Performance characteristics of palm kernel biodiesel and its blend in a CI engine

The full load performance characteristics of a diesel engine fuelled with palm kernel biodiesel and its blend with diesel fuel are presented in this paper. The biodiesel was synthesised from Nigerian palm kernel oil through a direct base catalysed transesterification process using sodium hydroxide and methanol as the catalyst and alcohol, respectively. The produced biodiesel was blended with neat diesel fuel at a ratio of 20% biodiesel to 80% diesel by volume. The engine torque, brake power, brake specific fuel consumption and brake mean effective pressure were determined for each of the fuels at 400 rpm intervals between 1200 and 3600 rpm. In other to establish a baseline for comparison, the engine was first run on neat diesel. The test results interestingly revealed that the fuel blend (B20) produced higher torque at low and medium engine speeds than neat diesel fuel and unblended biodiesel (B100). This suggests that it can be a suitable fuel for heavy duty engines that are required to develop high torque at low engine speeds. It was also observed that diesel fuel developed higher torque and brake power than the unblended biodiesel (B100) at all tested speeds and showed the least brake specific fuel consumption possibly because of its higher heating value. In all, the palm kernel biodiesel and its blend (B20) exhibited performance characteristic trends very similar to that of diesel fuel thus confirming them as suitable alternative fuels for compression ignition engines.     

Effect of exhaust gas recirculation on performance and emission characteristics of a diesel engine fuelled with tamarind biodiesel

The present research work focuses on the influence of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) on the characteristics of the diesel engine operated with 20% tamarind seed methyl ester (TSME 20) as the renewable fuel. The use of TSME 20 as biodiesel results in closer performance characteristics with diesel fuel. However, TSME 20 biodiesel blend generated higher oxides of nitrogen (NO_X) emissions at all operating conditions. Firstly, tests are performed using diesel and TSME 20 biodiesel blend at constant speed under different loads. Thereafter, experiments are conducted on TSME 20 with EGR rates at different concentrations. The test results revealed that with TSME 20 with 20% EGR rate, NO_X emissions are reduced by 45.67% and 52.69% when compared to diesel and TSME 20. However, there is a slight reduction in brake thermal efficiency. Hence, the use of 20% EGR rate to TSME 20 is an optimum approach for better control of NO_X emissions.

Abbreviations BDC: bottom dead centre; BMEP: brake mean effective pressure; BSFC: brake-specific fuel consumption; BTE: brake thermal efficiency; CO: carbon monoxide; CO₂: carbon dioxide; EGR: exhaust gas recirculation; FSN: filter smoke number; HC: hydrocarbon; kWh: kilo Watt hour; NO_X: oxides of nitrogen; ppm: parts per million; SO: smoke opacity; TDC: top dead centre; TSME: tamarind seed methyl ester; TSME 20: 20% tamarind seed methyl ester; TSME 20–20%: tamarind seed methyl ester with 80% diesel; TSME 10% EGR: TSME 20 with 10% exhaust gas recirculation; TSME 20% EGR: TSME 20 with 20% exhaust gas recirculation; TSME 30% EGR: TSME 20 with 30% exhaust gas recirculation     

Influence of injection timing on the performance,combustion and emission characteristics of diesel engine powered with tamarind seed biodiesel blend

ABSTRACT

The limitations and ramifications of petroleum fuel on the present environmental society raised the necessity of alternative fuel. The physicochemical properties of biodiesel and its ability to reduce emissions have engaged the attention of researchers to prefer biodiesel as a better alternative fuel. A modification in engine parameters is proven to be one of the best techniques to obtain comparable results with diesel. The following study emphasises TSME 20 (20% Tamarind Seed Methyl Ester with 80% diesel) as an alternative fuel and its performance and emission characteristics are deciphered at different injection timings (19°, 23° and 27° bTDC) at different loads. Focusing on the results obtained at full-load condition, considerable improvement in brake thermal efficiency by 3.18% was noticed with the significant reduction in carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon, oxides of nitrogen and smoke by 17.3%, 57.3%, 31.34% and 8.1%, respectively, at retarded injection timing compared to standard injection timing.     

Performance and emissions characteristics of a diesel engine with internal jet piston using biodiesel

The paper reports an attempt to test the feasibility of Jatropha methyl ester as a fuel in the engine fuel of a compression ignition engine (C.I.) with turbulence inducements in the combustion chamber. The inefficient mixing of biodiesel oils with air contributes to incomplete combustion. These problems can be eliminated by enhancing in‐cylinder turbulence by providing two holes on the piston crown (internal jet piston) and esterification of the vegetable oil into biodiesel. The performance characteristics revealed that the brake thermal efficiency of the Jatropha methyl ester with an internal jet piston was higher than with a base engine piston. The internal jet piston operation with Jatropha methyl ester exhibited desirable characteristics for other emissions such as lower carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HCs) and smoke. The oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions were higher for the internal jet piston with increasing load, compared to the base engine piston.     

Experimental analysis on a DI diesel engine with cerium-oxide-added Mahua methyl ester blends

An investigational research is carried out to found the performance and emission characteristics of a direct injection (DI) diesel engine with cerium oxide nanoparticles additives in diesel and biodiesel blends. Mahua methyl ester was produced by transesterification and blended with diesel. Cerium oxide nanoparticles of 50 and 100?ppm in proportion are subjected to high-speed mechanical agitation followed by ultra-sonication. The experimentations was conducted on a single cylinder DI diesel engine at a constant speed of 1500?rpm using different cerium-oxide (CeO₂)-blended biodiesel fuel (B20?+?50?ppm, B20?+?100?ppm, B50?+?50?ppm and B50?+?100?ppm) and the outcomes were compared with those of neat diesel and Mahua biodiesel blend (B20 and B50). The experimental results indicated that brake thermal efficiency of B20?+?100?ppm cerium oxide was increased by 1.8 with 1% betterment in specific fuel consumption. Emissions of hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide were reasonably lower than Diesel fuel.     

Effects of waste chicken fat derived biodiesel on the performance and emission characteristics of a compression ignition engine

ABSTRACT

In this investigation, chicken fat methyl ester (CFME) was produced from the waste chicken fat obtained from meat processing industries. Blends were prepared with diesel-CFME, such as DCFME10, DCFME20, DCFME30, and DCFME40. The blends were tested in a direct injection diesel engine to examine the performance and emission characteristics. The results showed that the diesel substitution was attainable with CFME. DCFME30 had excellent performance and emission than other blends, but it was marginally lower than diesel. For the DCFME operation, brake-specific fuel consumption was higher and brake thermal efficiency was lower in comparison with diesel throughout the load spectrum. The CO (carbon monoxide), HC (hydrocarbon), and smoke emissions were reported to be lower for DCFME blends than that of diesel, but the NO (nitric oxide) emission was marginally higher throughout the load spectrum. A maximum of 30% diesel saving was obtained by using CFME, energy from animal residue.     

An experimental investigation of performance and emission characteristics of diesel engine with blends of cottonseed oil methyl ester with cold and hot EGR

An experimental investigation of diesel engine using cottonseed oil biodiesel and its blends with exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) techniques has been carried out. An optimum nozzle opening pressure of 250 bar and lower static injection timing of 20° before top dead centre (bTDC) are considered because it has been observed that these conditions only give minimum emissions. From the test results, it could be noted that there is an increasing trend of emission characteristics of HC, smoke density and NO_x for both cold and hot EGR for all blends of fuel with respect to brake power. As compared with cold EGR, the hot EGR gives lower emissions at all loads. In hot EGR, among the blends, at no-load and full-load conditions, the B100 gives the highest reduction in NO_x of 14.23% and 7.91%, respectively. However, the use of EGR leads to a rise in soot emission because of soot–NO_x trade-off for both the cases.     

Evaporation rate and engine performance analysis of coated diesel engine using Raphanus sativus biodiesel and its diesel blends

An experimental investigation to measure the evaporation rates, PSZ-coated engine performance and emissions of radish biodiesel (Methyl Ester of radish oil) and its blends in different volumetric proportions with diesel is presented. The thermo-physical properties of all the fuel blends have been measured and presented. Evaporation rates of neat radish biodiesel, neat diesel and their bends have been measured under slow convective environment of air velocity of 0.2?m/s with a constant temperature of 200°C. Evaporation constants have been determined by using the droplet regression rate data. The neat fuels and fuel blends have been utilised in a test engine with different load conditions to evaluate the performance and emission characteristics of the fuels. From the observed evaporation, performance and emissions characteristics, it can be suggested that a blend of B25–B75 could be optimally used in coated diesel engine settings without any modifications on it.     

Experimental investigation of performance and emissions characteristics on single-cylinder direct-injection diesel engine with PSZ coating using radish biodiesel

ABSTRACT

It has been determined that world oil production is likely to level off very shortly and that alternative fuels will have to meet the demands of an increasing energy crisis. The crude oil price is continuing to increase; at the same time the need of energy is also increasing rapidly. So there is an urgent need to switch to some other fuels which could replace petrol and diesel in order to produce energy. An eco-friendly alternative is required to fulfil the growing demand. This project highlights our work on alternate fuels and the importance of choosing radish seed as one such alternative. The aim of this study is the experimental investigation of performance and emissions on a single-cylinder direct-injection diesel engine with a coating. Diesel, B25, B50, B75 and B100 are used as fuels. The engine cylinder head, valves and piston crown are coated with 100 micron of nickel-chrome-aluminium bond coat and 450 micron of partially stabilised zirconia by the atmospheric plasma spray method [Ravikumar and Senthilkumar (2013). “Reduction of NOx Emission on NiCrAl-Titanium Oxide Coated Direct Injection Diesel Engine Fuelled with Radish (Raphanus sativus) Biodiesel.” Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy 5 (6): 063121]. Further, by using radish biodiesel and its blends, the emission and performance characteristics are checked and a suitable blend is selected.     

Performance analysis of low heat rejection diesel engine,using Mahua oil bio fuel

In the present investigation, the effect of thermal barrier coated piston on the performance and emission characteristics of mahua-biodiesel-fuelled diesel engine was studied and compared with those of neat diesel fuel. The piston, cylinder walls and the valves of the engine were coated with 0.25?mm thickness of Al₂O₃ material without affecting the compression ratio of the engine. Experiments were conducted using diesel and biodiesel blend (B20) in the engine with and without coating. The results revealed that specific fuel consumption was decreased by 8.5% and the brake thermal efficiency was increased by 6.2% for biodiesel blend with coated engine compared with the base engine with neat diesel fuel. The exhaust emissions CO, NO_x and HC emissions were also decreased for biodiesel blend with coated engine compared with base engine.     

Effect of nano-fuel additive on performance and emission characteristics of the diesel engine using biodiesel blends with diesel fuel

ABSTRACT

Biodiesel as an alternative source of petroleum fuel could reduce the dependence on petroleum products and control pollution problems. These biofuels are derived from various sources and if directly used in the engine it will not completely burn and will cause an increase in the emission level. In this experiment, 20% of rubber seed oil (B20) blended with pure diesel fuel along with aluminium oxide (Al₂O₃) was used in the proportions of 10?, 20 and 30?ppm. The obtained experimental results showed that the brake thermal efficiency was increased and the engine emission was reduced. And the brake-specific fuel consumption was reduced, but the NO_x level increased at the proportion level at 10?ppm of nano additives. This experiment has been carried out in a single cylinder water-cooled engine connected to an electrical dynamometer without engine modification and the injection pressure and timings were maintained at the standard level designed for the engine. The dynamic energy of aluminium oxide blend with the biodiesel improved the combustion characteristics in the engine, and caused a reduction in carbon deposits by 44.8% in the cylinder wall.     

Effect of the addition of 1-pentanol on engine performance and emission characteristics of diesel and biodiesel fuelled single cylinder diesel engine

ABSTRACT

Bioalcohols have recently become one of the promising alternate fuels. Lower alcohols exhibit some problems like phase separation, stability issues, storage problems, corrosion etc. Hence, the addition of higher alcohols is regarded least-problematic and the concept of using higher alcohols as fuel blends is relatively new. In this article, the effects of the addition of higher alcohol (1-pentanol) on engine performance and emission characteristics are discussed. Two reference fuels (diesel and biodiesel derived from waste cooking oil) and two test fuels (blends of 20% of 1-pentanol and 80% of either diesel or biodiesel) are tested in a single cylinder compression ignition diesel engine for six load conditions (0, 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20?kg) at a constant speed of 1200?rpm. The engine performance and emission characteristics are determined and discussed.     

Enhancement in the performance of a diesel engine fuelled with Pongamia methyl ester and n-butanol as oxygenated additive

The present paper investigates the performance and emission characteristics of a single-cylinder, four-stroke diesel engine fuelled with Pongamia methyl ester (PME) and n-butanol, at different loading conditions. Two blends of n-butanol–PME (10% and 20% n-butanol with PME on a volumetric basis) were prepared. The experimental results showed a significant improvement in the brake thermal efficiency of the engine with the blends and were found to increase with increasing percentage of n-butanol in the blends. The blended fuels also show lower emission such as carbon monoxide (CO), oxides of nitrogen (NO_x) and smoke opacity. However, unburned hydrocarbon (HC) emission was found to be slightly increased. Thus, it is concluded that the biodiesel with 20% n-butanol blend showed better results with respect to efficiency and emissions point of view compared with biodiesel.     

Performance and emission characteristics of direct injection diesel engine using linseed oil as biodiesel by varying injection timing

The depletion of fossil fuels and increasing demand leads to research in alternate fuels. The alternate fuels are bio-degradable, renewable and non-toxic. Many types of oils are re-used in biodiesel production, considering their availability, among which linseed oil is the most significant one. Injection timing plays a major role among various injection parameters which affects its performance and emission characteristics. This paper focuses on experimental investigation on a single cylinder, four-stroke direct injection diesel engine with output of 5.2?kW at 1500?rpm at various injection timings, 20, 23, 26 degree BTDC for observing the performance and emission characteristics of direct injection diesel engine using methyl esters of linseed oil and its blends. The blends are B10, B20, and fuel characteristics are observed. The results show that when compared with diesel it gives an increase in BTHE and reduction in SFC. Both the biodiesel blends give lesser NOx. Slightly higher CO and HC emission were found. The performance and emissions were increased in when injection increased.     

Experimental investigations on the influence of properties of Calophyllum inophyllum biodiesel on performance,combustion, and emission characteristics of a DI diesel engine

The current state of future energy and environmental crises has revitalised the need to find alternative sources of energy due to escalating oil prices and depleting oil reserves. To meet increasing energy requirements, there has been a growing interest in alternative fuels like biodiesel that can become a suitable diesel fuel substitute for compression ignition engine. Biodiesel offers a very promising alternative to diesel fuel, since they are renewable and have similar properties. Calophyllum inophyllum seed oil collected from different restaurants in the Nagapattinam region of South India was converted into methyl esters (biodiesel) by transesterification. Biodiesel produced from C. inophyllum oil was blended with diesel by different volume proportions (25%, 50%, and 75%). Biodiesel and its blends were tested on a direct injection (DI) diesel engine at a constant speed by varying loads from 0% to 100% in steps of 20% to analyse its performance, emission, and combustion characteristics. The results obtained were compared with that of diesel fuel. B25 (27.5%) showed better performance than diesel fuel (26.28%) at full load and B50 showed performances similar to diesel fuel. Smoke density of B25 was slightly (2.6%) higher than that of diesel at full load conditions. At full load, measured carbon monoxide emissions for B25 and B50 were 4% lower than that of diesel. Hydrocarbon emissions for B25 and B100 were 5.37% and 25.8% higher than that of diesel, respectively. Nitrogen oxides (NO_x) emission was lower for all biodiesel blends. NO_x emissions of B100 and B75 were lower than that of diesel by 22.16% and 13.29% at full load, respectively. Combustion profile was smoother, and no knocking problem was observed while operating with biodiesel blends. B75 produced peak cylinder pressure.     

Performance and emission characteristics of diesel engine operated on plastic pyrolysis oil with exhaust gas recirculation

The objective of this research was to study the performance and emission characteristics of using waste plastic pyrolysis oil in diesel engine without any engine modification. The engine used in this study is a four-stroke single-cylinder naturally aspirated diesel engine (compression ignition). In the present work, the engine fuelled with blends of diesel fuel (DF) with plastic oil in the ratio of 90:10 (blend10%), 80:20 (blend20%), 70:30 (blend30%), and 50:50 (blend50%) are experimentally measured the efficiencies and emissions, analysed the performance, and compared results with that of DF.     

Artificial neural network-based prediction of performance and emission characteristics of CI engine using polanga as a biodiesel

The present work predicts the performance parameters, namely brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC), brake thermal efficiency (BTE), peak pressure, exhaust gas temperature and exhaust emissions of a single cylinder four-stroke diesel engine at different injection timings and engine load using blended mixture of polanga biodiesel by artificial neural network (ANN). The properties of biodiesel produced from polanga were measured based on ASTM standards. Using some of the experimental data for training, an ANN model was developed based on standard back-propagation algorithm for the engine. Multi-layer perception network was used for non-linear mapping between input and output parameters. Different activation functions and several rules were used to assess the percentage error between the desired and the predicted values. It was observed that the developed ANN model can predict the engine performance and exhaust emissions quite well with correlation coefficient (R) 0.99946, 0.99968, 0.99988, 0.99967, 0.99899, 0.99941 and 0.99991 for the BSFC, BTE, peak pressure, exhaust gas temperature, NO_x, smoke and unburned hydrocarbon emissions, respectively. The experimental results revealed that the blended fuel provides better engine performance and improved emission characteristics.     

Combustion characteristics of a DI diesel engine fuelled with blends of methyl ester of cotton seed oil

The combustion characteristics of a single-cylinder, four-stroke, air-cooled and direct injection (DI) diesel engine fuelled with methyl ester of cotton seed oil (MECSO) and its blends with neat diesel fuel were examined. The experiments were conducted at a constant speed under steady-state condition with a Kirloskar TAF 1 engine. Combustion characteristics such as cylinder pressure, heat release rate (HRR), cumulative heat release rate (CHRR), maximum cylinder pressure, rate of pressure rise, ignition delay, duration of injection and combustion duration of MECSO and its blends with diesel were evaluated and compared with those of diesel fuel. From the analysis, it was found that the peak cylinder pressure and HRR of diesel were higher when compared with those of MECSO blends. The ignition delay, duration of injection and combustion duration decreased for MECSO blends compared to those of diesel. However, the CHRR of MECSO and its blends were higher than that of diesel. Finally, the study showed that B25 (25% of MECSO and 75% of diesel) gave optimum combustion characteristics for all loads and could be used as a viable alternative fuel in a DI diesel engine without any engine modifications.     

Performance and emission characteristics of diesel engine operated on tyre pyrolysis oil with exhaust gas recirculation

The objective of this research was to study the performance and emission characteristics of using waste automobile tyre pyrolysis oil (TPO) in a diesel engine without any engine modification. The engine used in this study is a single cylinder naturally aspirated four-stroke diesel engine (compression–ignition). In the present work, the performance and emission characteristics of the engine fuelled with blends of diesel fuel (DF) with automobile tyre oil in the ratio of diesel to waste automobile tyre oil of 90:10 (blend 10%), 80:20 (blend 20%), 70:30 (blend 30%), and 50:50 (blend 50%) are experimentally measured and analysed and compared with that of DF.     

Performance and emissions analysis of a diesel engine directly fuelled with waste cooking oil biodiesel

This research focuses on a comparative study of the physical and chemical properties of waste cooking oil (WCO) biodiesel with China stage IV diesel fuel. The estimate method of excess air ratio and the heating value ratio of an engine's cylinder mixture are proposed based on the differences of properties of two fuels. The bench tests of engine performance are carried out with an engine fuelled with two fuels separately. The estimated excess air ratio and the heating value ratio of an engine's cylinder mixture through the method are approximate to the experiment results. This comparison demonstrates that the estimate method can be applied to the performance analysis of an engine. Compared with China stage IV diesel, when a diesel engine is fuelled with WCO biodiesel, the torque and power decline from 1.9% to 13.8%; the brake-speci?c fuel consumption rises from 3.7% to 15.6%; CO, HC and PM emissions decrease significantly and NO_X emissions increase slightly.