Punnai oil is commonly used for domestic purpose as a burning fuel for lamps, cooking, and heat boilers. A group of students of Shivani Engineering College, Tiruchi, have done a case study on using Punnai oil ( calaphyllum inophyllum ) as organic fuel to operate motor engines.
The students — M. Franklin Sahayaraj, M. Ramar, S. Premkumar, and S. Tamilazhagan, of final year Mechanical Engineering, claim that Punnai oil can be an effective alternative fuel to diesel, which is expensive and inorganic.
As per the study undertaken by them, the traditional diesel engines can be operated using punnai oil by effecting minor changes so as to reduce its viscosity. The unblended punnai oil can be used to run a generator.
“We have tested that 600 ml of punnai oil runs a 10 HP engine for an hour as against 20 to 25 minutes powered by 600 ml of diesel,” says Sahayaraj, one of the project members.
He claimed that punnai oil was cheap and organic. It had more lubricating properties than diesel.
No emission
The engine powered by punnai oil had no emission.
The punnai was mainly grown along the coastal areas of the State for making fishing boats. It could be commercially cultivated. The climate was suitable for growing punnai trees.
The team says 600 ml of punnai oil can power a 10 HP engine for one hour as against 20 minutes by diesel
The students say diesel engines can run on punnai oil after making some minor modifications
