Final Assessment Test (FAT) – May 2017

Course: MEE235 - Alternative Fuels

Class NBR(s):3710 Slot: B1+TB1
Time: Three Hours Max. Marks: 100
Answer ALL Questions
(10 X 10 = 100 Marks)
1. a) The energy content of a certain fuel is to be determined in a bomb calorimeter that contains 3 kg of [6]
water by burning a 2-g sample of it in the presence of 100 g of air in the reaction chamber. If the
water temperature rises by 3.2 deg.C when equilibrium is established, determine the energy
content of the fuel, in kJ/kg, by neglecting the thermal energy stored in the reaction chamber and
the energy supplied by the mixer.

b) A four stroke compression ignition engine running at 2400 RPM has an ignition delay (ID) of 15 deg. [4]
of crankshaft rotation. What is the ignition delay in seconds?

2. a) A fuel mixture of 20% by mass methane and 80% by mass ethanol is burned completely with [7]
theoretical air. If the total flow rate of the fuel is 31 kg/s, determine the required flow rate of air.

b) Draw the schematic of life cycle system boundary for the production of ethanol fuel from corn [3]
resource.

3. Classify the types of gaseous fuels based on their origin, utility point of view, contaminants and depict [10]
the schematic of iron sponge method.

4. A full hydrogen cylinder leaks its contents of 0.5 kg into a room (3.66 m * 4.27 m * 2.44 m) at 35 deg.C [10]
and 1.013 bar. After a long time, the fuel gas and room air are well mixed. Confirm, whether the air-fuel
mixture in the room is flammable?
Note: The flammability limit of hydrogen is within 0.14 to 2.54.

5. A tractor is equipped with a four cylinder CI engine and operates with a mixture of biodiesel (C18H36O2) [10]
and diesel (C12H26) at an equivalence ratio of 0.6. What is the change in air-fuel ratio as the fuel flow to
the engine shifts from B20 to B100?

6. Discuss in detail about the compositional characteristics of fossil fuels. Comment on their families of HC [10]
molecules.

7. How methanol could be employed as an alternate fuel in compression ignition engines and discuss their [10]
regulated emission characteristics.
8. Define the following: [10]
(i) Town gas (ii) Mine gas (iii) Producer gas (iv) PNG and (v) RNG.

9. a) List the features and precautionary measures of hydrogen fuelled internal combustion engines. [5]

b) What are the advantages of using proton exchange membrane fuel cell over internal combustion [5]
engines? List the impurities that cause performance degradation to the membrane electrode
assemblies.

10. Explain in detail about the material compatibility of automotive fuel supply system with biodiesel fuels [10]

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