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Summary
Figure 1: Schematic of UCG
Underground coal gasification (UCG) displays
significant potential as a future coal utilization
The size (and in more general terms, the three-
technique, especially for the deep, low ranked coal
dimensional shape) of the cavity at any point of time
seams found in several locations in India. While the
is indicative of the progress and efficiency of the
UCG process is inherently extremely complex, an
gasification process. The quality of the product gas
approach involving treating the reacting cavity as a
obtained at the production well is strongly dependent
natural chemical reactor, involving several
on the underground cavity growth phenomena.
interlinked phenomena, represents an important
Operating conditions selection therefore requires a
advance. In the UCG research group at IIT Bombay,
continuous knowledge of cavity shape/size. The
research aimed at in-depth comprehension of UCG
cavity growth is expected to be governed by:
has reached a stage of maturity. The predictive
reactions (combustion, gasification, or both);
process models emerging from the group are
transport phenomena (especially mass transport of
expected to hugely benefit the design, optimization
reactant gas to the reacting coal/char face);
and control of UCG field trials and commercial
thermomechanical failure properties or the
installations in India.
phenomenon known as spalling (pieces of coal are
References
3
Daggupati S., Mandapati, R. N., Mahajani, S. M., innovations taking place in automotive industries
Ganesh, A., Mathur, D. K., Sharma, R. K., and world-over. These developments are primarily driven
Aghalayam, P., “Laboratory studies on combustion by the concerns on the depleting fuel resources and
cavity growth in lignite coal blocks in the context of the adverse environmental impact of the species
underground coal gasification,” Energy (under emitting from engine exhaust. There are intense
review), 2009. activities in the area of alternative fuels for internal
Daggupati S., Mandapati, R. N., Mahajani, S. M., combustion engines. An attractive feature of an
Ganesh, A., Sapru, R. K., Sharma, R. K., and alternative fuel is its emission reduction potential.
Aghalayam, P.,, , “Underground coal gasification From this standpoint the fuels like natural gas,
performance predictions using compartment alcohols, biodiesel and hydrogen have attracted
models,” presented at the International Pittsburgh considerable attention to replace the fossil fuels.
Coal Conference, Oct 2009
Upadhya, R., E. Burton, and J. Friedmann, “Science The processed vegetable oil i.e. bio-diesel has
and technology gaps in underground coal emerged as an attractive alternative for diesel fuel
gasification,” Technical Report UCRL-TR-222523, considering its renewable nature, better ignition
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, quality, comparable energy content, higher density,
University of California, Berkeley, CA, 2006. higher safety due to higher flash point, non-toxic
Khadse, A. “Underground coal gasification: Kinetics character of its exhaust emissions, almost zero sulfur
and process modeling,” Ph.D. Thesis, Dept. of content, cleaner burning and acceptability in diesel
Chemical Engineering, IIT Bombay, Mumbai, India, engines without any hardware modifications [1, 2].
2008. Biodiesel is an oxygenated fuel which comprises
Khadse, A., M. Qayyumi, S. M. Mahajani and P. mono-alkyl esters of long chain fatty acids derived
Aghalayam, “Reactor model for Underground coal from vegetable oils and animal fats by trans-
gasification channel,” International Journal of esterification process. The biodiesel fuels are carbon
Chemical Reactor Engineering, V4, A37, 2006 neutral and are directly miscible with diesel fuel.
Khadse, A, Qayyumi, M., Mahajani, S.M., They considerably reduce exhaust smoke emissions
Aghalayam, P., “Underground Coal Gasification: A but have slightly higher NOx emissions. The non-
New Clean Coal Utilization echnique for India,” edible oils like Jatropha, Karanja, Mahua, Neem etc
Energy, 2007, 32, 2061-2071. are the preferred sources for producing biodiesel
fuel. Being a tropical country, India has a large
potential to produce Jatropha curcas plant [3].
The UCG Group at IIT Bombay consists of Profs.
Karanja (Pongamia Pinnata) can be cultivated on any
Anuradda Ganesh (Energy Systems & Engineering,
type of soil that has low moisture demand [4]. The
Principal Investigator); Sanjay Mahajani & Preeti
straight vegetable oil molecules are composed of
Aghalayam (Chemical Engineering, Co-PIs), Phd
triglycerides with non-branched chains of different
Scholars Sateesh Daggupati & Ramesh Naidu, and
lengths and different degree of saturation [5]. The
several dedicated staff & students. We welcome your
differences in physical properties of biodiesel fuel
inputs and visit to the UCG lab, situated in the Aero
derived from different vegetable oils cause some
Engg Annex at IITB, which has been set up through
difference in their performance potential due to
sponsored project funds from the IRS, ONGC.
differential effects on spray and combustion related
processes [6].
Energy Research at IITM- 4 The ongoing research on use of Jatropha and Karanja
methyl esters in compression ignition engines
Research on Biodiesel Combustion in concerns:
Engines • Generating data related to performance,
combustion and emission characteristics of neat
Pramod S Mehta biodiesel viz Jatropha and Karanja and their
Internal Combustion Engines Laboratory blends with diesel fuel in a compression ignition
Department of Mechanical Engineering, engine
Indian Institute of Techology Madras • understanding the effect of biodiesel fuel
psmehta@iitm.ac.in structure and composition on the performance,
combustion and emission behavior of
compression ignition engine
Introduction • predicting the properties of biodiesel fuels based
The engine technology today is experiencing a rapid on their fatty acid composition
pace of development. The combustion process and • establishing correlations for biodiesel fuelled
systems of reciprocating internal combustion engines engine processes like ignition delay, combustion
remain at the center of various technological duration and fuel mass burning rate
4
• controlling nitric oxide emissions using biodiesel 9 The magnitude of peak cylinder pressure
- methanol blends increases for biodiesel fuels and the rate
• analyzing biodiesel combustion through detailed of increase is significant at higher
CFD and kinetics modeling loads (refer Figs. 2c).
• investigating the effects of storage stability of 9 There is an increase in brake specific
the biodiesel fuel on engine processes and fuel consumption (refer Fig. 2e) and
performance. slight decrease in thermal efficiency
(refer Fig. 2f) of biodiesel fuels primarily
EXPERIMENTAL FACILITY
due to their lower energy content.
A well instrumented engine test facility (see Fig 1) is 9 There is not much difference in the
built around four cylinder turbocharged in the exhaust Carbon Monoxide (CO)
laboratory to conduct experimental investigations. concentrations for both diesel and
biodiesel fuels (see Fig. 2g).
9 The unburned hydrocarbon and exhaust
smoke emissions are significantly
decreased
9 for biodiesel fuels as compared to base
diesel (refer Figs. 2g and 2h) whereas
nitric
9 oxide emissions are increased for
biodiesel fuels (refer Fig. 2h)
9 The increase in nitric oxide emissions
with biodiesel fuel are attempted to be
minimized by blending 10% methanol
with biodiesel. The typical results
Fig. 1: Pictorial views of test-engine setup and comparing effects of Karanja biodiesel-
instrumentation methanol blend (B90M10) with neat
Karanja biodiesel (B100) at 1000 rpm
The important outcome of the current research
engine speed are shown in Figs. 3. The
efforts include: Performance of Biodiesel and its
following facts are observed:
blends vs fossil Diesel Fuel in Diesel
9 - There is a delayed start of
Engine.Fig. 2 shows the typical comparison of
injection and an increased ignition delay
engine combustion, performance and emission
(refer Fig. 3a) primarily due to lower
characteristics of neat Karanja (KME) and
density/higher compressible nature and
Jatropha (JME) methyl esters with base diesel at
poor ignition quality of biodiesel-
an engine speed of 2000 rpm. These results
methanol blend compared to neat
suggest that
biodiesel.
9 The magnitude of peak cylinder pressure
9 There is an advanced start of injection up
decreases (refer Fig. 3b) for biodiesel-
to 1.90CA and consequent early start of
methanol blend due to higher latent heat
combustion for biodiesel fuels (refer Fig.
of vaporization of the blend and there is
2a) due to their higher density/less
slight increase in brake thermal
compressible nature compared to base
efficiency due to wider flammability
diesel.
limits and lean burning characteristics of
9 There is a slight increase in ignition
biodiesel-methanol blend.
delay (refer Fig. 2b) and decrease in
combustion duration (refer Fig. 2d).
h
g
5
a
e
f
b
Fig. 2: Comparison of engine combustion, performance Fig. 3: Comparison of (a) brake thermal efficiency and (b)
and emission characteristics of Jatropha and Karanja nitric oxide and exhaust smoke emissions for biodiesel
biodiesel fuels with base diesel and biodiesel-methanol blend
9 The nitric oxide and exhaust smoke code in conjunction with KIVA3V CFD package
emissions decrease significantly for is being pursued.
biodiesel-methanol blend (refer Fig. 3b)
due to higher fuel bound oxygen of the
50
blend.
Brake thermal eff. (%)
B100
9 Besides these basic performance studies, 40 B90M10
the research efforts led to evaluating the 30
effects of long storage of biodiesel on a
engine performance, combustion and 20
emission characteristics have also been 10
evaluated. A generalized, simple and
accurate method for estimating thermo 0
physical properties of biodiesel fuels 0 3 6 9 12
bmep (bar)
derived from source vegetable oil of
varying compositions has been Fig. 3a: Comparison of (a) brake thermal efficiency
successfully evolved. A new
methodology has been proposed for
estimating the lower heating values of
biodiesel fuels using bond energy
Smoke (BSU)
¾ Dr. Srinivas Bette, President and CEO,
NO (ppm)
600 6
b Reliance International E and P, Dallas,
400 4 USA gave a talk on “Trends in Oil and Gas
Exploration and Production and its
200 2
influence on the Indian Energy Scenario”
0 0 on 03 Nov 2009. Prof M.S. Ananth ,
0 2 4 6 8 10 Director, presided. A large number of
bmep (bar)
students and faculty listened to the very
interesting and informative lecture
Fig. 3b Comparison of nitric oxide and exhaust smoke followed by a lively interaction. Earlier Dr.
emissions for biodiesel and biodiesel-methanol blend Bette visited the Dept of Ocean
Acknowledgement: This work is the result of Engineering for a discussion on the
the efforts of Mr K Anand, Research Scholar M Tech (Petroleum Engineering)
towards his Ph D thesis. programme. Dr Bette is an IITM alumnus
(BT Chem 1976).
REFERENCES
1. Ma, F., and Hanna, M. A. (1999) Biodiesel ¾ A presentation on “A Possible Solution to
production – A review, Bioresource the Rural Energy Problem” was delivered
Technology, 70, pp. 1-15. on the 13th Nov by a team of students from
2. Srivastava, A., and Prasad, R. (2000) IITM who won the national contest on
Triglycerides-based diesel fuels. Renewable “The GE Edison Challenge”. The winning
and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 4, pp. team , which was awarded a cash prize of
111–133. Rs 5 lakhs, consisted of :
3. Mohibbe Azam, M., Waris, A., and Nahar,
N.M. (2005) Prospects and potential of fatty Srinath Ramakkrushnan, Mechanical Engg.
acid methyl esters of some non-traditional Ashwin Ramesh, Mechanical Engg
seed oils for use as biodiesel in India, Midhun Salim, Electrical Engg
Biomass and Bio Energy, 29, pp. 293–302. Kaushik Anand, Chemical Engg
4. Srivastava, P.K., and Verma, M. (2008) Aditya Harit, MA in Developmental studies
Methyl ester of Karanja oil as an alternative
renewable source energy, Fuel, 87, pp. 1673-
1677. ANNOUNCEMENT
5. Rao, P.S., and Gopalakrishnan, K.V.
(1991) Vegetable oils and their methyl esters The Energy Forum will observe The National
as fuels for diesel engines, Indian Journal of Energy Conservation Day on the 13th and 14
Technology, 29, pp. 292-297. December as was done last year. Details will
6. Rakopoulos C.D., Antonopoulos K.A., be sent shortly. Please send in your
Rakopoulos D.C., Hountalas D.T., and suggestions .
Giakoumis E.G. (2006) Comparative
performance and emissions study of a direct Your response requested….
injection diesel engine using blends of diesel
fuel with vegetable oils or bio-diesels of Please suggest topics and names of experts for the
various origins, Energy conversion and monthly lecture series. Also please suggest other
activities that can be arranged in lieu of the monthly
Management, 47, pp. 3272-3287.
lectures.