Experimental investigation of using kerosene-biodiesel blend as an alternative fuel in diesel engines

Abstract

Researchers are seeking alternative ways to deal with conventional fuels depletion and global warming. Biodiesel appears as one of the most candidate alternatives in this regard. The present work deals with biodiesel produced by transesterification of sunflower oil. The produced biodiesel was further mixed with kerosene to obtain a blend between new and traditional fuels. The physicochemical properties of the bio-fuel blended with kerosene have been tested in the laboratory maintaining different ASTM standards. In this study, blends of biodiesel and kerosene were tested on TQ small engine test set (TD200). BK60 (biodiesel 60 vol. % and kerosene 40 vol. %), BK45 (biodiesel 45 vol. % and kerosene 55 vol. %), BK30 (biodiesel 30 vol. % and kerosene 70 vol. %) and BK15 (biodiesel 15 vol. % and kerosene 85 vol. %) were tested. Three mixing speeds were used in the tests, namely; 1000 rpm, 2000 rpm, and 3000 rpm at constant high load of 80%. The performance parameters studied included; brake thermal efficiency (BTE) and brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC). Regarding the emissions, carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) were also recorded. Results showed that the new blends produce higher BTE and lower BSFC than the conventional kerosene and biodiesel.