PONGAMIA OIL

..AS AN ALTERNATIVE FUEL

PRESENTING BY
R.ARUN KRISHNA(09471A0265)
&
K.KIRAN KUMAR(09471A0256)

ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING

ABSTRACT:

Petroleum products resources are limited and their consumption is

increasing very fast with globalization development since last decade.

Diesel consumption is about 45% of the total consumption of

petroleum products.

Over the last 15 years the demand for petroleum products in India has
risen and the situation could be more difficult for diesel engines.

Apart from conservation there is a global threat to the environment

due to polluting nature of conventional fuels.

The solution to these twin problems will be utilizing the vegetable oils.

A lot of research is going on the potential use of many vegetable oils

castor, Soya bean, cottonseed, rapeseed, palm oil, pongamia oil etc.

This paper provides detailed information, based on experimental work,

on the use of pongamia oil as bio fuel.

Tucked away in forests where electricity was ruled out due to practical
problems, tribes in Adilabad district have been resorting to tapping this
tree for oil.

Today, they have power supply from generators run on pongamai oil.

Presently research agendas include testing engine durability are made

regarding of pongamai oil as an alternative fuel in the Indian context.

INTRODUCTION:

In the present industrialized world, the consumption of petroleum

products has become an index of countrys prosperity.

The consumption of petroleum products has started as a few tons/year

about 140 years ago has reached over 3000 million metric tons/year.

Vehicle population is increasing considerably and according to the

Association of Indian Automobile Manufacturer (AIAM).

The increased use of petroleum fuels by automobiles in India is not

only causing fuel scarcities, price hikes, higher import bills and
economic imbalance.

Hence, there is a need to substitute conventional petroleum fuels by

suitable eco-friendly alternative fuels such as natural gas, bio fuels etc.

We suggest the solution to these twin problems of fuel scarcity and

exhaust pollution lies in utilizing bio fuels to the maximum extent.

WHAT IS BIODIESEL?

A substitute for or an additive to diesel fuel that is derived from the oils
and fats of plants.

A renewable, domestically produced liquid fuel that can help reduce

dependence on foreign oil imports.

Biodiesel is produced from renewable sources such as vegetable oils,

animal fats, and recycled cooking oils.

Chemically it is defined as the mono alkaline esters of long chain fatty

acids derived from renewable liquid sources.

UTILIZATION AND SAFETY:

In general, no significant engine, ignition system, or fuel injector

modifications are needed for standard diesel engines to operate on
biodiesel.

Several tests carried out in Italy using pure (100%) vegetable oil methyl
ester during the early 90s confirmed the need to perform some small,
not very expensive modifications of the engine, at least for existing
vehicles.

Further, some trials were made with oil and diesel blends at the rate
80/20 or 75/25 or 50/50 etc. and such blends were found to require no
engine modification at some optimum ratio.

Lower emissions of biodiesel compared with petrodiesel

When comparing biodiesel performance to that of conventional diesel

fuels, horsepower is not noticeably different.

Biodiesel has a high flash point, it does not produce explosive air/fuel
vapors it has very low toxicity and it is biodegradable.

PONGAMAI OIL A CASE STUDY:

Pongamia pinnata is the botanical

name for KANUGA in Telugu,
HONGE in Kannada and KARANJ
in Hindi.

Most of trees based oil seeds yield

about 25% oil and 79% cake
considering 5% losses in the process
of oil extraction.

The cake has multiple uses but if it becomes available in large

quantities, the sludge can be used as a quality
fertiliser.

This pongamia can grow anywhere road sides, borders of crop

lands, school compounds etc.

TECHNICAL DATA:
oil is a deep yellow, or reddishbrown oil extracted from the seeds of
east
Indian tree Pongamia.

Particulars

Pongamia

Diesel

Density (kg /m3)

925

850

Viscosity (C S T )

2.0to6

1.2to2

Net Calorific

37000

42000

40000

44000

0.1%

25%

Acid value

0.06

Iodine value

105

38.3

Pongamia

The

various physical properties of

pongamia
oil have been determined
experimentally
and are compared with those of diesel.

Value(kJ/kg)
Gross Calorific
Value(kJ/kg)

Most

of the properties except its viscosity

are
nearer to diesel properties which makes
it so
suitable for diesel.

Moisture and volatile

matter

TEST RESULTS:

Pongamia oil has been directly used in a

diesel engine with 25%, 50%,75% and
finally 100% pongamia.

Performance is found to be satisfactory

with clear smoke. But at the same time
some minor problems like chocking of
fuel filter, restricted fuel flow are found .

Its worth mentioning here that an oil

extraction unit is also made available
to the people by the tribal welfare
department under Velugu project has
successfully for the last one year.

ECONOMICS OF PONGAMAI OIL:

The pongamia tree yields about 160 kilos of seeds per year and about 10
to 15 tones of seeds per hectare.

One kilo of oil generates three units of electricity, and the economics of
this entire works out too much lower than the current price of diesel.

Local price of pongamia seeds per kg = Rs 5.00

Oil extraction and transportation charges per kg = Rs 1.00
Now, cost of 4 kilos of seeds = 4*5 = Rs .20.00
Oil extraction cost = 4*1 = Rs 4.00
Total cost = Rs .24.00
Income from sale of 3 kilos of cake = 3*4.50 = Rs .13.50

CONCLUSIONS & RECOMENDATIONS:

It is possible to replace fossil fuels (diesel) with all its economic and
ecological disadvantages, with bio fuels which are renewable.

Projects involving large scale growing of non-edible vegetable oils useful

as biodiesels should be encouraged.

Vehicles running on such oils should be continuously demonstrated in

all major cities and towns to popularize the concept and thus the gap
between technology and end user should be bridged.

30 Million-hectare equivalent can completely replace current use of

fossil fuels which will eliminate the spending of 6 Billion dollars for
importing oils.

REFRENCES:

Internal combustion engine fundamentals- John.B.Heywood

Internal combustion engines

V.GaneshanExhaust emissions of a DI diesel engine with blends of

biodiesel
SAE paper 1997Compatibilitofelastomers and metals in biodiesel fuel
blends-SAE paper 19Energy fact sheet-energy educators of Ontario1993

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