Characteristics, performance, and greenhouse gas evaluation ofjatropha biodiesohol for agricultural machinery

Abstract

Microemulsion is a proposed technique for biofuel production with simple and low-cost preparation called biodiesohol. For this study, diesel based microemulsion with ethanol, surfactant, and Jatropha oil were studied for their phase behavior focusing on homogeneity of the fuel. Various types of surfactant, ethanol-surfactant ratio (E/S ratio) and ethanol-surfactant content (E/S content) had been investigated and the result showed that LS1, E/S ratio at 3 and E/S content at 5 tend to be the most appropriate for Jatropha biodiesohol preparation. The mixture design was effectively applied to predict or estimate kinematic viscosity in the desired range by {3,3} lattice augmented with interior points and centroid. The property results of biodiesohol showed compatible properties with biodiesel standard except for acid number, flash point, and density. The EHN (ethylhexyl nitrate) was added into biodiesohol as additive to increase the efficiency of engine performance. The engine performance testing using Jatropha biodiesohol (E/S:Jatropha oil:Diesel at 5:20:75 namely JBH20 and 5:25:70 namely JBH25), JME (Jatropha methylester), and diesel as fuel show that forming microemulsion can partially improve power, torque, and brake specific fuel consumption compared to diesel. In addition, exhaust gas emission also decreased. The cradle to gate life cycle inventory based on the Wiangsa agricultural cooperative at Nan Province, which existed the system for JME production show that JME emits 329.42 kgCO2e/GJ. JME showed greater GHG emissions than that of JBH25 approximately 2 times. The waste handling was main emissions for JME, while the maximum emission of JBH25 was combustion process.The results of NER (Net energy ratio) showed that neat JME is the most suitable energy efficiency compared to JME25 (Jatropha biodiesel blended with diesel at 25 %v/v) and JBH25. The energy credits from co-products and wastes significantly cause on increase of NER.