Fuel consumption and emissions from a diesel power generator fuelled with castor oil and soybean biodiesel

This work investigates the impacts on fuel consumption and exhaust emissions of a diesel power generator operating with biodiesel. Fuel blends with 5%, 20%, 35%, 50%, and 85% of soybean biodiesel in diesel oil, and fuel blends containing 5%, 20%, and 35% of castor oil biodiesel in diesel oil were tested, varying engine load from 9.6 to 35.7 kW. Specific fuel consumption (SFC) and the exhaust concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO₂), carbon monoxide (CO), and hydrocarbons (HC) were evaluated. The engine was kept with its original settings for diesel oil operation. The results showed increased fuel consumption with higher biodiesel concentration in the fuel. Soybean biodiesel blends showed lower fuel consumption than castor biodiesel blends at a given concentration. At low and moderate loads, CO emission was increased by nearly 40% and over 80% when fuel blends containing 35% of castor oil biodiesel or soybean biodiesel were used, respectively, in comparison with diesel oil. With the load power of 9.6 kW, the use of fuel blends containing 20% of castor oil biodiesel or soybean biodiesel increased HC emissions by 16% and 18%, respectively, in comparison with diesel oil. Exhaust CO₂ concentration did not change significantly, showing differences lower than ±3% of the values recorded for diesel oil operation, irrespective of biodiesel type, concentration and the load applied. The results demonstrate that optimization of fuel injection system is required for proper engine operation with biodiesel.     

Performance and emission study of waste anchovy fish biodiesel in a diesel engine

Waste anchovy fish oils transesterification was studied with the purpose of achieving the conditions for biodiesel usage in a single cylinder, direct injection compression ignition. With this purpose, the pure biodiesel produced from anchovy fish oil, biodiesel-diesel fuel blends of 25%:75% biodiesel-diesel (B25), 50%:50% biodiesel-diesel (B50), 75%:25% biodiesel-diesel (B75) and petroleum diesel fuels were used in the engine to specify how the engine performance and exhaust emission parameters changed. The fuel properties of test fuels were analyzed. Tests were performed at full load engine operation with variable speeds of 1000, 1500, 2000 and 2500 rpm engine speeds. As results of investigations on comparison of fuels with each other, there has been a decrease with 4.14% in fish oil methyl ester (FOME) and its blends' engine torque, averagely 5.16% reduction in engine power, while 4.96% increase in specific fuel consumption have been observed. On one hand there has been average reduction as 4.576%, 21.3%, 33.42% in CO₂, CO, HC, respectively; on the other hand, there has been increase as 9.63%, 29.37% and 7.54% in O₂, NO_x and exhaust gas temperature has been observed. It was also found that biodiesel from anchovy fish oil contains 37.93 wt.% saturated fatty acids which helps to improve cetane number and lower NO_x emissions. Besides, for biodiesel and its blends, average smoke opacity was reduces about 16% in comparison to D2. It can be concluded that waste anchovy fish obtained from biodiesel can be used as a substitute for petroleum diesel in diesel engines.     

Combustion characteristics of waste-oil produced biodiesel/diesel fuel blends

In this study, wasted cooking oil from restaurants was used to produce neat (pure) biodiesel through transesterification, and this converted biodiesel was then used to prepare biodiesel/diesel blends. The goal of this study was to compare the trace formation from the exhaust tail gas of a diesel engine when operated using the different fuel type: neat biodiesel, biodiesel/diesel blends, and normal diesel fuels. B20 produced the lowest CO concentration for all engine speeds. B50 produced higher CO₂ than other fuels for all engine speeds, except at 2000 rpm where B20 gave the highest. The biodiesel and biodiesel/diesel blend fuels produced higher NO_x for various engine speeds as expected. SO₂ formation not only showed an increasing trend with increased engine speed but also showed an increasing trend as the percentage of diesel increased in the fuels. Among the collected data, the PM concentrations from B100 engines were higher than from other fuelled engines for the tested engine speed and most biodiesel-contained fuels produced higher PM than the pure diesel fuel did. Overall, we may conclude that B20 and B50 are the optimum fuel blends. The species of trace formation in the biodiesel-contained fuelled engine exhaust were mainly C_nH_2n+2, DEP, and DPS. For the B100, B80, B50, and D fuelled engines, C₁₅H₃₂ was the dominant species for all engine speeds, while squalene (C₃₀H₅₀) was the dominant for B20. DEP was only observed in the B100, B80, and B50 fuelled engines in this study. The D fuelled engine showed a higher DPS production for engine speeds higher than 1200 rpm.     

An optimum biodiesel combination: Jatropha and soapnut oil biodiesel blends

Jatropha (Jatropha curcas) and soapnut (Sapindus mukorossi) oils are considered potential non-edible oil feedstocks for biodiesel production and present complementary fuel properties. Apparently, the poor oxidation stability of jatropha oil biodiesel and the high cold filter plugging point of soapnut oil biodiesel can be successfully improved to satisfy all biodiesel specifications at an optimum blending ratio. The optimum biodiesel combination was further blended with diesel at various volumetric percentages to evaluate the variations of fuel properties. The biodiesel–diesel blends up to B40 would show the satisfactory fuel properties.     

Comparative evaluation of performance and emission characteristics of jatropha, karanja and polanga based biodiesel as fuel in a tractor engine

Non-edible jatropha (Jatropha curcas), karanja (Pongamia pinnata) and polanga (Calophyllum inophyllum) oil based methyl esters were produced and blended with conventional diesel having sulphur content less than 10 mg/kg. Ten fuel blends (Diesel, B20, B50 and B100) were tested for their use as substitute fuel for a water-cooled three cylinder tractor engine. Test data were generated under full/part throttle position for different engine speeds (1200, 1800 and 2200 rev/min). Change in exhaust emissions (Smoke, CO, HC, NO_x, and PM) were also analyzed for determining the optimum test fuel at various operating conditions. The maximum increase in power is observed for 50% jatropha biodiesel and diesel blend at rated speed. Brake specific fuel consumptions for all the biodiesel blends with diesel increases with blends and decreases with speed. There is a reduction in smoke for all the biodiesel and their blends when compared with diesel. Smoke emission reduces with blends and speeds during full throttle performance test.     

Biodiesel from safflower oil and its application in a diesel engine

Safflower seed oil was chemically treated by the transesterification reaction in methyl alcohol environment with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) to produce biodiesel. The produced biodiesel was blended with diesel fuel by 5% (B5), 20% (B20) and 50% (B50) volumetrically. Some of important physical and chemical fuel properties of blend fuels, pure biodiesel and diesel fuel were determined. Performance and emission tests were carried out on a single cylinder diesel engine to compare biodiesel blends with petroleum diesel fuel. Average performance reductions were found as 2.2%, 6.3% and 11.2% for B5, B20 and B50 fuels, respectively, in comparison to diesel fuel. These reductions are low and can be compensated by a slight increase in brake specific fuel consumption (Bsfc). For blends, Bsfcs were increased by 2.8%, 3.9% and 7.8% as average for B5, B20 and B50, respectively. Considerable reductions were recorded in PM and smoke emissions with the use of biodiesel. CO emissions also decreased for biodiesel blends while NO_x and HC emissions increased. But the increases in HC emissions can be neglected as they have very low amounts for all test fuels. It can be concluded that the use of safflower oil biodiesel has beneficial effects both in terms of emission reductions and alternative petroleum diesel fuel.     

A comprehensive experimental investigation of combustion and heat release characteristics of a biodiesel (hazelnut kernel oil methyl ester) fueled direct injection compression ignition engine

In the present study, hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) kernel oil was transesterified with methanol using potassium hydroxide as catalyst to obtain biodiesel and a comprehensive experimental investigation of combustion (cylinder gas pressure, rate of pressure rise, ignition delay) and heat release (rate of heat release, cumulative heat release, combustion duration and center of heat release) parameters of a direct injection compression ignition engine running with biodiesel and its blends with diesel fuel was carried out. Experiment parameters included the percentage of biodiesel in the blend, engine load, injection timing, injection pressure, and compression ratio. Results showed that hazelnut kernel oil methyl ester and its blends with diesel fuel can be used in the engine without any modification and undesirable combustion and heat release characteristics were not observed. The modifications such as increasing of injection timing, compression ratio, and injection pressure provided significant improvement in combustion and heat release characteristics.     

Solubility of a diesel–biodiesel–ethanol blend,its fuel properties,and its emission characteristics from diesel engine

In this work, we studied the phase diagram of diesel–biodiesel–ethanol blends at different purities of ethanol and different temperatures. Fuel properties (such as density, heat of combustion, cetane number, flash point and pour point) of the selected blends and their emissions performance in a diesel engine were examined and compared to those of base diesel. It was found that the fuel properties were close to the standard limit for diesel fuel; however, the flash point of blends containing ethanol was quite different from that of conventional diesel. The high cetane value of biodiesel could compensate for the decrease of the cetane number of the blends caused by the presence of ethanol. The heating value of the blends containing lower than 10% ethanol was not significantly different from that of diesel. As for the emissions of the blends, it was found that CO and HC reduced significantly at high engine load, whereas NO_x increased, when compared to those of diesel. Taking these facts into account, a blend of 80% diesel, 15% biodiesel and 5% ethanol was the most suitable ratio for diesohol production because of the acceptable fuel properties (except flash point) and the reduction of emissions.     

Performance, emission and combustion characteristics of poon oil and its diesel blends in a DI diesel engine

Experimental tests have been carried out to evaluate the performance, emission and combustion characteristics of a diesel engine using Neat poon oil and its blends of 20%, 40%, and 60%, and standard diesel fuel separately. The common problems posed when using vegetable oil in a compression ignition engine are poor atomization; carbon deposits, ring sticking, etc. This is because of the high viscosity and low volatility of vegetable oil. When blended with diesel, poon oil presented lower viscosity, improved volatility, better combustion and less carbon deposit. It was found that there was a reduction in NO_x emission for Neat poon oil and its diesel blends along with a marginal increase in HC and CO emissions. Brake thermal efficiency was slightly lower for Neat poon oil and its diesel blends. From the combustion analysis, it was found that poon oil-diesel blends performed better than Neat poon oil.     

Basic properties of palm oil biodiesel–diesel blends

The basic properties of several palm oil biodiesel–diesel fuel blends were measured according to the corresponding ASTM standards. In order to predict these properties, mixing rules are evaluated as a function of the volume fraction of biodiesel in the blend. Kay’s mixing rule is used for predicting density, heating value, three different points of the distillation curve (T10, T50 and T90), cloud point and calculated cetane index, while an Arrhenius mixing rule is used for viscosity. The absolute average deviations (AAD) obtained were low, demonstrating the suitability of the used mixing rules. It was found that the calculated cetane index of palm oil biodiesel obtained using ASTM D4737 is in better agreement with the reported cetane number than the one corresponding to the ASTM D976. This result is most likely due to the fact that the former standard takes into account the particular characteristics of the distillation curve.     

Effects of oxidized biodiesel on formation of particulate matter and NO<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript> from diesel engine

A test was conducted to investigate the effect of pure biodiesel without additives on formation of particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) in the exhaust gas of a diesel engine. Pure biodiesel from waste cooking oil without adding any additive was used. The biodiesel was oxidized at 110 °C for 10 days and blended with commercial automobile diesel oil distributed in the market as a testing fuel. Blended fuels were produced by adding 10% of oxidized biodiesel and un-oxidized biodiesel to automobile diesel oil, respectively. Material properties such as density, kinematic viscosity, oxidation stability, and cetane number were tested. Emission tests were conducted using a large diesel engine of direct injection type, inline six-cylinder, 4 stroke, turbocharger and intercooler. The oxidized and unoxidized biodiesel blends did not show any difference in density and kinematic viscosity. The oxidation stability of the oxidized biodiesel blends was lower than that of the unoxidized biodiesel blends. In the emission test, the two blends showed almost no difference in the total number of concentration of the micro-particles, and also showed almost no difference in particle size distribution such as nucleation mode and accumulation mode. On the other hand, the oxidized biodiesel blends showed less PM and NOx emission than the unoxidized biodiesel blends.     

Biodiesel development from high acid value polanga seed oil and performance evaluation in a CI engine

Non-edible filtered high viscous (72 cSt at 40 °C) and high acid value (44 mg KOH/gm) polanga (Calophyllum inophyllum L.) oil based mono esters (biodiesel) produced by triple stage transesterification process and blended with high speed diesel (HSD) were tested for their use as a substitute fuel of diesel in a single cylinder diesel engine. HSD and polanga oil methyl ester (POME) fuel blends (20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100%) were used for conducting the short-term engine performance tests at varying loads (0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100%). Tests were carried out over entire range of engine operation at varying conditions of speed and load. The brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) and brake thermal efficiency (BTE) were calculated from the recorded data. The engine performance parameters such as fuel consumption, thermal efficiency, exhaust gas temperature and exhaust emissions (CO, CO₂, HC, NO_x, and O₂) were recorded. The optimum engine operating condition based on lower brake specific fuel consumption and higher brake thermal efficiency was observed at 100% load for neat biodiesel. From emission point of view the neat POME was found to be the best fuel as it showed lesser exhaust emission as compared to HSD.     

The kinematic viscosity of biodiesel and its blends with diesel fuel

As the use of biodiesel becomes more wide-spread, engine manufacturers have expressed concern about biodiesel’s higher viscosity. In particular, they are concerned that biodiesel may exhibit different viscosity-temperature characteristics that could result in higher fuel injection pressures at low engine operating temperatures. This study presents data for the kinematic viscosity of biodiesel and its blends with No. 1 and No. 2 diesel fuels at 75, 50, and 20% biodiesel, from close to their melting point to 100°C. The results indicate that while their viscosity is higher, biodiesel and its blends demonstrate temperature-dependent behavior similar to that of No. 1 and No. 2 diesel fuels. Equations of the same general form are shown to correlate viscosity data for both biodiesel and diesel fuel, and for their blends. A blending equation is presented that allows the kinematic viscosity to be calculated as a function of the biodiesel fraction.     

Production of biodiesel through optimized alkaline-catalyzed transesterification of rapeseed oil

Present work reports an optimized protocol for the production of biodiesel through alkaline-catalyzed transesterification of rapeseed oil. The reaction variables used were methanol/oil molar ratio (3:1-21:1), catalyst concentration (0.25-1.50%), temperature (35-65 °C), mixing intensity (180-600 rpm) and catalyst type. The evaluation of the transesterification process was followed by gas chromatographic analysis of the rapeseed oil fatty acid methyl esters (biodiesel) at different reaction times. The biodiesel with best yield and quality was produced at methanol/oil molar ratio, 6:1; potassium hydroxide catalyst concentration, 1.0%; mixing intensity, 600 rpm and reaction temperature 65 °C. The yield of the biodiesel produced under optimal condition was 95-96%. It was noted that greater or lower the concentration of KOH or methanol than the optimal values, the reaction either did not fully occur or lead to soap formation.The quality of the biodiesel produced was evaluated by the determinations of important properties such as density, specific gravity, kinematic viscosity, higher heating value, acid value, flash point, pour point, cloud point, combustion point, cold filter plugging point, cetane index, ash content, sulphur content, water content, copper strip corrosion value, distillation temperature and fatty acid composition. The produced biodiesel was found to exhibit fuel properties within the limits prescribed by the latest American Standards for Testing Material (ASTM) and European EN standards.     

Real-time and robust estimation of biodiesel blends

Biodiesel as a renewable alternative fuel produces lower exhaust emissions with the exception of nitrogen oxides (NO_x) when compared to the conventional diesel fuel. Reducing nitrogen oxides produced from engines running on biodiesel requires proper engine controller adaptations that are linked to the specifics of the fuel blend. Therefore, online estimation of fuel blend is a critical step in allowing diesel engines to maintain performance while simultaneously meeting emission requirements when operating on biodiesel blends. Presented in this paper are three different model-based biodiesel blend estimation strategies using: (i) crankshaft torsionals, (ii) NO_x emissions measurement from the exhaust stream, and (iii) oxygen content measurement of the exhaust stream using a wide-band UEGO sensor. Each approach is investigated in terms of the accuracy and robustness to sensor errors. A sensitivity analysis is conducted for each method to quantify robustness of the proposed fuel blend estimation methods.     

Experimental investigation of diesel engine performance and emission characteristics using jojoba/diesel blend and sunflower oil

Experimental study has been carried out to investigate performance parameters, emissions, cylinder pressure, exhaust gas temperature (T_exhaust) and engine wall temperatures (T_wall) for direct injection diesel engine. Tests were conducted for sunflower oil (S100) and 20% jojoba oil + 80% pure diesel fuel (B20) in comparison to pure diesel fuel with different engine speeds. S100 and B20 were selected for the study because of its being widely used in Egypt and in the world. Also, series of tests are conducted at same previous conditions with different percentage of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) from 0% to 12% of inlet mass of air fresh charge. Results indicate that S100 or B20 gives lower brake thermal efficiency (η_B), brake power (BP), brake mean effective pressure (BMEP), and higher brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) due to lower heating value compared to pure diesel fuel. S100 or B20 gives lower NO_X concentration due to lower gas temperature. S100 or B20 gives higher T_wall and T_exhaust due to incomplete combustion inside engine cylinder. S100 or B20 gives higher CO and CO₂ concentrations due to higher carbon/hydrogen ratio. The position of maximum pressure (P_max) change for pure diesel fuel is earlier than for S100 or B20. The results show that S100 or B20 are promising as alternative fuel for diesel engine. The utilization of vegetable oils does not require a significant modification of existing engines. This can be seen as the main advantage of vegetable oils. The main disadvantages of biodiesel fuels are high viscosity, drying with time, thickening in cold conditions, flow and atomization characteristics.     

Performance of compression ignition engine with mahua (Madhuca indica) biodiesel

The performance of biodiesel obtained from mahua oil and its blend with high speed diesel in a Ricardo E6 engine has been presented in this paper together with some of its fuel properties. These properties were found to be comparable to diesel and confirming to both the American and European standards. Engine performance (brake specific fuel consumption, brake thermal efficiency and exhaust gas temperature) and emissions (CO, smoke density and NO_x) were measured to evaluate and compute the behaviour of the diesel engine running on biodiesel. The reductions in exhaust emissions and brake specific fuel consumption together with increase brake power, brake thermal efficiency made the blend of biodiesel (B20) a suitable alternative fuel for diesel and thus could help in controlling air pollution.     

Feasibility of blending karanja vegetable oil in petro-diesel and utilization in a direct injection diesel engine

Karanja (Pongamia pinnata) oil, a non-edible high viscosity (27.84 cSt at 40 °C) straight vegetable oil, was blended with conventional diesel in various proportions to evaluate the performance and emission characteristics of a single cylinder direct injection constant speed diesel engine. Diesel and karanja oil fuel blends (5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%) were used to conduct short-term engine performance and emission tests at varying loads (0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100%). Tests were carried out over the entire range of engine operation and engine performance parameters such as fuel consumption, thermal efficiency, exhaust gas temperature, and exhaust emissions (smoke, CO, CO₂, HC, NO_x, and O₂) were recorded. The brake specific energy consumption (BSEC), brake thermal efficiency (BTE), and exhaust emissions were evaluated to determine the optimum fuel blend. Higher BSEC was observed at full load for neat petro-diesel. A fuel blend of 10% karanja oil (KVO10) showed higher BTE at a 60% load. Similarly, the overall emission characteristics were found to be best for the case of KVO10 over the entire range of engine operation.     

Some physical properties and oxidative stability of biodiesel produced from oil seed crops

Biodiesel is a cleaner burning fuel than petrodiesel and a suitable replacement in diesel engine. It is produced from renewable sources such as vegetable oils or animal fats. Biodiesel fuel was prepared from castor (CSO), palm kernel (PKO) and groundnut (GNO) oils through alkali transesterification reaction. The biodiesel produced was characterized as alternative diesel fuel. Fuel properties such as specific gravity, viscosity, calorific (combustion) value, The CSO, PKO and GNO were measured to evaluate the storage/oxidative stability of the oils to compare them with commercial petrodiesel. The biodiesel produced had good fuel properties with respect to ASTM D 6751 and EN 14214 specification standards, except that the kinematic viscosity of castor oil biodiesel was too low. The viscosity of castor oil biodiesel at different temperatures was in the range of 4.12–7.21 mm²/s. However, promising results which conformed to the above specification standards were realized when castor oil biodiesel was blended with commercial petrodiesel. At 28 °C the specific gravity recorded for CSO, PKO and GNO biodiesel was higher than the values obtained for petrodiesel. Commercial petrodiesel had the highest oxidative stability than biodiesel produced from CSO, PKO and GNO oils.     

Engine performance and emission characteristics of a three-phase emulsion of biodiesel produced by peroxidation

Biodiesel, which is produced from vegetable oils, animal fats or used cooking oils, can be used as an alternative fuel for diesel engines. The high oxygen content of biodiesel not only enhances its burning efficiency, but also generally promotes the formation of more nitrogen oxides (NO_x) during the burning process. Fuel emulsification and the use of NO_x inhibitor agents in fuel are considered to be effective in reducing NO_x emissions. In the study reported herein, soybean oil was used as raw oil to produce biodiesel by transesterification reaction accompanied by peroxidation to further improve the fuel properties of the biodiesel, which was water washed and distilled to remove un-reacted methanol, water, and other impurities. The biodiesel product was then emulsified with distilled water and emulsifying surfactant by a high-speed mechanical homogenizer to produce a three-phase oil-droplets-in-water-droplets-in-oil (i.e. O/W/O) biodiesel emulsion and an O/W/O emulsion that contained aqueous ammonia, which is a NO_x inhibitor agent. A four-stroke diesel engine, in combination with an eddy-current dynamometer, was used to investigate the engine performance and emission characteristics of the biodiesel, the O/W/O biodiesel emulsion, the O/W/O biodiesel emulsion that contained aqueous ammonia, and ASTM No. 2D diesel. The experimental results show that the O/W/O emulsion has the lowest carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, exhaust gas temperature, and heating value, and the largest brake specific fuel consumption, fuel consumption rate, and kinematic viscosity of the four tested fuels. The increase of engine speed causes the increase of equivalence ratio, exhaust gas temperature, CO₂ emissions, fuel consumption rate, and brake specific fuel consumption, but a decrease of NO_x emissions. Moreover, the existence of aqueous ammonia in the O/W/O biodiesel emulsion curtails NO_x formation, thus resulting in the lowest NO_x emissions among the four tested fuels in burning the O/W/O biodiesel emulsion that contained aqueous ammonia.