Title: An experimental investigation on the performance of a CI engine when using LTC with a blend of diesel, biodiesel and ethanol

Authors: R.T. Sarath Babu; M. Kannan

Addresses: Mechanical Engineering, Rajiv Gandhi College of Engineering, Anna University, Sriperumbudur, 602105, India ' Mechanical Engineering, KCG College of Technology, Anna University, Chennai, 600075, India

Abstract: There is a rising concentration in many different countries to look for proper alternative fuels that are environment friendly. Vegetable oils are close to the properties of diesel fuels. In this study, Mahua oil (Madhuca indica) is transesterified with methanol using sodium hydroxide (NaOH) as a catalyst to obtain Mahua oil methyl ester. The level of pollutants such as NO_x and particulates present in the exhaust gas of the diesel engine is high. The present study is mainly aimed at reducing emission level by way of using bio-diesel as fuel. In this study low temperature combustion method (LTC) is employed by using exhaust gas recirculation technique (EGR) and tests performed with fuels consisting of 20% biodiesel, and 5% ethanol blended with diesel. The work is carried out in two phases. One with EGR and the other without EGR. 30% of exhaust gas is used for conducting experiments. It is inferred from the study that the pollutant level in the exhaust is significantly reduced and in addition to it, the efficiency of the engine is also increased.

Keywords: LTC; low temperature combustion; bio-diesel; EGR; exhaust gas recirculation; ethanol; Mahua oil.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHVS.2018.094837

International Journal of Heavy Vehicle Systems, 2018 Vol.25 No.3/4, pp.442 - 454

Received: 14 Nov 2017
Accepted: 09 Dec 2017
Published online: 24 Sep 2018 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article