Category : ALTERNATE FUELS

GOOTY
BY
S.DADAPEER
IVMECH
dadapeer153@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

v e g e t a b l e o i l s n e e m , c a s t o r,

Petroleum
resources

products

are

their

limited

and

consumption

increasing

very

in

bean,

cottonseed,

r a p e s e e d , s u n f l o w e r, p a l m o i l ,
pongamia oil etc.

with

This paper provides

high

detailed information, based on

technology development since

some experimental work, on

last

the use of pongamia oil as

globalization

fast

S o ya

and

decade.

Diesel

consumption is about 45% of

biofuel.

the

highlighting

total

consumption

petroleum

products.

present

and

of
The

methods,

This

includes

the

production

presenting

some

expected

technical data in comparison

consumption rates imply that

with diesel and its economics.

these reserves may not last

Tucked away in forests where

b e yo n d

electricity was ruled out due

the

next

30

ye a r s .

Over the last 15 years

the

to practical problems, tribes

petroleum

i n Ad i l a b a d d i s t r i c t h a v e b e e n

products in India has risen at

resorting to tapping this tree

an annual compound rate of

for oil. The efforts are richly

6.1% and the situation could

rewarded.

be more difficult for diesel

power supply from generators

engines.

run

demand

for

Ap a r t

from

on

Tod a y,

they

have

pongamia

oil.

conservation there is a global

Presently

research

threat to the environment due

include

testing

engine

to

d u r a b i l i t y,

engine

durability

polluting

nature

of

conventional fuels.

and

some

agendas

recommendations

are made regarding suitability

The solution to these twin

of

pongamia

oil

as

an

problems will be utilizing the

alternative fuel in the Indian

vegetable oils. There are more

context.

than 300 different species of

trees,

which

produce

bearing

seeds.

research

is

potential

going
use

of

oil-

lot

of

on

the
many

INTRODUCTION

The increased use of petroleum

fuels by automobiles in India is not

In the present industrialized

only causing fuel scarcities, price

world, the consumption of petroleum

hikes,

higher

import

bills

products has become an index of

economic imbalance.

countrys prosperity. The consumption

Hence, there is a need to substitute

of petroleum products has started as a

conventional

few tons a year about 140 years ago

suitable eco-friendly and abundantly

has reached over 3000 million metric

available alternative fuels, such as

tons (MMT) per year. In India, it is

liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), natural

increasing at a very rapid rate, from 3.5

gas, hydrogen, biofuels etc. We suggest

MMT in 1950-51 to180 MMT in 2000-

the solution to these twin problems of

01.The road transport sector is the

fuel scarcity and exhaust pollution lies

largest consumer of oil in the country

in utilizing biofuels to the maximum

and 70% of diesel demand. Vehicle

extent.

petroleum

fuels

and

by

population is increasing considerably

and according to the Association of
Indian

Automobile

Manufacturer

(AIAM).

A biofuel is a fuel that has been

produced from crops or vegetation of
one sort or another. There are two main
groups of biofuel: alcohols (ethanol

This fact could be coupled with

and methanol) and biodiesel. The

the present and expected consumption

primary advantage of using biofuels is

rates imply that these reserves may not

that they are non fossil fuels. The

last beyond the next 30 years. For

plants used to make them take up CO2

India the situation could be even more

that is released when the fuel is

difficult. Over the last 15 years, the

burned.

demand for petroleum products in

India has risen at an annual compound

be used directly in diesel engines

rate of 6.1%. Hence there is an urgent

without much change in the engine

need

design and specifications. Procter &

of

products.

conserving

petroleum

Many of the vegetable oils can

Gamble Co. is currently the only U S

manufacturer of biodiesel, primarily
made from soyabean oils. The decision
for or against an alternative fuel is not
only

practicality,

question
but

of

depends

technical
on

its

availability and economic feasibility.

The exhaust gas emissions and their

UTILIZATION AND SAFETY

effects on the environment and human

It

would

make

sense

for

health have also to be considered apart

biodiesel

to

focus

on

from its availability and cost when

feedstocks, which are indigenous to

compared to conventional fuel.

that area for the US -soybean,

research

rapeseed. For India Pongamia etc???

In general, no significant engine,
WHAT IS BIODIESEL?

ignition

system,

--A substitute for or an additive to

modifications are needed for standard

diesel fuel that is derived from the oils

diesel engines to operate on biodiesel.

and fats of plants.

Several tests carried out in Italy using

--An alternative fuel that requires no

pure (100%) vegetable oil methyl ester

engine modifications and provides

during the early 90s confirmed the

power similar to conventional diesel

need to perform some small, not very

fuel.

expensive modifications of the engine,

--A biodegradable transportation fuel

at least for existing vehicles. Further,

that contributes no net carbon dioxide

some trials were made with oil and

or sulphur to the atmosphere, and is

diesel blends at the rate 80/20 or 75/25

low in particulate emissions.

or 50/50 etc. and such blends were

--A renewable, domestically produced

found

liquid fuel that can help reduce

modification at some optimum ratio.

dependence on foreign oil imports.

The solvent characteristics of the fuel

to

or

fuel

require

no

injector

engine

Biodiesel is produced from

may require substitutions of certain

renewable sources such as vegetable

hose and fuel line materials that come

oils, animal fats, and recycled cooking

into contact with the fuel. When

oils. Chemically it is defined as the

comparing biodiesel performance to

mono alkaline esters of long chain

that of conventional diesel fuels,

fatty acids derived from renewable

horsepower is not noticeably different.

liquid sources. Biodiesel is typically

Recent tests done by Mercedes-Benz

produced by reacting a vegetable or

indicate that highway fuel mileage is

animal fat with ethanol in the presence

essentially the same.

of catalyst to yield glycerin and

Biodiesel

offers

enhanced

biodiesel (chemically called methyl

safety characteristics when compared

esters).

to other diesel alternatives including

petroleum, methanol and natural gas.

Biodiesel has a high flash point, it does

during dry periods and annual output

not produce explosive air/fuel vapors it

per hectare are better than that would

has very low toxicity and it is

be obtained from many agricultural

biodegradable. The emissions are also

crops. As a matter of fact even goats do

expected to be less toxic, however, no

not

definite data on this point is currently

therefore it does not require any

available.

special

graze

kanuga

protection

saplings
while

and

growing.

There is no possibility of total yield

failure with trees in any year. Modern
silvicultural methods make use of
dense planting of saplings to start with.
Kanuga normally starts yielding in 3 to
4 years. It is free from fear of threat
and disease.
Most of trees based oil seeds
yield about 25% oil and 79% cake
considering 5% losses in the process of
Lower emissions of biodiesel

oil extraction. The cake has multiple

compared with petrodiesel.

uses but if it becomes available in large

quantities, it probably could be used

PONGAMIA OIL A CASE STUDY

best in industrial ferments to produce

biogas (methane) and the sludge

Pongamia

pinnata

is

the

produced there of can be used as

botanical name for KANUGA in

quality fertilizer.30 million hectare

Telugu, HONGE in Kannada and

equivalent can completely replace

KARANJ in Hindi. These trees can be

current use of fossil fuels at costs India

found abundantly in our country,

can afford. As a country we have

especially in wastelands. At commonly

requisite

used densities of more than 100 trees

estimated at 79-130 million hectares),

per hectare, many of these trees yield

manpower and skill to create the

10 to 15 tones of seeds per hectare on

proposed productive base, which will

maturing. Since 15 to 20 year old trees

have numerous other benefits to the

use soil to more than 10 meters depth

villagers and their commerce since the

(unlike agricultural crops which use 15

effort will generate large quantities of

cm of top soil) both survivability

primary produce.

land

area

(waste

lands

Nitrogen
This

pongamia

can

0.011

grow

anywhere road sides, borders of crop

lands, school compounds, slopes of
hillocks, government lands etc. A small
amount of water will be sufficient for
the planted seeds. Pongamia oil will
provide relief from growing prices of
diesel

and

irregular

supply

of

The various physical properties of

pongamia oil have been determined

electricity.

experimentally and are compared with

those of diesel. Most of the properties

TECHNICAL DATA

except its viscosity are

Pongamia oil is a deep yellow,
or reddish-brown oil extracted from the

nearer to diesel properties which

makes it so suitable for diesel.

seeds of east Indian tree Pongamia.

Seeds of the plant contain 30.7 to 42
per cent oil and in general one hectare
of the plant produces 50-70 kg seeds.
The chemical composition of
pongamia oil
COMPOUND

Particulars

Pongamia Diesel

Density

925

850

(kg /m3)
Viscosity (C

2 to 6

1 to 5

ST)
Net

37000

42000

40000

44000

0.1%

25%

2
105

0.06
38.3

Calorific
Value(kJ/kg)
Gross

Carbon

70.44

Calorific
Value(kJ/kg)
Moisture

Hydrogen

Oxygen

12.08

17.45

and volatile
matter
Acid value
Iodine value
Test results:
Pongamia oil has been directly
used in a diesel engine with 25%, 50 %

75% and finally 100% pongamia.

of diesel. Thus every 4 kilos of seeds

Performance is found to be satisfactory

produces 1 kg of oil and 3 kg of cake.

with

gas

The present market price of this cake is

temperature is found to be slightly

Rs. 4.50 per kg, which is cheaper than

lower than that would be with diesel.

any other chemical fertilizer.

clear

smoke.

Exhaust

At the same time some minor

problems like chocking of fuel filter,

Local price of pongamia seeds per kg

restricted fuel flow are found. This is

= Rs 5.00

obvious owing to its high viscosity and

Oil extraction and transportation

preheating may be required. Presently,

charges per kg

in our state, two such engines are being

Now, cost of 4 kilos of seeds = 4*5

run with pure pongamia oil to produce

= Rs .20.00

electricity in remote tribal villages (in

Oil extraction cost = 4*1 = Rs

forests) of Adilabad district where

Total cost

pongamia seeds are available locally.

Income from sale of 3 kilos of cake =

Its worth mentioning here that an oil

3*4.50 = Rs .13.50

extraction unit is also made available

Therefore net price of 1 kg of oil

to the people by the tribal welfare

=24.00-13.50 = Rs 10.50

department under Velugu project.

Thus 1 kg of oil is obtained @ Rs

People are trained to maintain the

10.50 only, which is much lower than

engines on regular basis on their own

current diesel price.

and it has been successfully running

CONCLUSIONS AND

for the last one and a half year.

RECOMMENDATIONS

= Rs 1.00

4.00

= Rs .24.00

It is possible to replace fossil fuels

ECONOMICS OF PONGAMIA

(diesel) with all its economic and

OIL

ecological disadvantages, with biofuels

The pongamia tree yields about

which are renewable.

160 kilos of seeds per year and about

Research should be carried on to test

10 to 15 tones of seeds per hectare.

engine durability, biodegradability.

One kilo of seeds produces one-quarter

The problem of seeds or oil

of a kilo of oil. The residual crushed

transportation, storage and handling

seed, known as oil cake, is a good

needs to be addressed.

source of manure. One kilo of oil

Projects involving large scale growing

generates three units of electricity, and

of non-edible vegetable oils useful as

the economics of this entire works out

biodiesels should be encouraged.

too much lower than the current price

Non edible oil seed bearing trees

fuels which will eliminate the spending

should be planted all along the

of 6 Billion dollars for importing oils.

highways and in wastelands

throughout the country.
Village level generation of power using
engine-generator sets running on
locally available vegetable oils should
be encouraged. This promotes
decentralization of generating plants,
reducing transmission and distribution
losses and improving reliability of
supply of power especially to remote
areas.
Modern silviculture methods should be
popularized among villages in growing
oil seed bearing trees.
Vehicles running on such oils should

REFERENCES

be continuously demonstrated in all

Internal combustion engine

major cities and towns to popularize

fundamentals- John.B.Heywood

the concept and thus the gap between

Internal combustion engines-

technology and end user should be

V.Ganeshan

bridged.

Exhaust emissions of a DI diesel

As many of these breeds grows in dry

engine with blends of biodiesel SAE

and semi-arid places also, extensive

paper 1997

plantations of the tree may be taken up

Compatibility of elastomers and metals

in districts like Anantapur,

in biodiesel fuel blends-SAE paper

Mahaboobnagar and Cuddapah where

19Energy fact sheet-energy educators

certain remote areas still suffer for

of Ontario-1993

want of power.
30 Million-hectare equivalent can
completely replace current use of fossil
1.