Neem biodiesel is currently being explored as a future biofuel and was extracted\r\nchemically from the vegetable oil. Many of its properties are still under investigation and\r\nour aim was to study its noxious-gas emission profiles from blends with regular petroleum\r\ndiesel. The distinct advantage of a real-time study is acquisition of in situ data on the\r\ncombustion behavior of gas components with actual progression of time. Mixtures of neem\r\nbiodiesel and petroleum diesel corresponding to neem additives of 5%, 10%, 15% and 25%\r\nwere tested for combustion efficiency and emitted gases using a high-performance gas\r\nanalyzer. Our study, therefore, investigated the overall efficiency of the combustion\r\nprocess linked to emissions of the following gases: O2, CO2, NO, NOx and SO2. The results\r\nfor the 95/5% blend compared to the neat sample were most promising and showed no\r\nserious change in performance efficiency (<2%). NO/NOx emission trends displayed\r\nmaxima/minima, suggestive of interconvertible chemical reactivity. Declining CO and SO2\r\nemissions were consistent with rapid chemical conversion. The CO and SO2 concentrations\r\nfell well below the toxic atmospheric limits in less than 300 s. The results are generally\r\nencouraging for blends below 10%. The potential environmental impact of the study\r\nis discussed.
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