Atomisation chractenstics of non - edible Biodiesel for microturbine application

• Main Author: Salvinder Singh Dhillon
• Format: text::Final Year Project
• Published: 2023

Non-renewable sources such as coal, natural gas and fossil fuel are used by human to meet their energy demand. These non-renewable sources are harmful to the environment as it contributes to global warming and greenhouse effect. This research aims to explore the atomisation characteristics of biodiesel, derived from Calophyllum Inophyllum as an alternative fuel to replace the usage of fossil fuel in microturbine. Biodiesel is a renewable fuel which is derived from vegetable oil and animal fats. Calophyllum Inophyllum is a non-edible fuel that has vast potential as the feedstock to produce biodiesel because of its suitability for production in an extensive variety of atmospheric condition and contains high oil content in the seed. An atomisation test was conducted in an air-assist atomiser test rig to evaluate the atomisation characteristics of biodiesel and distillate blend such as spray pattern, sauter mean diameter (SMD) and spray angle. The atomisation test was done on five different types of fuel samples such as B0(100% distillate), B20(20% biodiesel & 80% distillate), B50 (50% biodiesel and 50% distillate), B80 (80% biodiesel and 20 % distillate) & B100 (100% biodiesel). The properties of these samples were observed as it has a direct implication on spray pattern and spray angle. The results from this research shows that B0 has the largest spray angle whereas B100 has the smallest spray angle. Meanwhile, the thermal efficiency of the sample fuels was compared and evaluated to determine the technical feasibility of biodiesel application in microturbine. The evaluation shows that B100 has the highest thermal efficiency while B0 has the lowest thermal efficiency.