Studies on biodiesel production from Pongamia oil using heterogeneous catalyst and its effect on diesel engine performance and emission characteristics

ABSTRACT

Commercial calcium oxide (CaO) impregnated with 25 wt% potassium iodide (KI) was prepared by wet impregnation method and adopted for transesterification of Pongamia oil using methanol. The synthesized catalyst (KI/CaO) was characterized using different techniques such as X-ray Diffraction, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller and Scanning Electron Microscopy analysis. Under the reaction conditions of 12:1 methanol:oil ratio, 4 wt% KI/CaO catalyst, 2 h reaction time and at a reaction temperature of 65°C, a maximum biodiesel conversion of 95.7% was obtained. Synthesized biodiesel was characterized by FTIR and H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy techniques. The performance and emission characteristics of different blends of Pongamia biodiesel and conventional diesel were tested using a single-cylinder, four-stroke IC engine and the results were compared.

KEYWORDS:

• Impregnation
• Pongamia oil
• transesterification
• biodiesel
• IC engine

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.