oil. They found that when the injection timing is retarded with
enhanced injection rate, a significant improvement in performance and emission was noticed. At
full output, NO level and smoke with jatropha oil are 1162.5 ppm and 2 BSU, respectively, while
they are 1760 ppm and 2.7 BSU with diesel. It was found that the brake thermal efficiency
increases when the injection rate is lowered with jatropha oil. They concluded that a significant
improvement in performance, emissions and combustion parameters can be obtained by properly
optimizing the injector opening pressure, injection timing, injection rate and enhancing the swirl
level when a diesel engine is to be operated with neat jatropha oil.[7]

The test results on a single-cylinder direct-injection engine operating on neat jatropha oil as
well as blends of diesel and jatropha oil were presented by Forson et al. and Agarwal and
Agarwal . Their tests showed that jatropha oil could be conveniently used as a diesel substitute in
a diesel engine.

Chauhan et al. recently conducted an experimental study on the performance and emission
characteristics of CI engine fuelled with neat JO. The experimental results showed that the
thermal efficiency of the engine was lower, while the BSFC was higher with JO compared with
diesel fuel. The level of NOx emission from JO during the entire experimental condition was
lower than those of diesel fuel. However, CO, HC and CO2 emissions from JO were higher than
those of diesel fuel.

2.3 Jatropha plant description

Fig-3

13
The Jatropha plant (Jatropha Curcas) or physic nut is a shrub or a small tree belonging to the
genus Euphorbiaceae. The Jatropha plant originated from South America, but now the plant can
be found worldwide in arid and semi-arid tropical and sub-tropical countries. It is claimed that
probably the plant was distributed from South America by Portuguese seafarers via Cape Verde
Islands and Guinea Bissau to Africa and Asia. The Jatropha plant can be grown in almost all
types of soils. It can even be grown in very poor soil and still produce a high average yield of
seeds. However, light sandy soil is the most favorable. The Jatropha plant is a multiple use plant.
The different uses of Jatropha will be presented in another section of this chapter. The root
system of Jatropha plant comprises 3 – 4 lateral roots and a vertical one that reaches 5m down in
the ground. The Jatropha Curcas is a drought resistant plant that can live up to 50 years. Jatropha
Curcas tolerates a minimum annual rainfall of 250mm and a maximum annual rainfall of
3000mm. The minimum depends on the humidity, the higher the humidity the less the minimum
rainfall Jatropha can tolerate. Jatropha can be found from sea level to 1800m altitudes. The tree
grows to a maximum height of nearly 8m. The Jatropha fruit maturation takes 45 – 50 days.40
The plant starts producing yield 4 – 5 months after planting. The Jatropha trees produce a round
fruit with a soft brownish skin, which have 1.5 – 3 cm in diameter and weigh 1.5 – 3 g. The
seeds contain about 33% oil. The oil is pale yellow to brown in color. The oil contains a toxic
substance, curcasin that has strong purging effects.[8]

The harvesting period of Jatropha seeds differ in different countries depending on the humidity
of the weather. In general, fruits are picked from the plant or sometimes the fruits ripen in the
tree and fall down, and thereafter are picked for processing. Since the harvesting period and
number of harvesting periods is different from different countries, the conclusions that reflect the
harvesting period and numbers will also be different from place to place.

2.4 The cultivation of the Jatropha plant

Jatropha is planted as a fence or a protector of houses, gardens and food crop fields from
browsing animals. The planting of the Jatropha plant can either be through the seeds, nursery or
Jatropha cuttings. The seeds are planted straight in the prepared soil. In case of nursery, the
seedlings are raised in a separate nursery and later planted in their permanent places. The
cuttings are collected from existing Jatropha plants and then planted.

14
The fact that Jatropha can also grow in degraded land opposes the tradeoff argument and
provides a potential solution to overcome the political difficulties of dedicating productive land
for energy plants. Additionally, there are some other arguments against the plant oil such as the
use of fertilizers and pesticides in energy plantations, which is in most cases are harmful to the
environment. An example of negative effects of utilizing fertilizers is the excess amount of
nutrients in the nearby lakes and rivers. There is also an argument that more energy is utilized
than the produced one. In answer to this social economical argument, Jatropha plants in Tanzania
need neither fertilizer nor pesticides due to the resistance characteristics and toxicity composition
of the plant that make it not easily eaten by animals or insectics. However, it was noted that
probably if Jatropha is grown in a commercial basis there might be a need to add some fertilizer
when the land is exhausted. This argument also could be overcome by the fact that Jatropha seed
residues could be used to fertilize Jatropha plants if needed.

2.5 Contribution of Jatropha Plant

The Jatropha plant has four main contributions to rural development and poverty eradication in
general: Renewable energy, promotion of women, poverty reduction and soil erosion control. To
use Henning’s exact words, “The Jatropha system creates a positive correlation between energy
production and food production. The more energy Jatropha hedges produce, the more food crops
are protected from animals and erosion. Also additional income is created, mainly for women”.
The Jatropha Curcas has many products and potential contributions to rural community
development. The products of the Jatropha plant are the plant itself, fruits, leaves, and latex. The
fruits comprise of seeds and fruit hulls. The seeds produce seed oil, seed cake, and seed shells.
The oil processes also produce sediments from oil purifications. Jatropha products and uses can
be comprehensively presented as follows:[9]

I. Renewable Energy

 The Jatropha plant itself can be used in erosion control if planted across the hills and
against the wind. The plant can also be used as firewood.
 The fact that it grows very fast means Jatropha could help to solve the problems of
deforestation in many developing countries.

15
  As noted above, Jatropha in many countries is normally grown as a hedge plant. The
toxicity of the plant deters animal browsing.
 The leaves are used as a medicine and could also be used to develop Eri Silkworm. The
leaves could also be used as an anti-inflammatory substance. In many places, the latex is
used to heal wounds and as a medicine.
The fruits have seeds and also produce fruits hulls.
 The fruit hulls themselves are combustible and could be used to produce fire in villages.
 The fruit hulls also could be used as a green manure to add nutrients to the soil for
agriculture.
 The fruit hulls could also be fermented to generate biogas.
 The Jatropha seeds can produce seed oil, seed cake and seed shells. The seed oil could be
used as diesel or paraffin substitute or extender for diesel engines, cooking stoves,
lightings and a lubricant.
 The oil and sediment from oil purifications can be used as base material for soap
production.
 The oil also contains an insecticide, which makes it possible for Jatropha oil to be used
for medicinal purposes due to its strong purging effects.
 The seed cake could be used directly in agricultural activities as fertilizer.
 The Jatropha seed cake was tested and it was found that the mineral composition in it is
the same as that of chicken manure.
 The seed cake could also be fermented to produce biogas. The seed cake from non-toxic
varieties of Jatropha could be used as a fodder.
 In the case of seed shells from the seeds, they can be combusted directly and produce
energy in terms of fire.

II. Promotion of Woman

The social economical contribution of Jatropha to rural community development emanates from
promotion of women. In this case the Jatropha plant improves the working conditions of women.
Women in rural areas can use Jatropha oil instead of petroleum products, which tend to be
relatively expensive. By using locally produced Jatropha oil as a fuel, the cash outflow to
petroleum products from the village is saved. In addition, use of Jatropha plant oil instead of

16
firewood for fuel would improve women’s health and save time used to fetch firewood. Another
benefit is the traditional use of the plant as a medicine. Generally, medically, the oil is used by
many women as an antiseptic for cough, skin diseases, and pain reliever from rheumatism. Rural
communities could use Jatropha latex to heal wounds and it also has microbial properties. The
plant promotes rural women by providing employment and income-generating activities through
soap making using Jatropha oil and sediment from oil purification. The soaps can then find the
market within the village or nearby rural areas. In one sentence, the contribution of Jatropha in
rural communities is providing employment, facilitating soap production in rural areas,
strengthening women’s economic independence, reducing women’s workload, and helping rural
communities particularly rural women to meet their current obligations through Jatropha seed
sales.

III. Soil Erosion Control

The Jatropha plant also helps to control soil erosion and improve soil fertility. Jatropha plants
facilitate the control of water erosion if it is planted parallel to store dams and could be used as a
wind bleak. Since the plant roots grow closer to the ground surface, which forms bonds that slow
the surface runoff during heavy rains, this helps the penetration of more water into the soil and
makes the soil more productive. The example of using Jatropha for soil erosion control is the
cotton growing company CMDT in Mali, which uses Jatropha hedges extensively to control soil
erosion in their fields. Solsoloy also reported that the Jatropha Curcas could be used to control
cotton insect pests.

IV. Poverty Reduction

Furthermore, in the issue of poverty reduction, the Jatropha plant provides a source of income in
rural areas through the use of Jatropha oil as fuel and as raw materials for the soap making that
earns more income for rural communities. Other sources of income for Jatropha are; Sale of
Jatropha seeds and more income from food crops; since the Jatropha hedge protects food crops
against animals more production is ensured. The fact that the cash that was used to purchase
petroleum products will remain in the village ensures more hard cash to be retained in the village
that might help to meet other essential obligations. The Jatropha plant also provides a source of

17
employment to many rural dwellers, which in turn helps to reduce urban migration in developing
countries.

2.6 Toxicity of the Jatropha plant

The toxicity of the Jatropha Curcas is an advantage as well as a disadvantage. The advantage is
that the plant could not be browsed by animals and could act as an excellent fence. The
disadvantage comes from the fact that the equipment, such as ram presses that are used to press
Jatropha seeds, could not be used to press other edible seed oil from plants like sunflower unless
a proper cleaning is done which would take a lot of water. The toxicity of Jatropha Curcas is
proved by the test reported by Liberalino that rats, which ate raw or cooked seed died within 2-3
days, and rats given raw or cooked Jatropha oil died within 6-8 days. When the seeds are roasted
or cooked they cause death to rats within 14-16 days. Another test showed that animals fed
Jatropha products suffer from abdominal pain, diarrhoea, respiratory problems and imbalance.
The main source of the toxicity is the phorbol esters contents of the seeds that could also
promote tumours and inflammation. However, it has been observed that it is possible to detoxify
the phorbol esters by DE acidification and bleaching in order to use the seedcake for animal feed.
The deacidification could reduce the phorbol esters up to 55%.The claims that there are some
varieties of non-toxic Jatropha plants need more investigation.

18
2.7 Physical and chemical properties of Diesel and Jatropha Curcas oil[19]

Table-2

PROPERTIES DIESEL JATROPHA CURCAS OIL

Density (gm/cc), 30Oc 0.836-0.850 0.93292

Kinematic viscosity (cSt) 4-8 52.76

Cetane No 40-55 38

Flash point, C 45-46 210.00

Calorific value, MJ/kg 42-46 38.20

The greatest difference to be considered in using Jatropha oil as fuel is the amount of viscosity,
which could contribute to carbon deposit in the engines and the above-mentioned issues. The
high viscosity could also cause incomplete fuel combustion and may result in reducing the life of
an engine and have environmental drawbacks such as producing carcinogenic particles.
However, the high cetane number and calorific value that is approximately equal to diesel fuel
make it possible to use Jatropha oil in diesel engines. Additionally, the high flash point of
Jatropha oil makes it safer to store, use and handle than petroleum diesel; 210oC is the
temperature at which it will ignite when exposed to a flame while diesel is only 45 – 55oc.

Due to the difference in viscosity and other differences noted in the table above there are two
strategies for using Jatropha oil as fuel . The first one is changing the engine to adapt to the fuel
and the second one is for processing the fuel to adapt to the engine. The literature indicates that
developing special engines like the Elsbett engine or modifying existing diesel engines to preheat
Jatropha oil first to reduce viscosity and filter the fuel could achieve the first strategy. The
modification of engines or manufacturing engines to run on straight Jatropha oil requires the

19
addition of new injector, glow plugs, filter and heat exchanger to the old diesel engine design.
The second option is to adapt Jatropha oil to the engines. This option seems to be more practical.
The adaptation of Jatropha oil to the diesel engine could be done by blending the Jatropha oil
with diesel, producing methyl esters or ethyl esters through transesterification process that could
be used straight instead of diesel or dual fuelling with diesel.[10]

2.8 Jatropha Oil blends

The application of jatropha oil blended with diesel fuel and methanol to CI engine have been
reported by many researchers in the literature. Pramanik reported the performance of the single
cylinder CI engine using jatropha oil blended with diesel fuel and compared the results with the
performance obtained with neat jatropha oil and diesel fuel. Among the various blends, the
blends containing up to 30% (v/v) jatropha oil have viscosity values close to that of diesel fuel at
the range of – C. They found that engine performance was significantly improved
compared to that of neat jatropha oil. The specific fuel consumption and the exhaust gas
temperature of the blends were reduced due to decrease in viscosity of the vegetable oil. The
exhaust gas temperature, which is related to the formation of NOx, of 20:80 jatropha/diesel blend
shows the very close to that of diesel fuel. They concluded that up to 50% jatropha oil can be
substituted for diesel use in a CI engine without any major operational difficulties.

Forson et al. presented the test results of blends of jatropha oil and diesel fuel in proportions of
97.4%/2.6%, 80%/20% and 50%/ 50% by volume on a single-cylinder direct injection engine
and compared with the test results of diesel fuel and neat jatropha oil. They found that neat
jatropha oil, neat diesel and blends of jatropha oil and diesel fuel exhibited similar performance
and broadly similar emission levels under comparable operating condition. They concluded that
the jatropha oil can be used as an ignition-accelerator additive for pure diesel fuels when 2.6%
by volume of the jatropha is introduced into pure diesel fuel. Agarwal and Agarwal had
measured the viscosity of jatropha oil blended with diesel fuel with blending ratio. They found
that viscosities of jatropha oil up to 30% blending with diesel fuel were found close to diesel
fuel. This is identical with the result of Pramanik. Brake specific fuel consumption and exhaust
gas temperatures for blends of jatropha oil and diesel were found to be higher compared to diesel
fuel. Thermal efficiency was also found to be close to diesel for jatropha oil blends. The

20
emission of CO2, CO and HC were found to be increased with increasing proportion of jatropah
oil in the blends compared to diesel fuel.

They concluded that performance and emission characteristics were found to be very close to
diesel fuel for lower blend concentration only.[11]

21
 CHAPTER 3

EXPERIMENTAL SETUP AND METHODOLOGY

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY: The objective of the present study is to optimize the
injection process to match the cetane number of the fuel blend used ie. 50J/50D to obtain
maximum engine performance.

EXPERIMENTAL SETUP AND METHODOLOGY USED:

3.4 Engine Specification

Table-3

Make Kirloskar
Type Single cylinder, four stroke
Bore & Stroke 80*110 mm
Compression Ratio 16.5:1
Rated Power 2.3 kw -5 hp
Injector opening pressure 210 bar
Injection timing 20o before TDC
R.P.M. 1500
Oil sump capacity 6 litres
Fuel oil H.S. Diesel Oil
Engine is coupled with hydraulic dynamometer to measure the torque.

Fig.4 Fuel Measuring Burette

22
 Fig.5 Engine Coupled With Hydraulic Dynamometer

PROCEDURE: The experiment was conducted on a single cylinder Kirloskar make CI engine
coupled with hydraulic dynamometer. Constant speed test was conducted using first with pure
diesel by recording the time of 20cc of fuel consumption and load is varied on the dynamometer
by rate flow of water through the dynamometer keeping the speed constant. The weight on the
dynamometer which balances the torque of the engine was recorded. The engine RPM was kept
constant at 1500. The temperature of exhaust gas was also recorded. Test runs were conducted
on the engine using fuel blends 20J/80D, 30J/70D and 50J/50D and all the readings were
recorded as done earlier with no modification in the injection timing. The test was repeated using
a fuel blend of 50J/50D by setting the injection timing 24and 22 before TDC. And the readings
were recorded in a similar manner as above.

23
 CHAPTER 4

CALCULATION AND OBSERVATION

Properties of jatropha–diesel blends

Table-4
% of % of diesel Density Calorific value
jatropha fuel (v/v) (g/cc), 30°C (MJ/kg)
oil (v/v)

70 30 0.900 39.34
60 40 0.890 39.72
50 50 0.853 40.1
40 60 0.880 40.48
30 70 0.871 40.86
20 80 0.862 41.24

From the above table it is clear that the biodiesel containing more than 30% jatropha oil has
viscosity higher than diesel. So it is very important to reduce the viscosity of blends up to an
acceptable limit in order to make it suitable as biodiesel to be used in the ci engine.
Therefore, the blends of 20:80, 30:70 and 40:70 J/D may be used with slight heating or even
without heating, particularly in summer season.

24
I. At Provided Injection Timing: initially we check the engine performance without altering the
injection timing.

A. Using pure diesel as fuel (J/D=0/100), density=0.832 g/cc, CV=42000 KJ/kg

Table-5
s.no. Load(kg) BP(kw) TFC SFC Brake Exhaust gas
(kg/h) (kg/kw-h) thermal temperature
efficiency
(%)
1 0 0 2.138 - 0 110
2 1 0.5595 2.604 4.00 2.1 130
3 2 1.119 3.328 2.52 3.3 150
4 3 1.678 4.608 2.30 3.6 170
5 4 2.238 7.052 2.00 3.8 210

B. Using blend J/D=20/80, density=0.862 g/cc, CV=41240 KJ/kg

Table-6
s. no. Load (kg) BP(kw) TFC SFC Brake Exhaust gas
(kg/h) (kg/kw-h) thermal temperature
efficiency
(%)
1 0 0 1.7732 - 0 120
2 1 0.5595 2.3871 4.145 2.046 140
3 2 1.119 3.1032 2.673 3.1477 160
4 3 1.678 4.1371 2.412 3.541 180
5 4 2.238 5.6419 2.103 3.713 220

25
C. Using blend J/D=30/70, density=0.871 g/cc CV= 40860 KJ/kg
Table-7

Brake Exhaust gas

S. Load (kg) BP(kw) TFC (kg/h) SFC thermal temperature
No. (kg/kw-h) efficiency
(%)
1 0 0 2.10 - 0 130
2 1 0.5595 2.85 4.4 1.9 160
3 2 1.119 3.144 2.81 3.042 180
4 3 1.678 4.181 2.5 3.415 200
5 4 2.238 5.226 2.33 3.6 225

D. Using blend J/D=50/50, density=0.853 g/cc, CV= 40100 KJ/kg

Table-8

SFC Brake Exhaust gas

S. Load BP(kw) TFC (kg/h) (kg/kw-h) thermal temperature
No. (kg) efficiency
(%)
1 0 0 1.7057 - 0 125
2 1 0.5595 2.558 4.572 1.812 160
3 2 1.119 3.232 2.888 2.913 185
4 3 1.678 4.386 2.491 3.321 205
5 4 2.238 5.584 2.495 3.532 230

26
 II. Retarding Injection Timing by means efore T C

Using blend J/D=50/50, density=0.853 g/cc, CV= 40100 KJ/kg

Table-9

S. No Load (kg) BP(kw) TFC (kg/h SFC Brake Exhaust gas

(kg/kw-h) thermal temperature
efficiency
(%)
1 0 0 1.8611 - 0 130
2 1 0.5595 2.5356 4.423 1.9 150
3 2 1.119 3.295 2.934 3.012 170
4 3 1.678 3.929 2.543 3.5 180
5 4 2.238 4.780 2.45 3.7 210

III. Retarding Injection Timing by means Before TDC:

Table-10

S. No Load BP(kw) TFC (kg/h SFC Brake Exhaust gas

(kg) (kg/kw-h) thermal temperature
efficiency
(%)
1 0 0 1.7543 - 0 120
2 1 0.5595 2.354 4.234 2.034 140
3 2 1.119 3.126 2.794 3.145 160
4 3 1.678 4.079 2.4312 3.6 175
5 4 2.238 4.853 2.34 3.8 200

27
 CHAPTER 5

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS

I. AT PROVIDED INJECTION TIMING

1.Brake Specific Fuel Consumption

5
4.5
4
3.5
SFC (kg/kw-h)

3
0/100
2.5
20/80
2
30/70
1.5
50/50
1
0.5
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
BRAKE POWER (KW)

Fig.6

The above graph shows the variation of SFC of diesel and various blends of jatropha oil
and diesel at varying brake power in the range 0-2.238 kw. It was found that the specific fuel
consumption of diesel as well as different blends were decreased with increase in load from
o.5595 to 2.238 kw. The fuel consumption of the blend having higher proportion of jatropha oil
also increases. The SFC in case of blends was higher as compared to diesel oil in the entire load
range from 0 to 2.238 KW. This is basically due to combined effect of viscosity, relative fuel
density and calorific value of the blends. However the blends containing 20% and 30% have SFC
very close to diesel oil. The SFC values were found 2.22 and 2.33 at 2.238 kw; corresponding
value for diesel oil is found to be 2.The SFC 2.49 was found using J/D 50:50 blend as ignition

28
fuel which is comparable to the SFC obtained with diesel under the same loading condition. The
higher density of the blend containing higher % of jatropha oil is responsible for increasing SFC
because it need more discharge for the same displacement the plunger in the fuel injection pump.

2. Brake Thermal Efficiency

4.5
BRAKE THERMAL EFFICIENCY (%)

3.5

2.5 0/100

2 20/80
30/70
1.5
50/50
1

0.5

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
BRAKE POWER (KW)

Fig.7

The variation of brake thermal efficiency with various jatropha diesel blends is shown in
fig. and compared with diesel oil. From the test result it was clear that with increase in brake
power the brake thermal efficiency of different blends were increased rapidly but after that it
started increasing slowly with increased brake power and the maximum thermal efficiency were
obtained at brake power of 2.238 KW.

There was a considerable increase in efficiencies with the blends, but the brake thermal
efficiencies of the blends were lower than the diesel oil throughout the whole range. The
maximum values of thermal efficiencies with blends 20:80 and 30:70 J/D were observed as
3.713% and 3.6%, respectively. Among the blends tested, in the case of 20:80 J/D, the thermal
efficiency and maximum power output were close to the diesel values, followed by the 30:70 J/D
blend. A reasonably good thermal efficiency of 3.5% was also observed with the 50:50 J/D

29
blend. The maximum thermal efficiency of 3.8% was achieved with diesel oil. The drop in
thermal efficiency with increase in proportion of vegetable oil in different blends is caused by
poor combustion characteristics of the vegetable oil due to their high viscosity and poor
volatility.

3. Exhaust Gas Temperature

250

200
EXHAUST GAS TEMPERATURE C

150
0/100
20/80
100
30/70
50/50
50

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
BRAKE POWER (KW)

Fig.8

Fig.8 shows the variation of exhaust gas temperature with load in the range of 0–2.238
KW brake power for diesel and various blends. The results show that the exhaust gas
temperature increased with increase in brake power in all cases. The highest value of exhaust gas
temperature of 230 °C was observed with 50:50 J/D, whereas the corresponding value with
diesel was found to be 210 °C only. This is due to the poor combustion characteristics of the
jatropha curcas oil due to its high viscosity. The combustion characteristics of the blends were
improved by increasing the proportion of diesel fuel in the jatropha-diesel blend. The exhaust gas
temperature for 20:80 J/D was observed to be very close to diesel oil and the temperatures were
comparable to those with diesel oil blends with 30:70 and 50/5 J/D over the entire load. The
maximum exhaust temperature was recorded as 230 and 225 °C with 30:70 and 50/50 J/D
blends, respectively at 2.238 KW. The exhaust temperature was found to be 220 with 20:80 J/D

30
blend which is very close to that of diesel oil. The exhaust temperature with the blends having
higher percentage of jatropha curcas oil was found to be higher at the entire load in comparison
to diesel oil, but the deviation was observed to be greater at higher brake power. The higher
exhaust temperature with blends of jatropha oil is indicative of lower thermal efficiencies of the
engine. At lower thermal efficiency, less of the energy input in the fuel is converted to work,
thereby increasing exhaust temperature.

EXHAUST EMMISIONS: As the emission measuring equipments are not operational the
exhaust emission could not be measured.

II. ON RETARDING J CT T AND BTDC

1. Specific Fuel Consumption as a Function of Brake Power:

5
4.5
4
SEC (kg/kw-h)

3.5
3
2.5
50/50 (24 BTDC) ͦ
2
50/50 (22 ͦBTDC)
1.5
1
0.5
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
BRAKE POWER (KW)

Fig.9

Here we see from the graph that for the blend 50:50 J/D the specific fuel consumption
reduces. This indicates that retarding injection timing actually worked for blends. The for
T is better than T . The results of for T is quite near to diesel fuel.
This basically results due to proper atomization and combustion due to improvement in cetane

31
number. The SFC for diesel was and for 50:50 J/D at 2.238 KW load was 2.0 and 2.49 kg/kw-h
but from the above data it becomes 2.34 and 2.45 which is quite comparable with diesel.

2. Brake Thermal Efficiency as a Function of Brake Power

4
BRAKE THERMAL EFFICIENCY (%)

3.5

2.5

2 50/50 (24 ͦBTDC)50/50

(22 ͦBTDC)
1.5 50/50 (22 ͦBTDC)

0.5

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
BRAKE POWER (KW)

Here thermal efficiencies of blend 50/50 J/D improves as compared to correct injection timing
graph. The brake thermal efficiency for T is higher than T and comparable with
diesel fuel thermal efficiency. The maximum thermal efficiency for the blend J at
BTDC is 3.8 which is near to diesel ie.3.9. This results due to decrease in fuel consumption rate.

32
3. Exhaust Gas Temperature as a Function of Brake Power:

EXHAUST GAS TEMPERATURE ( C) 250

200

150
50/50 (24 ͦBTDC)50/50
(24 ͦBTDC)
100 50/50 (22 ͦBTDC)

50

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
BRAKE POWER (KW)

Fig.10

From the above graph it is clear that exhaust gas temperature decreased for the blend 50/50 J/D
as compared to the exhaust gas temperature of the same blend at correct injection timing. At
correct injection timing the exhaust gas temperature for the blend 50/50 J/D at load 2.238 KW
were 230 C but from the above graph it is clear that these values reduced to 200 and
which is good to keep engine cool.

Conclusion

1. The main aim of this experiment was to optimize the engine performance using different
jatropha and diesel blends by advancing the injection timing. Higher viscosity of the
jatropha oil was the main problem to use it as the compression ignition fuel and this
problem was tackled by mixing it with pure diesel. The result shows that up to 50 %
jatropha oil can be blended with diesel without any major modification in the engine.
The blends having 30 % (v/v) jatropha oil was quite similar to diesel in every respect.
The blend 20:80 was the best suited blend to be used as the alternative fuel for diesel.
33
 2. Also on retarding the injection timing efore Top ead entre there was a
improvement in performance of 50/50 J/D blend. When we retard the injection timing
the cetane number of the different blends matched with the cetane number of diesel.
Cetane number is inversely proportional to ignition delay. Higher the cetane number less
will be ignition delay within cylinder. Thus it led to better performance and reduced
exhaust emission.
3. The exhaust gas emission like (NOx, CO, and HC) was very low as compared to diesel in
different blend mixtures Blends having lower percentage of jatropha oil showed slightly
higher exhaust gas temperatures when compared to an engine running with pure diesel
but they were much lower than the jatropha oil in all cases.

The key points of straight vegetable oils (SVO) as fuel are as follows:

i. RENEWABLE- It can be harvested again and again to produce oil.

ii. HEALTHIER- It reduces air pollution by minimizing exhaust gas emission.
iii. BETTER- It has cetane number quite near to diesel.
iv. VERSATILE- It gives similar performance as diesel with different blends.
v. PRACTICAL- It can be mixed any % with diesel.
vi. FLEXIBLE- It can be used in diesel engine without considerable modification.
vii. ENVIRONMENTAL- It is biodegradable, non-toxic, less polluting, and cheaper than
other fuels.

Benefits of Vegetable Oil

 Vegetable oil can be produced at home so they abolish imports of petroleum products.
 Development of biodiesel industry would improve the socio economic condition and
rural agriculture economy.
 It is biodegradable and non-toxic.
 It is renewable fuel that can be produced from agriculture crops and other wastes..
 It has 80% calorific value compared to that of diesel.
 It comprises low aromatics.
 It has a realistic cetane number which is inverse function of ignition delay.

34
  It is environmental friendly due to low sulphur emission.
 There are no major modification is required in the engine due to enhanced lubricity.
 Flash point is higher than that of diesel which enables safety in storage and
transportation.
 It can be used with minor or no modification in the engine

Scope for Future Research

Jatropha curcas has been the center of attention for several years as a potential source of
biodiesel production. Several private sectors have been planting J. curcas on a large-scale but,
unfortunately, in many regions of the world, especially in developing countries, this has been in a
non-sustainable way (Achten et al., 2007). Without considerable genetic insight and good
agronomic practice, the yield of J. curcas will remain unpredictable compared to other oilseed
crops. Therefore, there are urgent research issues to be addressed to make J. curcas
commercially sustainable.

The present study suggests that elite commercial J. curcas lines must be generated through either
interspecific breeding or genetic manipulation due to the low genetic variation among accessions
from around the globe. Whilst stable yield can be accomplished through good agronomic
practices, further molecular-based research is required to produce commercially viable elite lines
of J. curcas which exhibit low levels of phorbol esters, but high levels of oil, and oleic acids in
the seeds. Genetic manipulation appears to be a promising approach to achieve this end. During
the course of the project a preferentially seed targeted promoter, JcOleosin3, was isolated. This
promoter will enable future studies to be carried out whereby toxin could be reduced/eliminated
and the oil quality/quantity improved.

References
[1] Kloptenstem WE. Effect of molecular weights of fatty acid esters on cetane numbers as diesel
fuels. J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc. 1988;65:1029–31.
Harrington KJ. Chemical and physical properties of vegetable oil esters and their effect on diesel
fuel performance. Biomass 1986;9:1–17.

35
[3] Masjuki H, Salit. Biofuel as diesel fuel alternative: an overview. J. Energy Heat Mass
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[13] Internal Combustion Engines By V. Ganeshan

36