Reduction of NOx in the exhaust gas of DI- diesel engine fueled with mahua methyl ester along with exhaust gas recirculation

Abstract

Biodiesels are alternative fuels for petroleum-based diesel without major modifications of engine. In the environmental aspect, also biodiesel gives fewer pollutants than petroleum diesel. However, the NOx level is slightly higher. To reduce NOx, some of the methods are being used, which include direct injection, turbocharging, air-to-air intercooling, combustion optimization with and without swirl support, multivalve cylinder head, advanced high pressure injection system, i.e., split injection or rate shaping, and electronic management system. However, technologies such as exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), soot traps, and exhaust gas after treatment are gaining emphasis to cater to the challenges posed by increasingly stringent environmental emission legislations. In this work, experimentation was conducted on a single cylinder diesel engine with mahua methyl ester (MME) in the neat form along with the cooled EGR and performance, combustion pressure, and emission parameters are collected by using suitable instrumentation. Same experimentation was repeated for the petroleum diesel and a comparison was made to evaluate the applicability of MME along with EGR without major modifications. After the analysis of results, it was found that 5% EGR is recommendable with neat biodiesel (MME) run, and in most of the situations, it proved its merit over neat diesel run.