Experimental Analysis of Fish-Oil Bio Diesel with Methanol as Additive

Abstract

Availability of pure air is everyone’s right, not only of the human beings but all animals living on the globe. The main source which pollutes the air is exhaust emissions from diesel engines. Also the extensive use of fossil fuels results in its depletion and increase of greenhouse gases and global warming. Bio-diesel is an alternative diesel fuel that is produced from vegetable oils and animal fats. The present work deals with the oil extraction from the waste fish oil which are abundantly available in coastal areas. The extraction of oil is done using steam distillation process and the oil was separated from water and other impurities using separating funnel. The performance and emission tests on a single cylinder four stroke diesel engine were conducted with bio diesel blends of B5, B10, B5 M3 and B5 M6 at different loads. The most suitable condition was found to be B5 M6 which gave higher efficiency and brake power than other blends. The BSFC of the blend B5 and B10 are closer to diesel.

Introduction

India, as a developing nation, is progressing in many fields, but transportation energy consumption remains a concern. Most vehicles still rely on petroleum, which is non-renewable and contributes to environmental pollution, including CO? emissions. To address this, biodiesel—a renewable, biodegradable, and eco-friendly fuel made from vegetable oils or animal fats—has gained global attention.

Biodiesel reduces emissions of carbon monoxide (CO), unburned hydrocarbons (UHC), and particulate matter (PM), though it may slightly increase NOx emissions. It also provides benefits such as improved lubrication, a higher flash point, and biodegradability.

2. Fish Oil as a Biodiesel Source

Mangalore, India, exports about 1.2 million tons of seafood annually, with 75% of fish mass discarded as waste. These fish by-products, if unutilized, cause environmental problems. However, they can be a valuable raw material for biodiesel production, adding economic value to waste and promoting clean energy use.

3. Literature Survey Highlights

• Rana Prathap Reddy et al.: Evaluated fish oil methyl esters in a Kirloskar HA394 engine.

• Mostafa Mirsalim et al.: Compared emissions and performance of waste fish oil blends (B25, B50, B75) in a Ricardo engine.

• Rasim Behcet et al.: Used anchovy fish oil biodiesel blends (B25 to B75) in a single-cylinder diesel engine.

• D. K. Ramesha et al.: Tested 10%, 20%, and 30% blends of fish oil biodiesel in a direct injection engine.

• Murari Mohon Roya et al.: Explored performance with biodiesel–diesel–additive and kerosene–biodiesel blends.

4. Biodiesel Production Process

Fish oil biodiesel is produced via transesterification:

1. Potassium hydroxide is mixed with methanol to create potassium methoxide.

2. This is blended with fish oil for an hour.

3. The mixture is separated into biodiesel (top layer) and glycerol (bottom layer).

4. Biodiesel is then washed with water to remove excess methanol.

5. Engine Testing and Results

Tests were conducted using a Common Rail Direct Injection (CRDI) engine with blends:

• B5, B10, B15 (biodiesel to diesel)

• B5-M3, B5-M6 (B5 with 3% and 6% methanol)

Key Observations:

• Brake Thermal Efficiency (BTE): Increases with load. B5 showed highest efficiency close to diesel, due to better combustion from oxygen content.

• Brake Specific Fuel Consumption (BSFC): Decreases with load. Diesel had the lowest BSFC; B5 and B10 performed better than B15 or methanol blends.

• Brake Specific Energy Consumption (BSEC): Decreased with load. B5 and B5-M3 performed best among blends.

• NOx Emissions: Increased with load. Diesel emitted the least NOx; B10 and B5-M6 emitted the most due to higher combustion temperatures from oxygen-rich fuels.

Conclusion

Bio diesel has become alternative fuel recently because of its environmental benefits and the fact that is made from renewable resources. The remaining challenges are its cost and limited availability of oil resources. Present utilization of fish waste as a feed stock reduces the cost of bio diesel. The base catalysed trans-esterification reaction for biodiesel production is often the method selected owing to its lower cost of production and simple processing conditions yielding higher conversion of oil to bio diesel. Biodiesel fuel also has its own advantages and disadvantages. The biggest advantage of bio diesel is that it can play significance role in reducing the harmful hydro carbon emissions. However there are still some drawbacks of biodiesel which may become a hindrance in the introduction of biodiesel as an alternative to the harmful carbon emitting fossil fuels. Biggest advantage of bio diesel fuel is that it is nontoxic and biodegradable, which makes it one of the most environment friendly alternatives of power generation. The biodiesel energy content is affected by which oil it is produced out of. The results indicated that the different Fatty Acid Methyl Ester in each biodiesel does affect the energy output. There are many different types of fatty acids in them. The performance test is conducted on 4 stroke diesel engine using bio diesel and compared to diesel there was a good brake thermal efficiency and also the emission is less when compared biodiesel to fossil fuels. Compared to diesel, the smoke and ash content is less. The fish oil shown good combustion efficiency. BSFC for blends B5 and B10 were close to diesel.

References

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Copyright

Copyright © 2025 Nithin Joshuva, Sathisha K G, Sunil Prakash Rodrigues, Vivek V Kumar, Chandra Jogi. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.