Experimental Investigation on a Diesel Engine Fuelled with Blends of Karanja Biodiesel and Diesel: Combustion and Performance Studies

Abstract

With the stock of fossil fuels diminishing throughout the world and demand for energy based comforts and mobility ever increasing, time is ripe that we strike a balance between energy security and energy usage. Moreover having uplifted to such a sphere of engineering excellence, reverting back to the ages of the bull carts will prove next to impossible thereby compelling us to search for a basket of alternative fuels to derive energy to cater to our needs. Several sources of energy, especially for driving the automotives are being developed and tested. Biodiesel, which is a derivative of vegetable oils, is catching the attention of various nations through its much similar properties to conventional diesel. An experimental investigation was carried out on a small direct injection (DI) diesel engine, fuelling the engine with 20% (B20), 50% (B20), and100% (B100) blending of rapseed  oil methyl ester with diesel. The performance and combustion characteristics of the engine at various loads are compared and analyzed. The results showed higher brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) and lower brake thermal efficiency (BTE) for the rapeseed blends. The engine indicated power (IP) was more for the blends B20, but found to be reduced for the blend B100 when compared to that of diesel. The engine combustion parameters such as pressure crank angle diagram, peak pressure, time of occurrence of peak pressure, net heat-release rate, cumulative heat release, ignition delay and combustion duration were computed. The rapeseed blends exhibited similar combustion trend with diesel. However, the blends showed an early start of combustion with shorter ignition delay period. The study reveals the suitability of rapeseed blends up to B20 as fuel for a diesel engine mainly used in generating sets and the agricultural applications in India without any significant drop in engine performance. 

Cite this Article Ajay Partap Singh, Ajay Trehan.  Experimental Investigation on a Diesel Engine Fuelled with Blends of Karanja Biodiesel and Diesel – Combustion and Performance Studies. Trends in Mechanical Engineering & Technology. 2016; 6(3): 41–52p.