Performance, Combustion and Exhaust Emissions Analysis of a Diesel Engine Fuelled with Algae Oil and Algae Biodiesel

Abstract

Algal oil was obtained from microalgae chlorella vulgaris. The microalgae was cultivated in open pond system. Upon harvesting, the biomass was centrifuged and dried. The algal oil was obtained by a solvent extraction method using n-hexane as solvent. By this method 28% of algal oil is obtained from dry algae biomass. Transesterification process is carried out to produce algae biodiesel by adding potassium hydroxide and methanol. The biodiesel yield obtained is 85%. The testing of algae oil and algae biodiesel is carried out to know the calorific value, density and kinematic viscosity. Performance and combustion parameters were analyzed on a Kirloskar single cylinder direct injection compression ignition engine. The compression ratio is 17.5. It develops 5.2 kW brake power at rated speed of 1500 rpm with diesel as fuel. The engine is initially run on diesel fuel to generate baseline data and after that it is run on straight algae oil and algae biodiesel. Similar loading conditions are used for all the fuels. The Brake Specific Fuel Consumption, Brake Specific Energy Consumption, Brake Thermal Efficiency, Smoke Opacity, CO, HC, and NOx were studied. The trials conducted on diesel engine with algae oil and algae biodiesel show that results are comparable to diesel fuel.