STUDIES ON THE PERFORMANCE OF C.I. ENGINE USING ETHYL ESTER AS AN ALTERNATIVE FUEL
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Date
2011
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PAU Ludhiana
Abstract
The agriculture sector of the country is mainly dependent on diesel for its motive power and to a large extent
for power applications. Increased farm mechanization in agriculture, further increases requirement of this
depleting fuel source. To overcome the problems associated with the use of petroleum derived fuels, it
becomes necessary to develop alternative fuels with properties comparable to petroleum based fuels. Among
the alternative fuels, biodiesel fuel has received much attention in recent years for use in diesel engines and
could be one alternative in the country to reduce petroleum diesel import. Research has been done in the
country using methanol. But, methanol is toxic in nature. Ethanol is derived from biomass. Ethyl ester
derived from plant oils by using ethanol brings extra carbon atoms through ethanol molecule which slightly
increases the heat content and the cetane number. Ethyl esters have lower cloud and pour points than the
methyl esters. This fact improves the cold start of engine. Jatropha plant oil is non edible oil so it was
selected for preparation of ethyl ester. The available Jatropha oil had high free fatty acid therefore, a twostep
transesterification process was used to prepare ester for the study. Fuel characteristics of different
blends of ethyl ester and diesel were determined in terms of kinematic viscosity (cS), gross heating value
(MJ/kg), density (g/cm3), flash point (ºC), cloud point (ºC) and pour point (ºC) and were compared with that
of pure diesel fuel. Thereafter, five blends of ester and diesel were used as fuel at four levels of loads i.e. 0%,
25%, 50%, and 75% of the rated load for engine performance study at two different compression ratio
(16.5:1 and 18.5:1) and compare the results with the results obtained in case of diesel fuel. Maximum
recovery of ester was obtained by pretreating the oil with 5% H2SO4 and 20% ethanol and then its
transesterification using 30% ethanol and 3% KOH. Kinematic viscosity (cS), density (g/cm3), flash point
(ºC), cloud point (ºC) and pour point (ºC) of all blends of ethyl esters (B10, B20, B30 and B40) were higher
than that of diesel and gross heating values (MJ/kg) of all biodiesel blends were less as compared to diesel.
Nitric oxide (NOx) emissions in case of all biodiesel blends were more as compared to diesel. NOx
concentration in exhaust gases was increased with increase of ester in blends and also increased with
increase in compression ratio. Carbon monoxide (CO) emission for all biodiesel blends was less as compared
to diesel. CO concentration in exhaust gases was decreased with increase in percentage of ester in the blend
and also decreased with increase in compression ratio. Brake thermal efficiency for all biodiesel blends was
more as compared to diesel. Brake thermal efficiency increased with increase in load and also increased with
increase in compression ratio. Brake specific fuel consumption in case of blends was more as compared to
diesel. Brake specific fuel consumption decreased with increase in load as well as with increase in
compression ratio.
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