Conventional and in-situ transesterification of Annona squamosa seed oil for biodiesel production: Performance and emission analysis

This research paper deals with the production of biodiesel from renewable Annona squamosa (A. squamosa) seed oil. Reactions were carried out through conventional and in-situ processes in the presence of H2SO4 as a catalyst. The methyl ester content was quantified by (HNMR)-N-1 (Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy). The highest biodiesel conversion of 88% was obtained from conventional reaction and the optimized process parameters were catalyst concentration of 3.5 wt%, 9:1 of methanol to oil molar ratio and reaction temperature of 60 degrees C. Similarly, 84% conversion was obtained for in-situ process, where the optimum values were catalyst concentration of 5 wt%, 15:1 of methanol to oil molar ratio, 60 degrees C and 30 wt% of co-solvent. The fuel properties of A. squamosa biodiesel were assessed as per American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards. It was found that the conversion in conventional process was higher and the same was used for experimental investigation on the compression ignition engine to analyze the performance and the emission characteristics of A. squamosa biodiesel and its blends with diesel. Comprehensive analysis revealed that B20 improved the thermal efficiency of the engine and had lower exhaust emissions. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.