A

PROJECT REPORT
ON
EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF MAHUA OIL
BIODIESEL TO IMPROVE ITS COLD FLOW PROPERTIES
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the award of the degree
of
BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING
in
AUTOMOBILE ENGINEERING

Submitted By: Name of Supervisor:

Anil Sharma Mr. Navdeep Dugala
17MAE1005 Assistant Professor, AME
Chandigarh University

UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING

CHANDIGARH UNIVERSITY
GHARUAN, MOHALI, PUNJAB, INDIA-140413
2018
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that, the present research work in the form of thesis entitled “ Experimental

investigation of mahua oil biodiesel to improve its cold flow properties and
enhance engine performance & emissions” is an original work carried out by me under the
guidance of Mr. Navdeep Sharma Dugala, Professor, Department of Automobile engineering,
Chandigarh University, Punjab.

The matter embodied in this report has not been submitted by me for the honor of any other
degree of any other University/Institute.

Student’s Name Signature

Anil Sharma

This is to certify that the above declaration made by the student concerned is correct to the best
of my knowledge and belief.

Supervisor's Name Signature

Mr. Navdeep Sharma Dugala

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I have immense pleasure in expressing my deep sense of gratitude towards my

research guide Mr. Navdeep Sharma Dugala, Assistant Professor and Head of
Department of Automobile engineering, Chandigarh University, Punjab for his
valuable guidance and keen interest throughout the course of the present
investigation.
I wish to express my special thanks to Dr. G.N. Goindi, Head of Department,
Department of Chemistry, Chandigarh University, Punjab, for his valuable
suggestions, support and needful discussion during research work.
I express my deep sense of gratitude to Dr. Ishbir Singh, Head of Department,
Mechanical engineering for his valuable help, continued guidance, enthusiastic
interest and encouragement all through the course of study.
I would also like to express my special thanks to Mr. Charan Singh, Lab Instructor
in Department of Chemistry, Chandigarh University for his invaluable help
throughout the tenure of my work in his lab.
It is a matter of great pleasure to extend my deep sense of gratitude to my beloved
ones.

Anil Sharma
 Table of Content:
Chapter Title Page No
Candidate’s Declaration 2
Acknowledgement 3
Abstract 6
List of Figures 7
List of Tables 9
1 Introduction 10-11
1.1 Mahua 10
1.2 Jatropha 11
1.3 Advantages of Biodiesel 11
2 Literature Review 13-16
3 Experimentation 17-39
3.1 Transesterification 17-19
3.1.1 Process 17
3.1.2 Equipment 19
3.1.3 Parameters 19
3.1.4 Readings 19
4 Conclusion 39
References 40-42
 ABSTRACT

Biodiesel is one the several alternate fuels which has the potential of being used as a fuel to
facilitate combustion process in automobiles. However, the superior properties of biodiesel over
most of the other alternate fuels available have made it the most favourable fuel to replace the
conventional diesel. This report is based on experiments conducted using mahua oil biodiesel
and jatropha oil biodiesel. The biodiesel was made using two-step transesterification. A yield of
86% was obtained for mahua oil. Blends of B5(5% Mahua biodiesel, 5% Jatropha biodiesel, 90%
mineral diesel), B10, B20, B30 and B40 were made from the biodiesel obtained after
transesterification. Parameters such as the kinematic viscosity, acid value, temperature of flash
point and cloud point etc were determined. The biodiesel was prepared using two-step
transesterification process. The experiments conducted showed an better cold flow properties of
mahua biodiesel. An improvement in the physio-chemical properties of jatropha oil was also
observed. The results obtained were conclusive of the fact that the blending of mahua biodiesel
and jatropha biodiesel is capable of improving the physio-chemical and the cold-flow properties
of biodiesel.

Keywords- Transesterification, biodiesel, blending.

 List of Figures:
Fig No Title Page No
3.1 Pre- heated Mahua oil 18
3.2 Pre-treated Mahua oil 18

List of Tables:

Table No Title Page No

3.1 Time taken to fill 50 ml 22
3.2 Kinematic Viscosity of 22
sample
3.3 Weight of sample 24

1. INTRODUCTION

The automotive industry has been dependent on fossil fuels to run vehicles for a majority of the
time since its existence. [1] However, with the rapidly depleting stocks of fossil fuels it has
become a major necessity to search for alternative sources of fuel so as to ensure that the world
does not stop moving. The years of research and experimentation have led researchers to
discover alternate fuels such as ethanol, natural gas, hydrogen, methanol, biodiesel etc. [2].
These alternate fuels serve the purpose of providing the same services as the various
conventional fuels available. [3] It has also been found that of all the available alternate fuels,
biodiesel is the most suitable fuel [4]. It is also to be considered that the conventional fuels being
used add to the growing problem of global warming. It has been found that diesel is a major
cause of nitrous oxides, sulphuric oxide, carbon monoxide, particulate matter, volatile organic
compounds and a wide variety of other harmful gases. [5]

1.1 Mahua:

Mahua also known as Madhuca Indica are grown in trees found mostly in central part of India.
The Mahua tree has the ability to be grown even in the drought affected areas. Mahua oil is
derived from the seeds of mahua. The seeds have almost 50-55% of mahua oil in them. The oil
obtained from the mahua seeds is non-edible thereby making it more suitable to be used as fuel.
Recent studies suggest that about 4,00,000 tons of mahua oil can be generated per year thus
making it a very prominent source of alternate fuel.[6]

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

This report is an attempt to improve the physio-chemical aswel as the cold flow properties
of biodiesel. The properties are improved by blending two different biodiesels together along
with mineral diesel. The blending of biodiesel is done by mixing the biodiesels in different ratios
and the properties of each blend is experimentally determined.

Nadir Yilmaz et.al., 2012 studied the effect of biodiesel-ethanol-diesel and biodiesel-methanol-
diesel blends in a diesel engine. Standard diesel fuel, samples containing 45% biodiesel 10%
methanol and 45% diesel; 40% biodiesel, 20% methanol and 40% diesel; 45% biodiesel, 10%
ethanol and 45% diesel; 40% biodiesel, 20% ethanol and 40% diesel blends were tested in a CI
engine under similar operating conditions. The biodiesel-methanol-diesel (BMD) and biodiesel-
ethanol-diesel (BED) performance aswel as the emission parameters were compared to standard
diesel fuel. It was found that the brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) of biodiesel-alcohol-
diesel blend was higher as compared to diesel. It was noticed that increasing the alcohol
concentration in the blend increased the CO and HC emissions but also reduced NO emissions.
However, biodiesel-methanol-diesel blend followed the opposite trend. The author concluded
that methanol blends should be preferred if CO and HC emissions is to be reduced while ethanol
blends can be used if the goal is to reduce NO emissions.

3. EXPERIMENTATION/FABRICATION

3.1 Materials:

3.1.1 Process :
  The oil is poured into a beaker.
 The sample is then placed in a water bath and heated at a certain temperature for 30
minutes.

3.1.2 Equipment:
 Beaker.
 Water bath.
 Measuring cylinder.
 Separating funnel.
 Thermometer.
 Filter paper.
 Pipette.

3.1.3 Parameters:

 Sample was initially heated to 100°C.

 The sample was maintained at a temperature of 70°C.
 The sample was prepared under normal atmospheric pressure.
 500ml of Mahua Oil was taken.
 350ml of Methanol was taken.
 5ml of sulphuric acid was taken.
 150ml of methanol was taken to prepare the methoxide solution.
 5gm of potassium hydroxide was taken.

3.1.4 Readings:

 Almost 430ml of Mahua Biodiesel was obtained.

 A yield of 86% was achieved.

Kinematic Viscosity = (At)-(B/t)

Where, A= 0.26; B= 171

t= time taken to fill the beaker.

 Fig 3.5: Redwood Viscometer

3.2 Result:

3.2.1 Readings:

Sample Time taken (in secs)

B5 31.15
B10 32.34
Table 3.1: Time taken to fill 50ml of samples

3.2.5 Graph :

Fig 3.6: Graph showing kinematic viscosity of different samples

4. Conclusion:
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