International Journal of Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering IJMME-IJENS Vol:10 No:03 1 103103-0707 IJMME-IJENS © June 2010 IJENS I J E N S Abstract — The world is getting modernized and industrialized day by day. As a result vehicles and engines are increasing. But energy sources used in these engines are limited and decreasing gradually. This situation leads to seek an alternative fuel for diesel engine. Biodiesel is an alternative fuel for diesel engine. The esters of vegetables oil animal fats are known as Biodiesel. This paper investigates the prospect of making of biodiesel from jatropha oil. Jatropha curcas is a renewable non-edible plant. Jatropha is a wildly growing hardy plant in arid and semi-arid regions of the country on degraded soils having low fertility and moisture. The seeds of Jatropha contain 50-60% oil. In this study the oil has been converted to biodiesel by the well-known transesterification process and used it to diesel engine for performance evaluation. Index Term— Bio-diesel, Jatropha Oil and Trans-esterification Process. I. INTRODUCTION As civilization is growing, transport becomes essential part of life. The biggest problem is the growing population & depletion of fossil fuel. About 100 years ago, the major source of energy shifted from recent solar to fossil fuel (hydrocarbons). Technology has generally led to a greater use of hydrocarbon fuels, making civilization vulnerable to decrease in supply. This necessitates the search for alternative of oil as energy source. Biodiesel is an alternative fuel for diesel engine. The esters of vegetable oils and animal fats are known collectively as biodiesel. It is a domestic, renewable fuel for diesel engine derived from natural oil like Jatropha oil. Biodiesel has an energy content of about 12% less than petroleum-based diesel fuel on a mass basis. It has a higher molecular weight, viscosity, density, and flash point than diesel fuel. Jatropha curcas is unusual among tree crops is a renewable non-edible plant. From jatropha seeds jatropha oil can be extracted which have similar properties as diesel but some properties such as kinematic viscosity, solidifying point, flash point and ignition point is very high in jatropha oil. By some chemical reactions, Jatropha oil can be converted into biodiesel. Jatropha oil can also be used directly by blending with diesel. Some benefits of jatropha oil are as follows: (i) The oil is being extensively used for making soap in some countries because it has a very high saponification value. (ii) The oil is used an illuminants as it burns without emitting smoke. (iii) The latex of jatropha curcas contains an alkaloid known as ―jatrophine‖ which is believed to have anti cancerous properties. (iv) From the bark of jatropha curcas a dark blue dye is produced which is used for coloring cloth, fishing nets etc. (v) The byproduct of jatropha seeds contain high nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium which is used for fish foods, domestic animals food and in lands as fertilizer. Now a day it has found that jatropha may display certain anti tumer and anti malarial properties and research is advancing related to HIV/ AIDS. Alternative fuels, other than being renewable, are also required to serve to decrease the net production of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), oxides of nitrogen (NO x ), particulate matter etc. from combustion sources. The production of biodiesel is limited by land area but jatropha curcas trees can be cultivated in any kinds of land. Jatropha is a wildly growing hardy plant, in arid and semi- arid regions of the country on degraded soils having low fertility and moisture. It can be cultivated successfully in the regions having scanty to heavy rainfall even it can be cultivated even on fallow and barren lands. There is huge unused area in southern part of Bangladesh, where jatropha can be cultivated with profitable income. The seeds of jatropha contain 50-60% oil. So Bangladesh can produce a huge amount of biodiesel from jatropha curcas and can save a large amount of importing of petroleum products from foreign countries. The purpose of this research work is to investigate the fuel properties of Jatropha oil and production of bio-diesel from Jatropha oil. Investigate the fuel properties of bio-diesel and performance test diesel engine by using bio-diesel. . II. METHODOLOGY The use of biodiesel is an effective way of substituting diesel fuel in the long run. One important conclusion that can be drawn from the work done earlier is that the vegetables oils can’t be used directly in the diesel engine. Several problems crop up if unmodified fuel is used and viscosity is the major factor. It has been found that transesterification is the most effective way to reduce the viscosity of vegetable Biodiesel from Jatropha Oil as an Alternative Fuel for Diesel Engine Kazi Mostafijur Rahman, Mohammad Mashud, Md. Roknuzzaman and Asadullah Al Galib Department of Mechanical Engineering, Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET) Khulna-9203, Bangladesh. E-mail: mostafij.me.kuet@gmail.com