摘要：The demand of mineral diesel is increasing day by day due to more use of diesel engines in different sectors. The exhaust emission of diesel engines is a major source of air pollution. The source of mineral diesel is also limited and will be exhausted within some years if it is used at current rate. At present, one of the alternatives of mineral diesel is biodiesel, which is obtained from renewable sources like vegetable oil, animal fat, etc., by trans-esterification process. Presently non-edible vegetable oils are preferred for biodiesel production to avoid the food crisis. There are several non-edible oil plants available in nature which contain sufficient amount of oil and can be used as feedstock for biodiesel. This paper provides an overview regarding the source of different potential non-edible vegetable oils, methods of reduction of viscosity, engine performance, combustion characteristics and emission characteristics of different types of biodiesel. The performance of blended biodiesel, salient features and challenges of biodiesel are also studied.
