Development of Bio-Jet Fuel Production Using Palm Kernel Oil and Ethanol

Abstract

In this work, the trans-esterification between palm kernel oil (PKO) and ethanol was investigated in order to produce a petroleum-free fuel for jet-engine. The combined effect of temperature, catalyst concentration, reaction time, and molar ratio of reactants to fatty acid ethyl ester (FAEE) production were optimized using the response surface methodology (RSM). The optimum condition to produce 97.6% of ethyl esters was obtained at 48 o C, 120 min reaction time, molar ratio 9:1 and catalyst concentration 1 wt%. The FAEE mixture was then fractionated to obtain only medium chain FAEE which possessed the bio-jet fuel characteristics. The properties of the bio-jet met the standard ASTM and EN biofuels in term of ethyl esters content. Finally, the fuel combustion was tested by using a small scale jet engine with lower emission of CO, NO 2 , HC compared to conventional kerosene. Index Terms-Bio-jet fuel, palm kernel oil, fatty acid ethyl ester, gas turbine engine.

Modeling and Optimization of Microwave-Based Bio-Jet Fuel from Coconut Oil: Investigation of Response Surface Methodology (RSM) and Artificial Neural Network Methodology (ANN)

“…With the increase in reaction time from 5 to 14.34 min followed by the increase in microwave power from 100-189.53 W, bio-jet fuel yield improved, which may be due to the explanation that more reaction time causes a more productive reaction time. It can be noticed that the bio-jet fuel yield increases as the reaction time increases, similar to the studies done by other researchers [42].…”

“…As shown, bio-jet fuel obtained in the current study does not meet the criteria for the freezing point. A similar result has been reported by [42]. This showed that freezing point is the biggest challenge for bio-jet fuel technologies.…”

“…This study proposed the production of bio-jet fuel through microwave-assisted catalytic transesterification from coconut oil. Coconut oil was selected as the raw feedstock as it consists of a high percentage of medium-chain triglycerides, which made it suitable to be used for bio-jet fuel production [22,42]. An optimization study was conducted in this work based on three parameters, including oil to ethanol molar ratio, reaction time and microwave power, using response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network (ANN) coupled with ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm.…”

Biojet Fuel Production Based on Methyl Ester Chain of Cooking Oil Wasteutilizing Bubble Ozonolysis Reactor

“…The production of alternative renewable clean hydrocarbon fuels or biofuels is becoming crucial due to unavoidable depletion of fossil fuel reserves, the increasing demand for fuels, the increasing concerns over the main oil-producing regions geopolitical instability, the large fuel price fluctuation, the increasing consciousness of negative environmental effect related with fossil fuels combustion, and the increasing of environmental concern due to the greenhouse gas emissions that responsible for climate change. [1][2][3][4][5][6] International Energy Agency estimated that biofuels will reach for 27% usage of all fuels in the transportation field (primarily consist of biodiesel and bio jet fuel). The air travel sector (domestic, international and shipping) will contribute with 10%-32% of the total emissions by 2050 5, .…”