Influence of 1-pentanol as the renewable fuel blended with jatropha oil on the reactivity controlled compression ignition engine characteristics and trade-off study with variable fuel injection pressure

Abstract

Compared to conventional compression ignition (CI) engines, the analysis on the advanced low-temperature combustion technologies like reactivity-controlled compression ignition (RCCI) engines produces better thermal efficiency with a simultaneous reduction in smoke and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions. Instead of petroleum-based fuels, biofuels obtained from jatropha oil are anticipated to be employed in the current research. The purpose of this study is to examine the RCCI engine characteristics using Jatropha oil as the high reactivity and 1-pentanol as low reactivity fuel. To analyze the influence of operating parameters (i.e., fuel injection pressure (FIP) (400, 500, and 600 bar), an experiment was performed on a water-cooled single-cylinder engine (modified) for medium load and full load operations at a constant speed of 2000 rpm. The biodiesel (B20) obtained from jatropha oil is inducted into the chamber directly which is produced by transesterification. During the initial suction stroke, 1-pentanol (10%, 20%, and 30% energy share) is injected into the port. Tests were conducted at varying proportions to calculate the optimum proportion of biodiesel and 1-pentanol. The findings were analyzed and mapped under the same working conditions as diesel fuel, and a 2.5% gain (maximum) in thermal efficiency is observed while utilizing a 1-pentanol-biodiesel blend in contrast to diesel. Smoke opacity (7.82%) and NOx (3.42%) emissions were also lowered while employing the 1-pentanol-biodiesel blend. The ideal combination for minimizing emissions is the BD70P30 (70% biodiesel + 30% 1-pentanol) blend at maximum load with a FIP of 600 bar. According to this study, standard fossil fuel can be efficiently substituted with a 1-pentanol-biodiesel fuel combination in an RCCI engine.