EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS ON AIR COOLED DIESEL ENGINE USING RUBBER SEED BIODIESEL AND ITS BLENDS AS A SUBSTITUTE FUEL FOR PETRO-DIESEL

Anjaneya G, Prabhakar Reddy C, Udaya Ravi M, Sunil S

Abstract: Experiments were conducted on a Kirloskar make, air cooled diesel engine using rubber seed biodiesel and its blends with diesel (10%, 20%, and 30% by volume) as a substitute fuel to petro- diesel. The load was applied in the range 0 to 100% (0, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%) in steps of 25% of maximum load at an injection pressure of 200 bar and injection timing of 230 of crank angle before top dead centre. The performance parameters (BP, BTE and BSFC), pollutants (CO, HC, CO2, NOx and smoke opacity) and combustion characteristics (cylinder pressure rise and heat release rate for every degree of crank angle) were measured for pure biodiesel and its blends. The results obtained were compared with petro-diesel. Among the fuels tested, 10% blend of rubber seed biodiesel showed a better performance in terms of increased Brake Thermal Efficiency (BTE) and decreased Brake Specific Fuel Consumption (BSFC). Significant reductions in pollutants (except NOx) were observed for pure rubber seed biodiesel and its blends at all power outputs as compared to petro-diesel. Combustion features of rubber seed biodiesel and its blends were similar to petro-diesel operation.

Keywords: Biodiesel, Blends, Injection pressure, Performance, Emissions, Combustion characteristics

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15623/ijret.2016.0501059