Effect of Alcoholic Fuel Blends on Performance, Combustion, Emission and Vibration Analysis of a Variable Compression Ratio Diesel Engine

Abstract

Alcoholic fuel used in this study is Ethanol which is also known as ethyl alcohol (C2H5OH). It can be produced from biomass and is renewable, ethanol is utilized as an alternative fuel. Variable Compression Ratio Diesel engines are subjected to a variety of tests to determine how pure diesel and ethanol–diesel blends affect them. This study used experiments to determine the outperformance, combustion, vibration, and emission characteristics of various blends, including E0 (100% diesel), E5 (95% diesel, 5% ethanol), E10 (90% diesel, 10% ethanol), E15 (85% diesel, 15% ethanol), and E20 (80% diesel, 20% ethanol). The research on four-stroke, single-cylinder engines with variable compression ratio and compression ignition. Engine tests are conducted for varied loading circumstances at various compression ratios (15, 16, 17, 17.5) for various fuel blends at a constant rated speed of 1500 rpm. Brake thermal efficiency at full load is 13.33% greater for E20 blend than E0 fuel at CR 17.5. At CR 17.5 full load, the E15 mix has a higher maximum rate of pressure rise than other blends and pure diesel. E15 blends have a higher maximum net heat release rate at CR 15 than other blends and pure diesel do. The smoke density (HSU) of the E10 blend at CR16 with a 25% load is lower compared to other blends. At full load conditions, vibrations are lower for E5 compared to other blends. As a result of this study, E5 and E10 are suggested as alternative fuels for diesel engines in the context of decreased engine vibrations and emissions.