The depletion, increasing demand and price of the petroleum promoted extensive research worldwide on alternative energy resources for internal combustion engines. There were several studies which reveal the significance of research on biodiesel as a substitute fuel to a diesel fuel. It has proven that biodiesel is one of the promising renewable, alternative and environmentally friendly biofuels that can be used in diesel engine with little or no modification in the engine. The stringent emission laws, depletion of fossil fuels and relation of fuels with government policies have forced the world to find alternatives to fossil fuels. Numerous vegetable oils suitability has been investigated for use in internal combustion engines. The effects of different fuels on the performance characteristics of engines have been extensively reported. The high viscosity and low volatility of these vegetables oils are the major problem for their use in the diesel engines. However use of different biodiesels in an engine results in variability in the engine performance and emission due to physical and chemical characteristics of fuel. The effect of these physio-chemical properties on fuel supply system such as fuel pump and fuel filter have already been reported.
In this work an attempt is made to improve the combustion characteristics of the engine fueled with biodiesel. Hence a detailed investigation is carried out on the underlying combustion and heat release characteristics. The experimental work is conducted on 4S, single cylinder, water cooled and DI stationary diesel engine. In this work bsfc and thermal efficiency are computed, for different in cylinder pressure and peak heat release rate.
Alternate Fuels, Vegetable Oils, Biodiesel, Exhaust emissions, Combustion characteristics
