A

Seminar report on

“ALTERNATIVE FUELS FOR I.C. ENGINE (ETHANOL)”

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the
Seminar report

at
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
GRETER NOIDA INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING AND
TECHNOLOGY

Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh

Affiliated to Dr. APJ Abdul kalam Technical University
(2019-2020)

Submitted To: Submitted By:

Mr. Manoj Sharma Sheshnath Chauhan
(Faculty of mechanical Deptt.) 3rd Year B
1713240088

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 ABSTRACT

“Necessity is the mother of invention. Energy crisis is the cry of future.”

The historical and the present-day civilization are closely interwoven with
energy and in future, our existence will be more dependent upon energy. The
conventional sources of energy, the single most important pre-requisite for power
generation, are depleting fast. The world is heading towards a global energy crisis
mostly due to running out of these energy sources; decreasing the dependency on
fossil fuels is recommended.
The reason motivating the development of alternate fuels for the IC engine is
the concern over the emission problem of gasoline and diesel engines.
Another reason for alternate fuels development is the fact that a large percentage
of crude oil must be imported from other countries which control the larger oil field.
Now most of the alternate fuels are very costly (ex; methanol &natural gases)
since the quantity used is very less but many of these fuels will cost much less if the
amount of their usage gets to the same order of magnitude as gasoline.
Problem with alternate fuels is the lack of distribution points where the fuel is
distribution for public.

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to acknowledge the contributions of those who assisted

in the preparation of this report.
Before we get into this report, I would like to thanks all the people
who are a part of this report and have given their unending contribution
from start to end of this report. I would like to thank faculty MR. Manoj
Sharma for providing the required guidance in process of preparing the
report.
I would also like to express my deep regards and gratitude to the
HOD sir Dr. Sudhir Kumar.
I would like to express my gratitude towards my parents for their
kind co-operation and encouragement which helped me in completion of
this report.
I have taken lots of efforts in this report. However, it would not have
been possible without the kind support and help of many individuals and
organizations. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all of them.

NAME-SHESHNATH
ROLL No: - 1713240088
YEAR-3rd year
SEMESTER-5th sem

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 INDEX
Content Page No.
Abstract……………………………………………………...02
Acknowledgment……………………...…………………....03
Chapter 1……………………………………………….…...06
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Why to choose alternate fuel
1.2.1 Conventional fuels are going to run out
1.2.2 To reduce pollution
1.2.3 To protect against global warming
1.2.4 To save money
1.2.5 Can reuse waste
1.3 Different Conventional Fuels
1.4 Different Alternate Fuels
Chapter 2……………………………………………………10
2.1 Ethanol
2.1.1 Why to Adopt Ethanol as Alternate Fuel
2.1.2 Use of Ethanol In I.C Engines
2.1.2.1 Blend Formation
2.1.2.2 Dual Injection
2.1.2.3 Spark Ignition
2.1.2.4 Ignition Improvers
2.1.2.5 Surface Ignition
2.1.2.6 Fumigation
Chapter 3……………………………………………….…..13
3.1 Methanol
3.1.1 Methanol Fuel and The Environment
3.1.2 Advantage and Disadvantage of Alcohol Fuels

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Chapter 4……………………………………………..……...16
4.1 Vegetable Oil as Alternate Fuel

Chapter 5…………………………………………………….17
5.1 Biodiesel
5.2 Why Biodiesel
5.3 Importance of Biodiesel
5.4 Production
5.5 Road Block For Biodiesel Industry
5.6 biodiesel-Indian scenario: -

Chapter 6…………………………………………………….19
6.1 Hydrogen

Chapter 7……………………………………………………..20
7.1 Natural Gas

Chapter 8……………………………………………………..21
8.1 Compressed natural gas

Chapter 9………………………………………..……………22
9.1 Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG)

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 CHAPTER 1
1.1Introduction
In this century, it is believed that crude oil and petroleum products will become
Very scarce and costly. Day-to-day, fuel economy of engines is getting improved and
will continue to improve. However, enormous increase in number of vehicles has started
dictating the demand of fuel. Gasoline and diesel will become scarce and most costly in
the near future. With increased use and depletion of fossil fuels, Alternate fuel
technology will become more common in the coming decades.

Another reason motivating the development of alternate fuel for engines is the
concern over emission problem of gasoline and diesel engines. Combined with other
air-polluting systems, the large number of automobiles is a major contributor to the air
quality problem of the world. Quite a lot of improvements have been made in reducing
emissions from automobile engines. If a 30% improvement made over a period of years,
it is to be noted that during the same time the number of automobiles in the world
increased by 40%, thereby nullifying the improvement. Lot of efforts has gone into for
achieving the net improvement in cleaning up automobile exhaust. However, more
improvements are needs to bring down the ever-increasing air pollution due to
automobile population.

A third reason for alternate fuel development is the fact that larger percentage of
crude oil must be imported from other countries which control the larger oil field. As of
now many alternate fuels have been used in limited quantities in automobiles. Quite
often, fleet vehicles have been used for testing (e.g. taxies, delivery vans, and utility
company trucks).

The engines used for alternate fuel are modified engines which wear originally
designed for gasoline fueling. Some diesel engines have started appearing on the market.
They use Methanol or natural gas and a small amount of diesel fuel that is injected at
proper time to ignite both fuels.

Mostly alternate fuels are very costly at present since the quantity used is very less.
Many of these fuels will cost much less if the amount of their usage gets to the same
order of magnitude as gasoline. The cost of manufacturing, distribution, and marketing
would be less.

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1.2Why to choose alternate fuel?
1.2.1 Conventional fuels are going to run out
One day, our sources for traditional fuels including petroleum would be
depleted. Owing to the fact that these fuels are typically not renewable, a lot of people
are worried that a day would come when the demand for these fuels would be more
than the supply, triggering a considerable world crisis. Non-environmentalists also
concur with the opinion that the majority of oil fields (situated in the Middle East) in
the world are associated with problems – both political and economic. Determining a
new method or solution with respect to finding different countries to create new fuels
would reduce the unrest and conflict resulting from the world’s dependence on fuel
supply from the Middle East.

1.2.2 To reduce pollution

The use of alternative fuels considerably decreases harmful exhaust emissions
(such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, particulate matter and sulfur dioxide) as
well as ozone-producing emissions.

1.2.3 To protect against global warming

According to a commonly accepted scientific theory, burning fossil fuels was

causing temperatures to rise in the earth’s atmosphere (global warming). Though
global warming continues to be just a theory, a lot of people across the globe are of the
belief that discovering sources of cleaner burning fuel is an essential step towards
enhancing the quality of our environment.

1.2.4 To save money

Alternative fuels can be less expensive to use not just in terms of the fuel itself but
also in terms of a longer service life. This in turn means savings for the long term.

1.2.5 Can reuse waste

Biofuels bioproducts, and biopower provide modern and fresh relevance to
the old belief that trash for one person is a treasure for another. That’s good news
considering that Americans produce in excess of 236 million tons of waste each year

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1.3 DIFFERENT CONVENTIONAL FUELS-
1. FOSSIL FUEL (PETROLIUM)
2. COAL
3. NUCLEAR MATERIALS
4. WOOD
1.4 DIFFERENT ALTERNATE FUELS-
1. ALCOHOL
1.1 ETHANOL
1.2 METHANOL
2. WATER-GASOLINE MIXTURE
3. VEGETABLE OIL
4. BIODIESEL
5. HYDROGEN
6. LPG Gaseous Fuel.
7. CNG
8. BIOGAS
9. BENZOL

10.ACETONE

11.DIETHYL ETHER

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 CHAPTER 2
2.1 ETHANOL-
Among the various options, Ethanol, an alcohol seems to be a most promising
option for countries like India because of its availability from agriculture products.
Alcohol can be used in diesel engines in following ways.

One method is injection of ethanol with inlet air using carburetion or electronic
injection system and other is emulsion of diesel and ethanol. And also enable a reduction
in exhaust NOX, smoke and particulate matter.

2.1.1 WHY TO ADOPT ETHANOL AS ALTERNATE FUEL-

Many alternate fuels are being considered for automotive vehicles and
ETHANOL of the best alternate fuels. Ethanol has been used as automobile fuel for
many years in various countries of the world. Brazil is probably the leading user that is
about 5 million vehicles operated on fuel that were 93% Ethanol.

Ethanol is produced from molasses, which is a by-product of sugarcane. Ethanol

can be produced in large quantities at low cost from this molasses.

Its high oxygen content improves the combustion characteristics. It also reduces
the harmful emissions from IC engines such as Sulphur-di-oxide, oxides of nitrogen,
particulate emissions.

2.1.2 USE OF ETHANOL IN I.C ENGINES

The various techniques by which the ethanol can be used as a fuel for
compression ignition engines are-

1. Blend formation
2. Fumigation
3. Dual injection
4. Spark ignition
5. Ignition improvers
6. Surface ignition

2.1.2.1 BLEND FORMATION:

The easiest method by which ethanol could be used is in the form of diesel
ethanol blend. But ethanol has limited solubility in diesel; hence ethanol/diesel
solutions are restricted to small percentages (typically 20%). This problem of
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limited solubility has been overcome by emulsions, which have the capability
of accommodation larger displacement of diesel up to 40% by volume. But the
major drawbacks of emulsions are the cost of emulsifiers and poor low
temperatures physical properties.

2.1.2.2 DUAL INJECTION:

Dual injection is a method by which nearly 90%Displacement of diesel by
ethanol is possible. The drawback of this method includes the complexity and
expense of a second injection system and a second fuel tank and system.

2.1.2.3 SPARK IGNITION:

Spark ignition of neat ethanol in diesel engines provides a way of
displacing 100% of diesel. A spark Plug and the associated ignition system
components must be added to the engine. Space must be available for spark
plugs in the cylinder head and it’s also important for sparkplugs in the cylinder
head and it is also important for proper plug cooling.

2.1.2.4 IGNITION IMPROVERS:

Another method of using neat ethanol is to increase their cetane numbers
sufficiently with ignition improving additives to ensure that compression
ignition will occur. This method saves the expense and complexity of engine
components changes, but adds fuel costs.

2.1.2.5 SURFACE IGNITION:

This is another method of using ethanol 100% ethanol in diesel engines.
Surface ignition occurs when the temperature of the air-fuel mixture adjacent to
a hot surface exceeds its self-ignition limit.

2.1.2.6 FUMIGATION:
Fumigation is a method by which ethanol is introduced in to engine by
carbureting or vaporizing the ethanol into the intake stream. This method
requires addition of a carburetor or vaporizer along with a separate fuel tank,
lines and controls. But with the emergence of electronic injection techniques
the fumigation technique has been made possible by using an injector in the
intake manifold.

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 CHAPTER 3
3.1 METHANOL-

Also known as wood alcohol, methanol is a convenient liquid fuel that is made
from a number of different feedstock resources - natural gas and coal as well as
renewable resources like forest thinning or agricultural waste and even directly from
CO2 captured from power plant and factory emissions. Methanol is a basic building
block for hundreds of essential chemical commodities that touch our daily lives
including building materials, plastic packaging, paints and coatings, even windshield
washing fluid. Methanol is also a transportation fuel, a hydrogen carrier for fuel cell
technologies, and an efficient fuel for electric power generation. With the chemical
structure CH3OH, methanol is the simplest alcohol, with the lowest carbon content and
highest hydrogen content of any liquid fuel.

3.1.1 METHANOL FUEL AND THE ENVIRONMENT: -

i. Ten or more years ago, a typical methanol manufacturing plant would emit about
0.9 - 1.0 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide for every tone of methanol produced. In
addition to the environmental concerns, large CO2 emissions represent
operational inefficiencies in a methanol plant, since the carbon emitted as CO 2 is
not available for making methanol molecules. In fact, excess CO2 from other
industrial facilities can also be captured and consumed to increase methanol
production. Through the implementation of efficiency improvements and through
replacing of older facilities with newer plants that use more efficient
technologies, over the last decade methanol plants have been able to significantly
reduce CO2 emissions by up to 40%. When burned as fuel, methanol cuts
emissions of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds that form ground-
level ozone or “smog.” Methanol is much less reactive than gasoline in the
atmosphere, with the only toxic component of the emissions being formaldehyde,
as compared to dozens of carcinogenic components of gasoline emissions, which
also contains formaldehyde. The use of heated catalytic converters has shown that
methanol-fueled auto emissions meet and exceed California’s stringent Ultra Low
Emission Vehicle (ULEV) emission targets for formaldehyde. Methanol fuel also
does not contain the toxic BTEX additives found in gasoline – benzene, toluene,
ethyl benzene, and xylems. These compounds are highly carcinogenic, do not
readily biodegrade in the environment, and are capable of contaminating
groundwater supplies.

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3.1.2 ADVANTAGE AND DISADVANTAGE OF ALCHOL FUELS: -

 Advantages
a. It can be obtained from a number of sources, both natural and manufactured.
b. It is a high Octane fuel with anti-knock index number (octane number) of over
100. Engines using high-octane fuel run more efficiently by using higher
compression ratios. Alcohols have higher flame speed.
c. It produces fewer overall emissions compared to gasoline.
d. When alcohols are burned, it forms more moles of exhaust gases, which give
higher pressure and more power in the expansion stroke.
e. Alcohol have low Sulphur content in the fuel.

 Disadvantages
a. Alcohol have low energy content or in other words the calorific value of the fuel
is almost half of the gasoline fuel
b. Alcohol have poor ignition characteristics in general
c. Alcohols have almost invisible flames, which is considered dangerous when
handling fuel.
d. Many people find strong order of alcohol very offensive.
e. There is a possibility of vapor lock in fuel delivery system.

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In this century, it is believed that crude oil and petroleum products will become very
scarce and costly. Day-to-day, fuel economy of engines is getting improved and will
continue to improve. However, enormous increase in number of vehicles has started
dictating the demand for fuel. With increased use and depletion of fossil fuels,
alternative fuel technology will become more common in the coming decades.
Because of the high cost of petroleum products, emission problems some developing
countries are trying to use alternate fuels for their vehicles.

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 CHAPTER 4
4.1 VEGETABLE OIL AS ALTERNATE FUEL: -

Vegetable oil is considered as one of the alternative fuels for diesel engines
However, the viscosity of vegetable oil is higher compared to diesel. Therefore, it
must be lowered to allow for proper atomization in engines designed to burn diesel
fuel. Otherwise, incomplete combustion and carbon build up will ultimately damage
the engine.

Some literatures classify vegetable oil as Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO) and
straight vegetable oil (SVO) or Pure Plant Oil (PPO) to distinguish it from biodiesel.
Free Fatty Acid (FFA) in WVO have a detrimental effect on metals. Copper and its
alloy, such as brass, are affected by WVO. Tin, lead, iron, and steel are affected too.

The main form of SVO/PPO used in various countries is rapeseed oil which has a
freezing point of -10°C. Use of Sunflower oil, which gels at around -12°C, is currently
being investigated as a means of improving cold weather starting.

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 CHAPTER 5
5.1 BIODIESEL: -
Biodiesel refers to a vegetable oil or animal fat-based diesel engine fuel
consisting of long chain alkali ester. Biodiesel is typically produced by chemically
reacting lipids with an alcohol.

More efficiently we can say that biodiesel is an alternate fuel which is eco- friendly,
highly oxidized, Sulphur-free, nontoxic.

 Rapeseed (Germany)
 Sunflower oil
 Soybean Oil (USA & brazil)
 Palm oil (Malaysia)
 Linseed, olive oil (Spain)
 Used oil
 Cottonseed oil
5.2 WHY BIODIESEL?

 SUSTAINABILITY
 POLLUTION THREAT
 REDUCTION OF GREEN HOUSE GAS EMISSIONS
 REGIONAL DEVLOPMENT
 SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND AGRICULTURE.
5.3 IMPORTANCE OF BIODIESEL: -

 Environment friendly
 Clean burning
 Renewable fuel
 NO engine modification
 Biodegradable and non-toxic
 Easy to Handle and store.

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5.4 Production: -
Biodiesel is commonly produced by the transesterification of the vegetable oil or animal
fat feedstock.

5.5 Road Block for Biodiesel Industry….

 Feedstock Scarcity
 Food vs. Fuel controversy
 Pricing of biodiesel is not attractive to anybody

5.6 BIODIESEL-INDIAN SCENARIO: -

 Presently importing about tones of edible oil to take care the edible oil application
-65% of our consumption is being imported.
 Clean oil is not available for biodiesel production in India.
 It is very difficult for India to get the required feedstock for biodiesel production
in the present scenario.

Gaseous fuels are best suited for IC engines since physical delay is almost
zero. However, as fuel displaced equal amount of air the engines may have poor
volumetric efficiency. There are quite few gaseous fuels that can be used as alternate
fuels.

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 CHAPTER 6
6.1 Hydrogen: -

A number of automobile manufacturer have built with prototype or modified engines

which operates on hydrogen fuel.

Advantages of using Hydrogen: -

 Low emission. Essentially no CO or HC in the exhaust and there is no carbon

in the fuel
 Fuel availability. There are a number of ways of making hydrogen, including
electrolysis of water
 Fuel leakage to environment is not a pollutant.
 High energy content per volume when stored as liquid.

Disadvantages of using hydrogen fuel: -

 Difficult to refuel and the possibility of detonation.

 Fuel cost would be very high at present day technology and availability
 High NOx emission because of high flame temperature.
 Requirement of heavy, bulky fuel storage both in vehicle and at the service
station.

Hydrogen can be used in SI engines by three Methods:

i. By manifold induction
ii. By direct introduction of hydrogen into the cylinder
iii. By supplementing gasoline.

Since, hydrogen is highly reactive fuel it requires great care in handling. Flash
black arresters have to be provided between the engine and the storage Tank to prevent
flash back from going to the tank.

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 CHAPTER 7
7.1 NATURAL GAS: -
Natural gas is found in various localities in oil and gas bearing sand strata
located at various depth below the earth surface. The gas usually considerable pressure
and flows out naturally from the oil well. Natural gas obtained from oil wells is called
casing head gas. It is usually treated for the recovery of gasoline. Natural gas is mixture
of components, consisting mainly of methane (60% to 90%) with the small amount of
other hydrocarbon fuel components. The composition varies considerably from place to
place and time to time.

ADVANTAGES OF NATURAL GAS: -

1) Octane number is around 110, which makes it a very good SI engine fuel.
2) Low engine emission.
3) Fuel is fairly abundant.

DISADVANTAGES OF NATURAL GAS: -

1. Low energy density resulting in low engine performance.
2. Low engine volumetric efficiency because it is a gaseous fuel.
3. Inconsistent fuel properties
4. Refueling is a slow process.

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 CHAPTER 8
8.1 Compressed natural gas: -
Petroleum and natural gas obtained by process of drilling wells. As already
known crude oil petroleum is composed of hydrocarbons. It contains small amount of
water, Sulphur and other impurities. Petroleum when mixed with natural gas produces
a highly volatile liquid. This liquid is known as natural gasoline.

The natural gas can be compressed and then it is called compressed natural
gas (CNG). CNG is used in automobile vehicle just like LPG. The CNG fuel feed system
is just like the CNG fuel feed system.

Emission levels and comparison between CNG-driven vehicle and

petrol driven vehicle
Pollutants Emission Petrol with CNG with
norms catalytic converter catalytic
converter
CO(g/Km) 5.60 0.92 0.05
HC(g/km) - 0.36 0.24
NOx(g/Km) 1.92 0.25 0.93

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 CHAPTER 9
9.1 LIQUEFIED PETROLIUM GAS (LPG): -

Propane and butane are obtained from oil and gas wells. They are also the
product of the petroleum refining process. For automobile engines, two types of LPG
are used. One is propane and other is butane. Sometimes, a mixture of propane and
butane is used as liquid petroleum gas in automobile engines. LPG gases are compressed
and cooled to form liquid. This liquid is kept in pressure tank which are sealed.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF LPG: -

 ADVANTAGES: -
1) LPG contains less carbon than petrol. LPG powered vehicle produces 50% less
carbon monoxide per kilometer, so the emission is much reduced by the use of
LPG.
2) LPG mix with air at all temperature
3) Since the fuel is in the form of Vapour, there is no crankcase dilution.
4) LPG has high antiknock characteristics.
5) Running on LPG translates into a cost saving of about 50%.
6) The engine may have 50% more longer life.

 DISADVANTAGES: -
1) A special fuel feed system is required for liquid petroleum gas
2) The vehicle weight is increased due to the heavy pressure cylinder
3) for storing of LPG

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References
1. Jump up^ ENZYMATIC CONVERSION OF CARBON
DIOXIDE TO
METHANOL http://www.anl.gov/PCS/acsfuel/preprint%20ar
chive/Files/47_1_Orlando_03-02_0072.pdf
2. Jump up^ Owen, K., Coley., C.S. Weaver, "Automotive
Fuels Reference Book", SAE International, ISBN 978-1-
56091-589-8
3. Jump up^ Non-Methane
HydroCarbons http://www.atmosphere.mpg.de/enid/EN__Co
mpounds/NMHC_5rg.html
4. Jump up^ Kelly, K.J., Bailey, B.K., Coburn, T.C., Clark, W.,
Lissiuk, P. "Federal Test Procedure Emissions Test Results
from Ethanol Variable-Fuel Vehicle Chevrolet Luminas",
SAE Technical Paper 961092
5. Jump up^ Brinkman, N., Halsall, R., Jorgensen, S.W., &
Kirwan, J.E., "The Development of Improved Fuel
Specifications for Methanol (M85) and Ethanol (Ed85), SAE
Technical Paper 940764

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