Renewable Biofuel - A Macro Algal Test Study Through its Performance and Emission Analysis

This study focuses on producing the biofuel from a renewable algal energy source and test the behavior of the algal biodiesel in a single cylinder diesel engine. The algal biodiesel is produced by the algal oil, extracted from the dried macro algal biomass. The influence of this renewable biofuel is studied through its performance and emission characteristics. The renewable biofuel source, used in this study is Stoechospermum Marginatum, a brown seaweed from coastal regions of Tamil Nadu. The wet biomass collected is oven dried for an hour and then sun dried for twelve hours. The dried biomass is processed through Soxhlet lipid extraction process for isolating the oil. The remaining sludge is processed through ultra-sonication for maximum oil extraction. The extracted oil on single stage transesterification process produced the fatty acid methyl esters. The oil to biodiesel conversion efficiency is found to be 91%. The fuel properties are tested as per the standard procedure which met the EN14214 standards. The methyl esters are tested for its emission and performance characteristics. Algal biodiesel exhibited a higher brake specific fuel consumption along with similar values of brake thermal efficiency on comparison with mineral diesel. The emissions of HC, CO, Smoke are found to be lower except for NOx emission. Based on the present investigation, it is concluded that the algal biofuel can be used as an alternate for the diesel fuel.