Optimization study on the production of argemone mexicana biodiesel and its impact on diesel engine combustion stability: Taguchi model and wavelet analysis

Abstract

A research study is being conducted to investigate the potential use of Argemone mexicana oil (adulterated with mustard oil and non-edible) as a biodiesel source in a compression ignition (CI) engine to replace the maximum amount of fossil fuel in the engine. This research aims to optimize transesterification reaction parameters to achieve high yields of Argemone mexicana biodiesel (AGB). The study employed the Taguchi method to optimize the appropriate combination of transesterification reaction parameters. A transesterification reaction at 60 °C, 90 min, with a molar ratio of 6:1, produced a maximum yield of 95%. Additionally, the present study explores the combustion stability of a 4-cylinder turbocharged CRDI engine using AGB/diesel blended fuels. The wavelet transform (WT) analysis has also been used to observe temporal and spectral variations in the combustion parameters of various AGB/diesel blends. The global wavelet spectrum (GWS) and wavelet power spectrum (WPS) analyses showed that the AB10 blend exhibited the lowest cyclic fluctuations in indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP) combustion parameter at a low engine load. The study of the spectral variations of the IMEP combustion parameter based on the in-cylinder pressure feedback can be used to develop better fuel injection control strategies.