Performance combustion and emission studies on twin cylinder automotive diesel engine using pine oil and soapnut oil biodiesel blends as alternate fuels

Abstract

Diesel engines are the major power source for the on road vehicles used for road transportation and off road vehicles used for specialized operations like agricultural mining and construction activities due to its higher fuel efficiency and lean combustion The emissions from on road vehicles are well controlled over the years by implementation of strict emission norms But the emissions from off road vehicles are still a major concern as it contributes significantly to the overall percentage of particulate matter and NOx emissions The fuel scarcity and environmental pollution associated with global warming are the major threats encountered by the operation of off road vehicles The concern of dependency on fossil fuel and clean combustion can be sorted out by utilizing renewable biofuels derived from plants animals waste materials and algae Development of biofuels from cost effective and locally available resources will reduce the cost considerably and encourage its usage as a substitute for diesel In the current work an effort has been made to study the effects of using biofuels on the performance combustion and emission characteristics of a tractor diesel engine The non edible soapnut seeds Sapindus trifoliatus were used to extract the oil and are converted in to soapnut oil methyl ester by two stage transesterification process acid catalysis followed by base catalysis A low viscous and high energy content fuel pine oil was commercially obtained and used in its neat form The experimental investigations were carried out in three phases to study the brake power BP brake thermal efficiency BTE brake specific energy consumption BSEC in cylinder pressure heat release rate HRR exhaust gas temperature EGT hydrocarbon emission HC carbon monoxide emission CO smoke and NOx emissions newline