A

Seminar report on

“ALTERNATIVE FUELS FOR I.C. ENGINE (ETHANOL)”

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the
Seminar report

at
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
GRETER NOIDA INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING AND
TECHNOLOGY

Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh

Affiliated to Dr. APJ Abdul kalam Technical University
(2019-2020)

Submitted To: Submitted By:

Mr. Manoj Sharma Sheshnath Chauhan
(Faculty of mechanical Deptt.) 3rd Year B
1713240088

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 ABSTRACT

“Necessity is the mother of invention. Energy crisis is the cry of future.”

The historical and the present-day civilization are closely

interwoven with energy and in future, our existence will be more
dependent upon energy. The conventional sources of energy, the single
most important pre-requisite for power generation, are depleting fast. The
world is heading towards a global energy crisis mostly due to running out
of these energy sources; decreasing the dependency on fossil fuels is
recommended.
The reason motivating the development of alternate fuels for the IC
engine is the concern over the emission problem of gasoline and diesel
engines.
Another reason for alternate fuels development is the fact that a large
percentage of crude oil must be imported from other countries which
control the larger oil field.
Now most of the alternate fuels are very costly (ex; methanol &natural
gases) since the quantity used is very less but many of these fuels will cost
much less if the amount of their usage gets to the same order of magnitude
as gasoline.
Problem with alternate fuels is the lack of distribution points where
the fuel is distribution for public.

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to acknowledge the contributions of

those who assisted in the preparation of this report.
Before we get into this report, I would like to thanks
all the people who are a part of this report and have given
their unending contribution from start to end of this report.
I would like to thank faculty MR. Manoj Sharma for
providing the required guidance in process of preparing the
report.
I would also like to express my deep regards and
gratitude to the HOD sir Dr. Sudhir Kumar.
I would like to express my gratitude towards my
parents for their kind co-operation and encouragement
which helped me in completion of this report.
I have taken lots of efforts in this report. However, it
would not have been possible without the kind support and
help of many individuals and organizations. I would like
to extend my sincere thanks to all of them.

NAME-SHESHNATH
ROLL No: - 1713240088
YEAR-3rd year
SEMESTER-5th sem

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 INDEX
Content Page No.
Abstract……………………………………………………...02
Acknowledgment……………………...…………………....03
Chapter 1……………………………………………….…...06
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Why to choose alternate fuel
1.2.1 Conventional fuels are going to run out
1.2.2 To reduce pollution
1.2.3 To protect against global warming
1.2.4 To save money
1.2.5 Can reuse waste
1.3 Different Conventional Fuels
1.4 Different Alternate Fuels
Chapter 2……………………………………………………10
2.1 Ethanol
2.1.1 Why to Adopt Ethanol as Alternate Fuel
2.1.2 Use of Ethanol In I.C Engines
2.1.2.1 Blend Formation
2.1.2.2 Dual Injection
2.1.2.3 Spark Ignition
2.1.2.4 Ignition Improvers
2.1.2.5 Surface Ignition
2.1.2.6 Fumigation
Chapter 3……………………………………………….…..13
3.1 Methanol
3.1.1 Methanol Fuel and The Environment
3.1.2 Advantage and Disadvantage of Alcohol Fuels

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Chapter 4……………………………………………..……...16
4.1 Vegetable Oil as Alternate Fuel

Chapter 5…………………………………………………….17
5.1 Biodiesel
5.2 Why Biodiesel
5.3 Importance of Biodiesel
5.4 Production
5.5 Road Block For Biodiesel Industry
5.6 biodiesel-Indian scenario: -

Chapter 6…………………………………………………….19
6.1 Hydrogen

Chapter 7……………………………………………………..20
7.1 Natural Gas

Chapter 8……………………………………………………..21
8.1 Compressed natural gas

Chapter 9………………………………………..……………22
9.1 Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG)

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 CHAPTER 1
1.1Introduction
In this century, it is believed that crude oil and petroleum products
will become Very scarce and costly. Day-to-day, fuel economy of engines is
getting improved and will continue to improve. However, enormous increase
in number of vehicles has started dictating the demand of fuel. Gasoline and
diesel will become scarce and most costly in the near future. With increased
use and depletion of fossil fuels, Alternate fuel technology will become more
common in the coming decades.

Another reason motivating the development of alternate fuel for

engines is the concern over emission problem of gasoline and diesel engines.
Combined with other air-polluting systems, the large number of automobiles
is a major contributor to the air quality problem of the world. Quite a lot of
improvements have been made in reducing emissions from automobile
engines. If a 30% improvement made over a period of years, it is to be noted
that during the same time the number of automobiles in the world increased
by 40%, thereby nullifying the improvement. Lot of efforts has gone into for
achieving the net improvement in cleaning up automobile exhaust. However,
more improvements are needs to bring down the ever-increasing air pollution
due to automobile population.

A third reason for alternate fuel development is the fact that larger
percentage of crude oil must be imported from other countries which control
the larger oil field. As of now many alternate fuels have been used in limited
quantities in automobiles. Quite often, fleet vehicles have been used for
testing (e.g. taxies, delivery vans, and utility company trucks).

The engines used for alternate fuel are modified engines which wear
originally designed for gasoline fueling. Some diesel engines have started
appearing on the market. They use Methanol or natural gas and a small
amount of diesel fuel that is injected at proper time to ignite both fuels.

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Mostly alternate fuels are very costly at present since the quantity used is
very less. Many of these fuels will cost much less if the amount of their usage
gets to the same order of magnitude as gasoline. The cost of manufacturing,
distribution, and marketing would be less.

1.2Why to choose alternate fuel?

1.2.1 Conventional fuels are going to run out
One day, our sources for traditional fuels including petroleum would
be depleted. Owing to the fact that these fuels are typically not renewable, a
lot of people are worried that a day would come when the demand for these
fuels would be more than the supply, triggering a considerable world crisis.
Non-environmentalists also concur with the opinion that the majority of oil
fields (situated in the Middle East) in the world are associated with
problems – both political and economic. Determining a new method or
solution with respect to finding different countries to create new fuels
would reduce the unrest and conflict resulting from the world’s dependence
on fuel supply from the Middle East.

1.2.2 To reduce pollution

The use of alternative fuels considerably decreases harmful exhaust
emissions (such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, particulate matter and
sulfur dioxide) as well as ozone-producing emissions.

1.2.3 To protect against global warming

According to a commonly accepted scientific theory, burning fossil

fuels was causing temperatures to rise in the earth’s atmosphere (global
warming). Though global warming continues to be just a theory, a lot of
people across the globe are of the belief that discovering sources of cleaner
burning fuel is an essential step towards enhancing the quality of our
environment.

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1.2.4 To save money

Alternative fuels can be less expensive to use not just in terms of the
fuel itself but also in terms of a longer service life. This in turn means savings
for the long term.

1.2.5 Can reuse waste

Biofuels bioproducts, and biopower provide modern and fresh
relevance to the old belief that trash for one person is a treasure for another.
That’s good news considering that Americans produce in excess of 236
million tons of waste each year.

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1.3 DIFFERENT CONVENTIONAL FUELS-
1. FOSSIL FUEL (PETROLIUM)
2. COAL
3. NUCLEAR MATERIALS
4. WOOD
1.4 DIFFERENT ALTERNATE FUELS-
1. ALCOHOL
1.1 ETHANOL
1.2 METHANOL
2. WATER-GASOLINE MIXTURE
3. VEGETABLE OIL
4. BIODIESEL
5. HYDROGEN
6. LPG Gaseous Fuel.
7. CNG
8. BIOGAS
9. BENZOL

10.ACETONE

11.DIETHYL ETHER

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 CHAPTER 2
2.1 ETHANOL-

Among the various options, Ethanol, an alcohol seems to be a most

promising option for countries like India because of its availability from
agriculture products. Alcohol can be used in diesel engines in following
ways.

One method is injection of ethanol with inlet air using carburetion or

electronic injection system and other is emulsion of diesel and ethanol. And
also enable a reduction in exhaust NOX, smoke and particulate matter.

2.1.1 WHY TO ADOPT ETHANOL AS ALTERNATE FUEL-

Many alternate fuels are being considered for automotive vehicles

and ETHANOL of the best alternate fuels. Ethanol has been used as
automobile fuel for many years in various countries of the world. Brazil is
probably the leading user that is about 5 million vehicles operated on fuel
that were 93% Ethanol.

Ethanol is produced from molasses, which is a by-product of

sugarcane. Ethanol can be produced in large quantities at low cost from this
molasses.

Its high oxygen content improves the combustion characteristics. It

also reduces the harmful emissions from IC engines such as Sulphur-di-
oxide, oxides of nitrogen, particulate emissions.

2.1.2 USE OF ETHANOL IN I.C ENGINES

The various techniques by which the ethanol can be used as a fuel for
compression ignition engines are-

1. Blend formation
2. Fumigation
3. Dual injection
4. Spark ignition
5. Ignition improvers
6. Surface ignition
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2.1.2.1 BLEND FORMATION:

The easiest method by which ethanol could be used is in the form

of diesel ethanol blend. But ethanol has limited solubility in diesel;
hence ethanol/diesel solutions are restricted to small percentages
(typically 20%). This problem of limited solubility has been
overcome by emulsions, which have the capability of accommodation
larger displacement of diesel up to 40% by volume. But the major
drawbacks of emulsions are the cost of emulsifiers and poor low
temperatures physical properties.

2.1.2.2 DUAL INJECTION:

Dual injection is a method by which nearly 90%Displacement of

diesel by ethanol is possible. The drawback of this method includes
the complexity and expense of a second injection system and a second
fuel tank and system.

2.1.2.3 SPARK IGNITION:

Spark ignition of neat ethanol in diesel engines provides a way

of displacing 100% of diesel. A spark Plug and the associated ignition
system components must be added to the engine. Space must be
available for spark plugs in the cylinder head and it’s also important
for sparkplugs in the cylinder head and it is also important for proper
plug cooling.

2.1.2.4 IGNITION IMPROVERS:

Another method of using neat ethanol is to increase their cetane

numbers sufficiently with ignition improving additives to ensure that
compression ignition will occur. This method saves the expense and
complexity of engine components changes, but adds fuel costs.

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2.1.2.5 SURFACE IGNITION:

This is another method of using ethanol 100% ethanol in diesel

engines. Surface ignition occurs when the temperature of the air-fuel
mixture adjacent to a hot surface exceeds its self-ignition limit.

2.1.2.6 FUMIGATION:

Fumigation is a method by which ethanol is introduced in to

engine by carbureting or vaporizing the ethanol into the intake stream.
This method requires addition of a carburetor or vaporizer along with
a separate fuel tank, lines and controls. But with the emergence of
electronic injection techniques the fumigation technique has been
made possible by using an injector in the intake manifold.

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 CHAPTER 3
3.1 METHANOL-

Also known as wood alcohol, methanol is a convenient liquid fuel

that is made from a number of different feedstock resources - natural gas and
coal as well as renewable resources like forest thinning or agricultural waste
and even directly from CO2 captured from power plant and factory
emissions. Methanol is a basic building block for hundreds of essential
chemical commodities that touch our daily lives including building materials,
plastic packaging, paints and coatings, even windshield washing fluid.
Methanol is also a transportation fuel, a hydrogen carrier for fuel cell
technologies, and an efficient fuel for electric power generation. With the
chemical structure CH3OH, methanol is the simplest alcohol, with the lowest
carbon content and highest hydrogen content of any liquid fuel.

3.1.1 METHANOL FUEL AND THE ENVIRONMENT: -

i. Ten or more years ago, a typical methanol manufacturing plant would

emit about 0.9 - 1.0 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide for every tone of
methanol produced. In addition to the environmental concerns, large
CO2 emissions represent operational inefficiencies in a methanol plant,
since the carbon emitted as CO2 is not available for making methanol
molecules. In fact, excess CO2 from other industrial facilities can also
be captured and consumed to increase methanol production. Through
the implementation of efficiency improvements and through replacing
of older facilities with newer plants that use more efficient
technologies, over the last decade methanol plants have been able to
significantly reduce CO2 emissions by up to 40%. When burned as fuel,
methanol cuts emissions of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic
compounds that form ground-level ozone or “smog.” Methanol is much
less reactive than gasoline in the atmosphere, with the only toxic
component of the emissions being formaldehyde, as compared to
dozens of carcinogenic components of gasoline emissions, which also

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 contains formaldehyde. The use of heated catalytic converters has
shown that methanol-fueled auto emissions meet and exceed
California’s stringent Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (ULEV) emission
targets for formaldehyde. Methanol fuel also does not contain the toxic
BTEX additives found in gasoline – benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene,
and xylems. These compounds are highly carcinogenic, do not readily
biodegrade in the environment, and are capable of contaminating
groundwater supplies.

3.1.2 ADVANTAGE AND DISADVANTAGE OF ALCHOL FUELS: -

 Advantages
a. It can be obtained from a number of sources, both natural and
manufactured.
b. It is a high Octane fuel with anti-knock index number (octane number)
of over 100. Engines using high-octane fuel run more efficiently by
using higher compression ratios. Alcohols have higher flame speed.
c. It produces fewer overall emissions compared to gasoline.
d. When alcohols are burned, it forms more moles of exhaust gases, which
give higher pressure and more power in the expansion stroke.
e. Alcohol have low Sulphur content in the fuel.

 Disadvantages
a. Alcohol have low energy content or in other words the calorific value
of the fuel is almost half of the gasoline fuel
b. Alcohol have poor ignition characteristics in general
c. Alcohols have almost invisible flames, which is considered dangerous
when handling fuel.
d. Many people find strong order of alcohol very offensive.
e. There is a possibility of vapor lock in fuel delivery system.

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In this century, it is believed that crude oil and petroleum products will
become very scarce and costly. Day-to-day, fuel economy of engines is
getting improved and will continue to improve. However, enormous
increase in number of vehicles has started dictating the demand for fuel.
With increased use and depletion of fossil fuels, alternative fuel
technology will become more common in the coming decades. Because of
the high cost of petroleum products, emission problems some developing
countries are trying to use alternate fuels for their vehicles.

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 CHAPTER 4
4.1 VEGETABLE OIL AS ALTERNATE FUEL: -

Vegetable oil is considered as one of the alternative fuels for diesel

engines However, the viscosity of vegetable oil is higher compared to
diesel. Therefore, it must be lowered to allow for proper atomization in
engines designed to burn diesel fuel. Otherwise, incomplete combustion
and carbon build up will ultimately damage the engine.

Some literatures classify vegetable oil as Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO)

and straight vegetable oil (SVO) or Pure Plant Oil (PPO) to distinguish it
from biodiesel. Free Fatty Acid (FFA) in WVO have a detrimental effect on
metals. Copper and its alloy, such as brass, are affected by WVO. Tin, lead,
iron, and steel are affected too.

The main form of SVO/PPO used in various countries is rapeseed oil

which has a freezing point of -10°C. Use of Sunflower oil, which gels at
around -12°C, is currently being investigated as a means of improving cold
weather starting.

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 CHAPTER 5
5.1 BIODIESEL: -
Biodiesel refers to a vegetable oil or animal fat-based diesel engine
fuel consisting of long chain alkali ester. Biodiesel is typically produced by
chemically reacting lipids with an alcohol.
More efficiently we can say that biodiesel is an alternate fuel which is eco-
friendly, highly oxidized, Sulphur-free, nontoxic.

 Rapeseed (Germany)
 Sunflower oil
 Soybean Oil (USA & brazil)
 Palm oil (Malaysia)
 Linseed, olive oil (Spain)
 Used oil
 Cottonseed oil
5.2 WHY BIODIESEL?

 SUSTAINABILITY
 POLLUTION THREAT
 REDUCTION OF GREEN HOUSE GAS EMISSIONS
 REGIONAL DEVLOPMENT
 SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND AGRICULTURE.
5.3 IMPORTANCE OF BIODIESEL: -

 Environment friendly
 Clean burning
 Renewable fuel
 NO engine modification
 Biodegradable and non-toxic
 Easy to Handle and store.

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5.4 Production: -
Biodiesel is commonly produced by the transesterification of the vegetable
oil or animal fat feedstock.
5.5 Road Block for Biodiesel Industry….

 Feedstock Scarcity
 Food vs. Fuel controversy
 Pricing of biodiesel is not attractive to anybody
5.6 BIODIESEL-INDIAN SCENARIO: -

 Presently importing about tones of edible oil to take care the edible oil
application -65% of our consumption is being imported.
 Clean oil is not available for biodiesel production in India.
 It is very difficult for India to get the required feedstock for biodiesel
production in the present scenario.

Gaseous fuels are best suited for IC engines since physical delay
is almost zero. However, as fuel displaced equal amount of air the engines
may have poor volumetric efficiency. There are quite few gaseous fuels
that can be used as alternate fuels.

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 CHAPTER 6
6.1 Hydrogen: -

A number of automobile manufacturer have built with prototype or

modified engines which operates on hydrogen fuel.

Advantages of using Hydrogen: -

 Low emission. Essentially no CO or HC in the exhaust and there is

no carbon in the fuel
 Fuel availability. There are a number of ways of making hydrogen,
including electrolysis of water
 Fuel leakage to environment is not a pollutant.
 High energy content per volume when stored as liquid.

Disadvantages of using hydrogen fuel: -

 Difficult to refuel and the possibility of detonation.

 Fuel cost would be very high at present day technology and availability
 High NOx emission because of high flame temperature.
 Requirement of heavy, bulky fuel storage both in vehicle and at the
service station.
Hydrogen can be used in SI engines by three Methods:
i. By manifold induction
ii. By direct introduction of hydrogen into the cylinder
iii. By supplementing gasoline.

Since, hydrogen is highly reactive fuel it requires great care in

handling. Flash black arresters have to be provided between the engine and
the storage Tank to prevent flash back from going to the tank.

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 CHAPTER 7
7.1 NATURAL GAS: -
Natural gas is found in various localities in oil and gas bearing
sand strata located at various depth below the earth surface. The gas usually
considerable pressure and flows out naturally from the oil well. Natural gas
obtained from oil wells is called casing head gas. It is usually treated for the
recovery of gasoline. Natural gas is mixture of components, consisting
mainly of methane (60% to 90%) with the small amount of other
hydrocarbon fuel components. The composition varies considerably from
place to place and time to time.
ADVANTAGES OF NATURAL GAS: -
1) Octane number is around 110, which makes it a very good SI engine
fuel.
2) Low engine emission.
3) Fuel is fairly abundant.
DISADVANTAGES OF NATURAL GAS: -
1. Low energy density resulting in low engine performance.
2. Low engine volumetric efficiency because it is a gaseous fuel.
3. Inconsistent fuel properties
4. Refueling is a slow process.

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 CHAPTER 8
8.1 Compressed natural gas: -
Petroleum and natural gas obtained by process of drilling wells. As
already known crude oil petroleum is composed of hydrocarbons. It contains
small amount of water, Sulphur and other impurities. Petroleum when mixed
with natural gas produces a highly volatile liquid. This liquid is known as
natural gasoline.

The natural gas can be compressed and then it is called

compressed natural gas (CNG). CNG is used in automobile vehicle just like
LPG. The CNG fuel feed system is just like the CNG fuel feed system.

Emission levels and comparison between CNG-driven vehicle and

petrol driven vehicle
Pollutants Emission Petrol with CNG with
norms catalytic converter catalytic
converter
CO(g/Km) 5.60 0.92 0.05
HC(g/km) - 0.36 0.24
NOx(g/Km) 1.92 0.25 0.93

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 CHAPTER 9
9.1 LIQUEFIED PETROLIUM GAS (LPG): -

Propane and butane are obtained from oil and gas wells. They are also
the product of the petroleum refining process. For automobile engines, two
types of LPG are used. One is propane and other is butane. Sometimes, a
mixture of propane and butane is used as liquid petroleum gas in automobile
engines. LPG gases are compressed and cooled to form liquid. This liquid is
kept in pressure tank which are sealed.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF LPG: -

 ADVANTAGES: -
1) LPG contains less carbon than petrol. LPG powered vehicle produces
50% less carbon monoxide per kilometer, so the emission is much
reduced by the use of LPG.
2) LPG mix with air at all temperature
3) Since the fuel is in the form of Vapour, there is no crankcase dilution.
4) LPG has high antiknock characteristics.
5) Running on LPG translates into a cost saving of about 50%.
6) The engine may have 50% more longer life.

 DISADVANTAGES: -
1) A special fuel feed system is required for liquid petroleum gas
2) The vehicle weight is increased due to the heavy pressure cylinder
3) for storing of LPG

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References
1. Jump up^ ENZYMATIC CONVERSION OF CARBON
DIOXIDE TO
METHANOL http://www.anl.gov/PCS/acsfuel/preprint%20ar
chive/Files/47_1_Orlando_03-02_0072.pdf
2. Jump up^ Owen, K., Coley., C.S. Weaver, "Automotive
Fuels Reference Book", SAE International, ISBN 978-1-
56091-589-8
3. Jump up^ Non-Methane
HydroCarbons http://www.atmosphere.mpg.de/enid/EN__Co
mpounds/NMHC_5rg.html
4. Jump up^ Kelly, K.J., Bailey, B.K., Coburn, T.C., Clark, W.,
Lissiuk, P. "Federal Test Procedure Emissions Test Results
from Ethanol Variable-Fuel Vehicle Chevrolet Luminas",
SAE Technical Paper 961092
5. Jump up^ Brinkman, N., Halsall, R., Jorgensen, S.W., &
Kirwan, J.E., "The Development of Improved Fuel
Specifications for Methanol (M85) and Ethanol (Ed85), SAE
Technical Paper 940764

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