Experimental investigation into the effects of Argemone biodiesel/diesel blends on cyclic variations in a multi-cylinder CRDI engine

Abstract

Abstract Internal combustion engines suffer from high cyclic variations that result in higher emissions, lower efficiency, higher fuel consumption and poor drivability. The purpose of this study is to investigate how Argemone mexicana biodiesel (AGB)/diesel blended fuels affect the cyclic variability of combustion parameters such as maximum cylinder pressure (Pmax) and indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP) in a four-cylinder turbocharged intercooled common-rail direct injection engine under various engine loading conditions. The chemical and physical properties of AGB produced from A. mexicana oil were measured and compared according to the ASTM D6751 standards. In various volumetric ratios, AGB and diesel fuel were blended as D100, AB10 (10% AGB + 90% D100), AB20 (20% AGB + 80% D100) and AB30 (30% AGB + 70% D100). The IMEP and Pmax time-series data were collected over 200 consecutive cycles at low, partial and high engine loads at a constant engine speed of 2000 rpm. The coefficients of variation (COV) of combustion parameters (Pmax and IMEP) were measured for different AGB/diesel blends and found to be within acceptable limits. The results show that COVPmax and COVIMEP decrease as the engine load increases. It was observed that at low load, AB10 has the lowest COV (Pmax, IMEP), and at partial and high load, AB20 has the lowest COV (Pmax, IMEP) among all the blends.