Impact of Hydrocarbons on Cashew Nut Shell Liquid

Steamax Research and Development Department, headed by Dr Rajiv Seth, studied and developed different biofuels and combustion technologies. Our first research article aimed at developing biofuel from cashew nutshell liquid has accepted to be publish in the?Journal of Renewable Energy and Environment( JREE). Researchers at Steamax followed this practice and aimed to study the influence of hydrocarbons molecules in this thermally cracked CNSL in deciding its fuel properties and engine performance.

Identification of the impact of hydrocarbons on Fuel properties

Recent government policies and concerns over environmental pollution have made various energy-dependent sectors rely on renewable energy. Biofuels are prefer over solar and wind energy, citing their energy density and simplicity besides accounting for their availability. In relevance to that, various biomass has been process into either solid or liquid biofuels; however, feedstocks derived from waste or biomass waste are much celebrated over other edible biomass. Thus, identifying such a feedstock, especially for large-scale supply chains, is highly prioritise. Besides this, it is necessary to have a preliminary understanding of the behavioural patterns of the fuel molecules in the identified biomass in terms of rendering, refining, production, fuel properties, and end applications. Studies on fuel molecules in biofuels have been conducted with great interest recently. They provide detailed and logical solutions for many unanswered questions by energy professionals.

Keeping these in mind, Steamax identified cashew nut shell liquid as a state-of-the-art fuel with good fuel qualities. Specifically, it focused more on thermally cracked CNSL, which has a proven record of performing significantly in engines and boilers.

Some of the key highlights of this study are highlighted below:

• Cold extraction always yields?CNSL?with a high concentration of Anarcardic acid.
• Thermal cracking at higher temperatures yields both aromatic and linear HCs (cardol and FAMEs). An alternative pathway for producing biodiesel from macro molecules with good potential
• Cardol and methyl oleate contribute to superior fuel qualities and engine characteristics.
• The combination of aromatic structure, linear carbon chain, inbound Oxygen molecules, and C/H ratio has played a crucial role over other HCs in better performance of TC-CNSL.

Aimed at developing a sustainable alternative to existing petrodiesel, this study achieved a sustainable biofuel from renewable biomass by thermally cracking CNSL. We would love to hear from you all about the above study. Feel free to connect with us anytime at –?[email protected] or +91-9315124803