AN ATTEMPT IN EMERGING FUEL SUBSTITUTES C.Jothi kameswaran and K.

Ram Prasad Department of Mechanical Engineering Velammal College of Engineering and Technology, Madurai Mail id : - joekwn91@gmail.com & ramprasadk2008@gmail.com Contact no : 9952442177 & 9566801941

ABSTRACT: Energy plays a crucial role in the development of any nation. But with the present rate of consumption, conventional sources of energy like coal and petroleum will be exhausted shortly. Thats why the concept of using alternate fuels is giving attention worldwide. Here we have chosen two alcoholic fuels (ethanol and methanol) which appear to be a trustworthy alternate option for fuel. Methanol is produced from biomass and from natural gas, whose main constituent is methane (CH4) and ethanol is produced by the fermentation of plant - derived materials.These alcoholic fuels are produced economically. These fuels can be solely or can be blended with gasoline and have acceptable performance and exhaust emissions when used in both S.I. engines and

diesel engines (when suitably modified).As liquid fuels they can be handled as easily as petroleum fuels. But strict safety precautions have to be observed when using methanol as fuel. Subject to these conditions, we have estimated that these two alcohols offer a possible alterative to petroleum fuels. Hence with the increase in demand of petrol in this fast growing world, We are sure that these alternate fuels would satisfy the forthcoming needs. Keywords : Alternate Fuel, Ethanol, Methanol, Fermentation INTRODUCTION: Today with the hike in fuel prices the search for an efficient alternative is very much on.Though the earlier alternatives like JATROPHA CURCAS ,BIOMASS were used effectively,they were not as efficient

as the gasoline.But in recent times it has been found that ethanol and methanol has the same properties as that of petrol or diesel and can reduce the exhaust harmful gas emissions than those of petroleum fuels.The production is quiet economical and in this paper we have portrayed the methods of production and their performance in SI and diesel engines. PRODUCTION : 1.METHANOL FROM NATURAL GAS: The major production of

Pr. 200-350 bar) or over a Copper Catalyst (temperature about 250C, pr.50-100 bar). Both processes

convert more than 90% of the CO present to methanol. The methanol produced contains about 60% of the heat value of the natural gas used in its production. Methanol production offers a solution for utilising plentiful natural gas sources which are far away from industrial areas. The natural gas can be converted to methanol and transported. FROM BIOMASS: Biomass, with its carbon content, can be used to produce methanol. Wood chips are very suitable for this purpose. In gasifiers designed for them, they can be converted to a mixture of CO and

methanol is from natural gas whose main constituent is methane (CH4 ). The steps involved are described below: 3CH4+2H2O+CO2 8H2 +4 CO (gas preparation) 8H2+4CO Synthesis) The gas preparation is carried out over a Nickel Catalyst at temperatures of 700-800C. Methanol synthesis is carried out over a zincchromium catalyst (temp.350-400C, 4CH3-OH(Methanol

H2, similar to the case with coal. The rest of the steps are identical to the process with Coal.Fast growing trees or other types of biomass can be considered for this method of

producing methanol. At the present state of technology, the production

cost of methanol is about 25-50% higher than that of normal gasoline, on heat content basis (2.1 litres of methanol contain the same beat energy as one litre of gasoline). Currently, the cheapest methanol is obtained with natural gas as feed stock. If coal and biomass are to be used as feed stock, the raw material cost or the cost of methanol Ethanol is the next higher member of the alcohol family to methanol. It is produced mainly by the fermentation of plant-derived materials. Ethanol can be produced from three different sources: (I) Sugar containing materials (2) Starch containing materials (3) Cellulosic materials The production of ethanol from sugar or starch containing materials. In the case of starch containing materials the material is converted into a slurry with water, steam cooked for about 2 hours and then an enzyme is added. These steps are necessary to convert the starch into sugar. In the case of sugar -containing materials like sugar cane juice or molasses direct fermentation is possible. Examples of starch containing materials are corn, potatoes and ETHANOL:

production process will have to be brought down considerably. At

present, methanol is being used mainly as a feed stock for the chemical industry, but is gradually coming into use as an additive to gasoline to boost the octane No for using as a fuel in automobiles

cassava (tapioca). Examples of sugar containing materials are sugar cane, molasses (the thick, syrupy liquid left over after sugar production from sugar cane) and sugar beet. In the fermentation section, by the action of enzymes that are added, the sucrose form of sugar is first converted to glucose. C12H22O11 + H2O (enzyme action) 2 C6H1206 In the next step, another group of enzymes ferment the glucose to ethyl (alcohol). C6 H12 O6 (enzyme action) (2)

can be sold as a valuable by product, either as compressed gas or as dry ice.

2C2H5-OH+2CO2

METHANOL AS A VEHICLE FUEL After the fermentation is over, distillation is carried out to separate the ethanol. The residue of the distillation can be used as a cattle feed. As in the case of methanol, it is very difficult to separate all the water from the ethanol. The CO2 generated Although vehicles can operate on pure methanol fuel (M100) methanol blended with 15% unleaded gasoline (M85) is good for vehicles.since it has high octane rating than gasoline,a methanol car can be clean burning

muscle car.methanols exhaust contains 35% less smog producing hydrocarbons which produce less ozone in the atmosphere and 30 to 40% less toxics gases than gasoline.the fuels superior combustion means that engine designed for methanol typically develop more horse power,which give methanol car more acceleration than normal gasoline powered cars.due to this fact methanol is several drag racing classes.

(1) The increase in the number of moles after combustion is higher in the case of methanol, compared to gasoline. (2) The flame speed with methanol is higher. The combustion is hence completed earlier and expansion work is more. (3) The high latent heat of methanol abstracts heat from the cylinder walls, reducing the heat lost to the cooling medium

METHANOL IN S.I ENGINE: . The efficiency is higher for methanol for the following reasons: the NOx emissions to be lower for methanol and the blend. The reason is the lowering of the combustion temperature with methanol due to its

high latent heat. The stoichiometric mixture of methanol and air contains about twice as much fuel as stoichiometric gasoline-air mixture and the latent heat of vapourisation of methanol is nearly three times as high as that of gasoline. Hence methanol abstracts nearly six times as much heat as gasoline to evaporate, leading to lower compression temperatures and correspondingly lower peak combustion temperatures.