Performance Optimsation of Air Cooled Diesel Engine with Simarouba Biodiesel Blends as Substitute Fuel Using Response Surface Method

Abstract

In the present study the usability of simarouba biodiesel blends in air cooled diesel engineand performance optimization of engine is intended in terms of percentage blend and Brake Power (BP). An air cooled diesel engine of 4.4 kW rated power running at constant speed of 1,500 rpm is chosen for conducting the experiments. Experiments are conducted with diesel and biodiesel blends (10%, 20% and 30% by volume) at different load conditions. The performance parameters like Brake Thermal Efficiency (BTE), Brake Specific Fuel Consumptions (BSFC) and emissions-Carbon Monoxide (CO), Hydro Carbon (HC), Oxides of Nitrogen (NO X ), and Filter Smoke Number (FSN) are analyzed.The performance of engine is slightly improved in terms of marginal improvement in BTE and BSFC with 20% biodiesel blend as compared to diesel. Emissions are considerably reduced with all blends compared to diesel. The performance optimization of engine is performed using desirability approach of Response Surface Method (RSM). Statistical models correlating percentage biodiesel blend, BPand responses (BTE, BSFC, CO, HC, NOX, and FSN) are developed.