Fuel performance of biodiesel from Microalgae

Fuel performance of biodiesel produced from transesterification of microalgae was evaluated to assess its potential as alternative fuel in diesel engine. The biodiesel was produced from transesterification of microalgae Chlorella Vulgaris using K-pumice as catalyst. The engine used in the study was Yanmar 3009D, a small diesel engine with an output power rating of 14.2 kilowatts. The experiments showed comparable power and torque when the engine was run using both the commercial diesel and the algal biodiesel. Biodiesel from microalgae was able to establish a torque of equal to 45.5 N-m while commercial diesel had 48.25 at an engine speed of 2800 rpm. Net break power of Algal biodiesel and commercial diesel are 13.57kW and 13.50kW, respectively. Algal biodiesel had been found to have higher brake-specific fuel consumption and it has a lower exhaust concentrations of nitrogen oxides, oxides of carbon and total hydrocarbons when compared to the commercial diesel. Blending commercial diesel with concentration of algal biodiesel of up to 50% did not show significant change in the performance and emission of the commercial diesel.