Energy scenario and Jatropha oil biodiesel in India

The consumption and demand for the petroleum products are increasing every year due to increase in population, standard of living and urbanization. In India, there is a deficit of 40 per cent in supply of petroleum products and the petroleum reserves are limited to 6 to 7 years only. The petroleum products continue to be the backbone of Indian economy with a share of 33 per cent of the energy basket. The increase in crude oil import affects the country’s economy and its development. Diesel consumption pattern in India has not varied much and is around 36 million tonnes as reported by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. The diesel vehicles were banned in New Delhi and Bangalore cities for serious problem of air pollution due to higher emissions of polluted gases. The acid rain, global warming and health hazards are the results of ill effects of increased polluted gases like SOx, CO and particulate matter in atmosphere. Biodiesel is the only fuel to meet out increasing diesel demands. So even mixing of 20 per cent with diesel fuel by biodiesel can help India save 7.3 million tonnes of diesel per year. In India, about more than 14 million hectares land is cultural wasteland while more than 24 million hectare land is fallow land. The use of non edible oils compared to edible oils is very significant because of the increase in demand for edible oils as food and they are too expensive as compared with diesel fuel. Among the various non edible oil sources, Jatropha curcas oil has added advantages like pleasant smell, odorless, colorless and light yellowish and easily mixes with diesel fuel. Jatropha curcas oil cannot be used for food or feed because of its strong purgative effect. The Jatropha plant having advantages namely effectively yields oilseeds from the 3rd year onwards, rapid growth, easy propagation, life span of 40 years and suitable for tropical and subtropical countries like India. For producing biodiesel the oil extracted from the seeds of Jatropha is mixed with methanol at a proportion under a particular temperature. This solution is continuously stirred for two hours. During the above process, glycerol present in the solution separate out; which when settled can be separated out. Whatever is left after removing the glycerol is the liquid fuel. When the liquid fuel is washed twice, purified biodiesel is obtained. This could be used directly for running the engine. The direct use of raw jatropha oil in engine has been carried out by several researchers and they have reported formation of carbon deposits, incomplete combustions and reduction in life of engine due to high viscosity of curcas oil. Similar problems were reported by many researchers when using raw vegetable oils as engine fuel. Using refined curcas oil blends in precombustion chamber engine fair results onthermal efficiency and emission compared with diesel No.2 diesel can be obtained. It was reported that problems of filter blockage, carbon deposits and oil incompatibility with fuel line materials exist. It was found the jatropha oil can be blended up to 40 to 50 per cent with diesel fuel used in engine without modifications. However, acrolein is reported to be a high toxic substance released from the engine due to thermal decomposition of glycerol present in the oils. The problems encountered in raw oils are solved by forming biodiesel, which is non toxic, eco-friendly and have similar properties as that of diesel fuel.