A

Technical Seminar Report

On

ALTERNATE FUELS
Submitted
In the partial fulfilment of the requirements
for the award of the degree of

BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY
in

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

by
CHINNAVELPULA HARI BABU
[Roll No: 19P15A0308]

Under the esteemed guidance of

Mr. K. ANKAIAH M. Tech
Associate Professor

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

CHADALAWADA RAMANAMMA ENGINEERING COLLEGE

(AUTONOMOUS)
Approved by AICTE, New Delhi, Affiliated to JNTUA, Anantapur
An ISO 9001:2015 Certified Institution, Accredited by NAAC with ‘A’ Grade
February –2022

i
 CHADALAWADA RAMANAMMA ENGINEERING COLLEGE
(AUTONOMOUS)
Chadalawada Nagar, Renigunta Road, Tirupati – 517 506

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Bonafide Certificate

This is to certify that this technical seminar report entitled “ALTERNATE FUELS” is

the bonafide work done by CHINNAVELPULA HARI BABU (Roll No:19P15A0308) in the

Department of Mechanical Engineering, and submitted to CHADALAWADA

RAMANAMMA ENGINEERING COLLEGE(Autonomous), in partial fulfilment of the

requirements for the award of the degree of Bachelor of Technology in Mechanical Engineering

during the academic year 2021-2022 under my guidance and supervision.

Seminar Guide: Head:

Mr. K. ANKAIAH Dr. B. NARAYANA REDDY

Associate Professor Professor & Head
Dept. of Mechanical Engineering Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I express my deep sense of gratitude to my guide Mr. K. ANKAIAH,

. Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, for his constant
encouragement, guidance offered in an amicable and pleasant manner through the period of
this seminar presentation.

I am grateful to Dr. B. NARAYANA REDDY, Head of the Mechanical Engineering

Department, for granting permission and extending his support to carry out the seminar
presentation.

I am deeply indebted to my Principal Dr. BHASKAR PATEL, for his constant

support and valuable guidance was a source of inspiration for me.

I also extend my warm regards to the Management for providing us the required
facilities for seminar presentation.

I also wish to place on record my gratefulness to all the Faculty of Mechanical

Engineering Department for their help and cooperation during seminar presentation.

Finally, I take the privilege to express my sincere thanks to one and all for their
affection and best wishes for the successful completion of this seminar presentation.

CHINNAVELPULA HARI BABU

(Roll No. 19P15A0308)

iii
 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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 TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE Page No.
CERTIFICATE…………………………………………………………..……………i-ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT……………………………………………….…………....iii
ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………….………...iv
TABLEOF CONTENTS……………………………………………………..……….v-vi
CHAPTER-I…………………………………………………………………………..….…1-2
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-II………………………………………………………………………………….3-4

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-III………………………………………………………………………………..5-6
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……………………………………………………………………………………7

4.1 Vegetable Oil as Alternate Fuel

CHAPTER 5………………………………………………………………………………….8-9
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-VI………………………………………………………………………………….10

6.1 Hydrogen

CHAPTER-VII…………………………………………………………………………………11

7.1 Natural Gas

CHAPTER-VIII……………………………………………………………………………..…12

8.1 Compressed natural gas

CHAPTER-IX………………………………………………………………………………….13

9.1 Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG)

REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………………14

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 CHAPTER -I
INTRODUCTION

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. 7 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.

1.2. Why 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

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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.
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.

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 7.CNG
1.2 METHANOL 8.BIOGAS
2. WATER-GASOLINE MIXTURE 9.BENZOL
3. VEGETABLE OIL 10.ACETONE
4. BIODIESEL 11.DIETHYL ETHER
5. HYDROGEN
6. LPG Gaseous Fuel.

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 CHAPTER-II
ETHANOL

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-dioxide, 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

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.

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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.
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-III
METHANOL

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

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 14 contains formaldehyde.
The use of Ten or more years ago, a typical methanol manufacturing plant would emit
about 0.9 - 1.0 metric tons of carbon dioxide for every tone of methanol produced. In addition to
the environmental 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.

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3.1.2 Advantage and Disadvantage of Alcohol 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. 15 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.

6
 CHAPTER-IV
VEGETABLE OIL AS ALTERNATE FUEL

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-V
BIODIESEL

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 ecofriendly, 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.

9
 CHAPTER-VI
HYDROGEN

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.

10
 CHAPTER-VII
NATURAL GAS

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-VIII
COMPRESSED NATURAL GAS

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

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 CHAPTER-IX
LIQUEFIED PETROLIUM GAS (LPG)

9.1 Liquefied Petroleum 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 Vapor, 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 23

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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

14