Thermogravimetric and combustion efficiency analysis of Jatropha curcas biodiesel and its derivatives

Abstract

Thermal behavior of diesel, Jatropha curcas methyl ester (JOME), and its B20 blend (20% biodiesel and 80% diesel) are examined from the profiles of thermogravimetry – differential scanning calorimetry (TG-DSC) under air. TG profiles of samples indicate the mass loss steps to volatilization and combustion of methyl esters. Due to the higher temperature combustion of the intermediate stable compounds that are formed, the peak temperature of combustion is high for JOME compared to diesel and B20 blend. DSC profiles of diesel and B20 JOME indicate an endothermic peak associated with the vaporization of methyl esters for B20 JOME and the volatilization of a small fraction of the diesel. The ignition temperature for diesel and B20 blend is 128 °C, whereas JOME has an ignition temperature of 220 °C. The burnout temperatures for the diesel, JOME, and B20 blend are 283.24, 470.02, and 376.92 °C, respectively. The ignition index for the B20 blend was found to be 73.73% more compared to diesel. The combustion index for the B20 blend was found to be 37.81% higher compared to diesel. The B20 blend exhibits high enthalpy, better thermal stability, and a reduced peak temperature of combustion, with an improved combustion index and an intensity of combustion making it nearly comparable with diesel.

Keywords:

• Combustion
• jatropha oil methyl ester
• heat flow
• thermal degradation

Acknowledgements

The authors express their gratitude to the Visvesvarayya Technological University, Belgaum, and the Sophisticated Analytic Instrumentation Facility Center, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, for providing facilities to carry out experiments.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Data availability statement

The data supporting this study's findings are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This work is supported by the Universiti Tenaga Nasional grant no. IC6-BOLDREFRESH2025 (HCR) under the BOLD2025 Program.