EXPERIMENTAL PHASE STABILITY ANALYSIS OF DIESEL ETHANOL BLENDED FUEL WITH ESTERIFIED RICE BRAN OIL AS AN EMULSIFIER

The need for alternative fuels in near future is mainly based on the renewable fuels in order to reduce the usage of conventional fuel. Research had already been done to utilise biodiesel to blend with diesel in percentages. Additionally emulsifier or an additive can be mixed with biodiesel blends to increase water tolerance and stability of the mixture. The concept of using biodiesel as an emulsifier for diesel and alcohol blends is recent trend. The rice bran oil was chosen and prepared with esterification process using acid and base catalyst which reduces molecular size there by reducing viscosity and boiling point. The biodiesel was tested with GC-MS (Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry) analysis also, so that the percentage of rice bran oil converted to esters has been found to ensure the purity. Rice bran oil is used here as an emulsifier for the diesel ethanol blend. The phase stability or retention time of diesel ethanol (DE) and diesel biodiesel ethanol (DBE) blends at different concentrations were experimentally observed. The concentrations were prepared with diesel and ethanol blends having 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% of ethanol with fixed 10% biodiesel on a volume basis and with various percentages of biodiesel blends having 6%, 8%, 10%, 12%, 14% keeping ethanol as 15% in the blend. The experimental results of the phase stability and retention time were analysed for these concentrations.