Category: Fuels And Combustion

Even though reciprocating internal combustion engines look very simple in appearance, they are highly complex machines. There are a large number of components which have to perform their functions to produce power. Before going through the working principle of the complex machine, a brief description of the engine components is shown in Figure 6.2. Figure 6.2 The…

Bomb calorimeter is normally used for the determination of calorific value of solid fuels. However, it can also be used for liquid fuels. The combustion of the fuel takes place at constant volume in a tightly closed vessel as shown in Figure 2.1. The higher calorific value of the fuel is determined at constant volume. Figure 2.1 Experimental…

Principle of Combustion Combustion refers to the rapid oxidation of fuel accompanied by the production of heat or heat and light. Complete combustion of a fuel is possible only in the presence of an adequate supply of oxygen. Oxygen (O2) is one of the most common elements on earth making up 20.9% of our air.…

Solid biofuels are wood, sawdust, grass trimmings, domestic refuse, charcoal, agricultural waste, non-food energy crops and dried manure. When raw biomass is already in a suitable form, it can burn directly in a stove or furnace to provide heat or raise steam. When raw biomass is in an inconvenient form, the typical process is used…

Syngas is a mixture of carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and other hydrocarbons and produced by partial combustion of biomass. Before partial combustion the biomass is dried and sometimes pyrolysed. The resulting gas mixture, syngas, is more efficient than direct combustion of the original biofuel; more of the energy contained in the fuel is extracted.

Biogas is methane produced by the process of anaerobic digestion of organic material by anaerobes. It can be produced either from biodegradable waste materials or by the use of energy crops fed into anaerobic digesters to supplement gas yields. The solid by-product, digestate, can be used as a biofuel or a fertilizer.

Bioethers (oxygenated fuels) are cost-effective compounds that act as octane rating enhancers. They also enhance engine performance, whilst significantly reducing engine wear and toxic exhaust emissions. Greatly reducing the amount of ground-level ozone, they contribute to the quality of the air we breathe.

Lower quality oil can be used as fuel. Used vegetable oil is increasingly being processed into biodiesel or (more rarely) cleaned of water and particulates and used as a fuel. Oils and fats can be hydrogenated to give a diesel substitute. The resulting product is a straight chain hydrocarbon with a high cetane number, low…

Green diesel, also known as renewable diesel, is a form of diesel fuel which is derived from renewable feedstock rather than the fossil feedstock used in most diesel fuels. Green diesel feedstock can be sourced from a variety of oils including canola, algae, jatropha, and salicornia in addition to tallow. Green diesel uses traditional fractional…

Biodiesel is produced from oils or fats using transesterification and is a liquid similar in composition to fossil/mineral diesel. Chemically, it consists mostly of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs). Feedstocks for biodiesel include animal fats, vegetable oils, soya, rapeseed, jatropha, mahua, mustard, flax, sunflower, palm oil, hemp, field pennycress, pongamia pinnata, and algae. Pure biodiesel…