A study to investigate the effect of Diethyl ether as additive on the performance and emissions of engine using diesel and Neem oil methyl ester as fuel

Abstract

Diesel is in vogue as a fuel in transportation sector from a long time. Diesel being a fossil fuel is depleting very quickly and soon will be scarce enough to be used as a fuel economically. Biodiesels, possessing the properties almost equivalent to diesel are found to be the one of the prospective alternative choice to substitute the petroleum based fuel. One such biodiesel is prepared from neem oil. Neem oil, being non-edible oil has very few uses and can be easily found in India and other south-east Asian countries. Neem oil methyl ester (NOME) is a biodiesel, prepared by the esterification of neem oil. Diethyl ether (DEE) was also used to blend with diesel and biodiesel separately. Various proportions of diesel, biodiesel and DEE were investigated in the four-cylinder DI diesel engine. The higher latent heat of evaporation of DEE gives the cooling effect in the engine cylinder. It contains high oxygen in its chemical composition along with the very low cetane number. Due to this, the smoke, carbon monoxide (CO) and Nitrogen oxide (NO X ) were decreased on its addition. However, unburned hydrocarbon (HC) emissions were increased. Graphs have been plotted for various engine parameters and emission levels of diesel and its blends. It has been found that diesel along with DEE has an adverse effect on performance characteristics due to the large difference in their flash point and improper combustion however biodiesels along with DEE are a good prospective fuel as it gives very good performance and emission characteristics.