This study presents effect of injection timing on performance, combustion and emission characteristics of mahua biodiesel (Madhuca indica) and its blends with pure diesel on a 4 stroke tangentially vertical single cylinder (TV 1) direct injection diesel engine. At injection timing of 22° bTDC, blend B25 (25% mahua biodiesel and 75% pure diesel, by vol) gave optimum performance, which is very close to pure diesel. Thus B25 fuel can be effectively used in a diesel engine as an alternative fuel without any modification in the engine.

This study presents performance behaviors of a commercial diesel engine fueled with diesel and Jatropha based biodiesel (B100) at various loads (up to 100%) and compared using standard (conventional) and three new face profile designs (I, II & III) of piston rings. BTE of engine fueled with diesel increases 2-8% with new face profile design (III) of piston rings in comparison to standard (conventional) piston rings. BTE enhances 8-16% when engine is fueled with biodiesel using face profile design (III) on piston rings.

This study presents bioconversion of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) to bioethanol using two-sequential steps of acid hydrolysis (10% sulfuric acid) and yeast (Candida intermedia) fermentation. A maximum ethanol yield (coefficient, 0.21 g g-1; productivity, 0.010 g l-1h-1) was comparable to predicted value (0.23 g g-1) obtained by CCD (Central Composite Design). Two colorimetric methods (phloroglucinol and dichromate assays) were used for determination of xylose and ethanol using UV-Vis spectrophotometer.

The demand for petroleum products in India has been increasing at a faster rate than the increase in domestic availability, resulting in increased imports. The transport sector is the single largest consumer of petroleum products. Secondly, about 65 % of total air pollution is caused by the emissions of pollutants from the vehicles run on petroleum products. In the wake of this, there is urgent need to introduce alternate fuels as substitutes for diesel and petrol in the transport sector. Biogas, a clean and renewable fuel, has vast potential in India.