Optimum Biodiesel Blend Research Articles

Experimental Investigations of the Performance and Emission Characteristics of IC Engine Based on the Selection of Best Bio-oil and Biodiesel Blend: an Integrated CRITIC-TOPSIS Approach

Selection of optimum bio-diesel blend for internal combustion (IC) engine is crucial. The process of selecting the ideal blend requires a multidimensional analysis. In order to tackle the challenge, an efficient decision-making strategy is required. This paper uses the Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) method to offer the selection of a suitable oil and bio-diesel blend based on the performance of the diesel engine under various load circumstances. In order to measure the weights of evaluating criteria, Criteria Importance Through Intercriteria Correlation (CRITIC) and Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) are used. At first, seven different oils and seven assessment parameters, namely kinematic viscosity, cetane number, heating value, cloud point, pour point, flash point and density are attempted to select the acceptable oil for making bio-diesel. Next, the ranking of bio-diesel blends is performed based on the evaluation criteria, namely Brake Thermal Efficiency (BTE), Exhaust Gas Temperature (EGT), nitrogen oxide (NOx), smoke, carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrocarbon (HC) emissions. The results show that hemp seed oil is closer to diesel and higher in ranking. The recommended order of blend is B20 > Diesel > B40 > B60 > B80 > B100. The study indicated that B20 is the optimum blend for diesel engines. In order to meet the economy and pollution standards for the green revolution, decision-makers can use the new insights into MCDM approaches described in this article. This study also demonstrates that the suggested methods for choosing the best bio-diesel blend differ from the existing literature.

Optimization of engine out responses with different biodiesel fuel blends for energy transition

A dynamometer test was commonly used to find the optimum biodiesel blend ratio. Nonetheless, it has a significant disadvantage which was due to the high time consuming and financial commitment required to undertake this procedure. Only a few studies have used grey-Taguchi method (GTM) to optimize coconut oil-diesel fuel blends utilizing various parameters such as speed, load, and blend ratio. This study aims to find the optimum biodiesel blend ratio and other engine input parameters under different specified constraints using the GTM. A four-cylinder CI diesel engine was fuelled with different blends of coconut biodiesel and tested at various load and speed conditions. The Taguchi-Grey technique was used to carry out the optimization. The Taguchi approach with L16 orthogonal array was utilized to design the experiment, and the LTB and STB were employed to optimize 13 performance indices. In order to determine the optimal parameters, grey relational grade and S/N ratio were used. An ANOVA-based analysis was used to investigate the relationship between the three engine inputs and their responses. The optimization result shows that 30% blend ratio, 3850 rpm engine speed, and 25% engine load were the optimum results for the performance, emissions, and combustion of the CI engine. With the optimum condition, it improves the SOI-Main, turbocharges boost air pressure, O2, CO, and smoke by 6.18, 0.44, 1.15, 12.9 and 14.97 %, respectively, as compared to conventional diesel fuel. However, BSFC, BSEC, exhaust gas temperature, main injection duration, rail pressure, load demand, and NOx showed slightly degradation, 2.44, 0.84, 0.05, 0.81, 0.12, 1.64 and 11.93%, respectively. It was observed that the Taguchi-Grey approach has demonstrated to be highly effective in determining important parameters for multi-response variables.

WITHDRAWN: Computational analysis on combustion, characteristics and ignition analysis on IC engine using mahua oil

Abstract In this research work, the main objective is to enhance the performance, combustion characteristics and reduce emissions of compression ignition engine using alternative fuel. Four experimental investigations and one numerical analysis are carried out to identify the optimum biodiesel blend and modification methods. Mahua oil issued. In this study due to its ease of availability compared with other non-edible oils. Two types of engine modifications were made. First one is Low Heat Rejection (LHR) and second one is Low Temperature Combustion (LTC). In the LHR modification the engine parts such as the cylinder head and the piston head is coated by the alumina (Al2O3) with a thickness of 350 μm. For the LTC modification the Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) process was adopted with help of control valves. CFD analysis was done through ANSYS FORTE software comparing with the experimental results. The variation between the CFD analysis and experiment results was 4% to 9%. Hence from this study, ANSYS FORTE is one of the suitable CFD software for evaluating the performance of the IC engine. The biodiesel blends B20 and the LHR modification technique by ceramic coating, along with LTC modification of 15% EGR yields better performance and lower emissions.

Wear Analysis of Compression Ignition Engine using Mesua ferea linn Methyl Eseter

As the standard of living is increasing day by day, the demand for energy consumption is also increasing due to the increasing population and expanding urbanization.At the same time,the whole world is aware about the depletion of petroleum reserves and its impact on environment pollution through exhaust emissions which has become a major threat to the whole world, so to deal with this there is an urgent need of suitable alternative fuels for use in diesel engine. Biodiesel is a suitable alternative fuel which is generally produced from renewable biological resources like vegetable oil and animal fats. It is biodegradable , non toxic, has lower emissions profile and at the same time environment friendly. In this study, biodiesel is prepared using mesua ferea linn(MFL)seed oil by transterification process. Two similar engines were operated for long turm endurance test using optimum biodiesel blend and petroleum-diesel oil, respectively. Atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) was used to check the wear debris concentration in lubricating oil samples which were drawn from both the engines after a fixed interval of time. Biodiesel operated engine showed lower wear debris concentration as compared to diesel operated engine. Scanning electron microscopy( SEM) showed lower damage of small disk of piston ring when operated with 20% biodiesel fuel, which revealed the better lubricity of biodiesel fuel. Also, carbon deposition of various parts like fuel injector, piston head were found to be lower in biodiesel used engine than that of diesel used engine.

Performance Evaluation of a Small Tractor with Biodiesel

Biodiesel, which is an alternative for diesel fuel, has gained considerable attention in the recent past and now gaining recognition among other available renewable fuels. In practice, biodiesel is produced through a process called transesterification in which organically derived oils are combined with alcohol (ethanol or methanol) in the presence of a catalyst to form ethyl or methyl ester. The produced biodiesel should meet the exiting standards for better performance in unmodified diesel engine. Use of biodiesel in a compression ignition engine was found to develop a highly compatible engine-fuel system with low emission characteristics. Two similar engines were operated using optimum biodiesel blend and mineral diesel oil, respectively. The additional lubricating property present in the fuel resulted in lower wear and improved life of moving components in a biodiesel-fuelled engine. However, this needed experimental verification and quantification. A series of experiments were thus conducted to see the fuel consumption of the various concentrations of biodiesel blends. 100% biodiesel showed lesser consumption rate compared to diesel oil.

Compression ignition engine performance modelling using hybrid MCDM techniques for the selection of optimum fish oil biodiesel blend at different injection timings

The increasing demand on energy due to population growth and rise of living standards has led to considerable use of fossil fuels which cause environmental pollution and depletion of fossil fuels. Biodiesel proves to be a good alternative for fossil fuels. But sustainability of biodiesel is the key factor for determining it as a fuel in diesel engines. It needs identification of proper blend of biodiesel and diesel to meet the efficiency, engine suitability and environmental acceptability. Alternative fuel blend evaluation in IC engine fuel technologies is a very important strategic decision tool involving balancing between a number of criteria such as performance, emission and combustion parameters and opinions from different decision maker of IC engine experts. Hence, it is a MCDM problem. This paper describes the application of hybrid Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) techniques for the selection of optimum biodiesel blend in IC engine. FAHP-TOPSIS, FAHP-VIKOR and FAHP-ELECTRE, are the three methods that are used to evaluate the best blend. The performances of these MCDM methods are also compared with each other. Here, FAHP is used to determine the relative weights of the criteria, whereas TOPSIS, VIKOR and ELECTRE are used for obtaining the final ranking of alternatives. A single cylinder, constant speed and direct injection diesel engine with a rated output of 4.4 kW is used for exploratory analysis of evaluation criteria at different load conditions. Diesel, B20, B40, B60, B80 and B100 fuel blends are prepared by varying the proportion of biodiesel. Similarly, Brake thermal efficiency (BTE), Exhaust gas temperature (EGT), Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx), Smoke, Hydrocarbon (HC), Carbon monoxide (CO), Carbon dioxide (CO2), Ignition Delay, Combustion Duration and Maximum Rate of Pressure Rise are considered as the evaluation criteria. The ranking of alternatives obtained by FAHP-TOPSIS, FAHP-VIKOR and FAHP-ELECTRE are B20 > Diesel > B40 > B60 > B80 > B100 for 21°bTDC and 24°bTDC and Diesel > B20 > B40 > B60 > B80 > B100 for 27°bTDC. It shows that B20 is ranked first for 21°bTDC and 24°bTDC and second for 27°bTDC injection timing. Hence, it is concluded that mixing 20% biodiesel with diesel is suggested as a good replacement for diesel. This paper provides a new insight of applying MCDM techniques to evaluate the best fuel blend by decision makers such as engine manufactures and R&D engineers to meet the fuel economy and emission norms to empower green revolution.

Exergy analysis of biodiesel combustion in a direct injection compression ignition (CI) engine using quasi-dimensional multi-zone model

In the present work, the exergy analysis was carried out for a diesel engine fueled with waste cooking oil (WCO) and its blends in four-stroke DI (direct injection) diesel engine at full load operation. To model the combustion process, a computerized version of Shahed's quasi-dimensional multi-zone was used. Moreover, a FORTRAN-based code, which includes 12 species (CO2, H2O, N2, O2, CO, H, OH, H2, N, NO, O, Ar) associated with combustion products was employed to study the exergy analysis. The fuel injection amount was kept constant and five different fuel mixtures (B0, B5, B20, B50 and B100) were employed during a closed cycle. The computational in-cylinder pressures for neat diesel fuel were compared with those of calculated experimentally in the literature, and they showed a good agreement. Various rate and accumulative exergy components were computed with crank position at five fuel compositions. The results showed that as biodiesel increases by volume blends from 0% to 100%, the exergy efficiency increases slightly. The accumulative irreversibility decreased by 4.7%. From the viewpoint of the exergy analysis, for considered biodiesel blends the biodiesel fuel could be used as an alternative fuel without any considerable penalty on converting the fuel exergy to thermal energy in order to produce useful work. Moreover, the exergetic performance coefficient showed that B20 was the optimum biodiesel blend to present the best combustion performance.

Selection of optimum fish oil fuel blend to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions in an IC engine—A hybrid multiple criteria decision aid approach

ABSTRACTThe increasing demand on energy due to population growth and rising of living standards has led to considerable use of fossil fuels which has in turn, had an adverse impact on environmental pollution and depletion of fossil fuels in Internal Combustion (IC) engine sector. Alternative fuel blend evaluation in IC engine fuel technologies is a very important strategic decision involving decisions balancing within a number of criteria and opinions from different decision maker of IC engine experts. The selection of appropriate source of biodiesel and proper blending of biodiesel plays a major role in alternate energy production. This paper describes an application of hybrid Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) technique for the selection of optimum biodiesel blend in the IC engine. The proposed model, Analytical Network Process (ANP) is integrated with Technique for Order Performance by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) to evaluate the optimum blend. Here the ANP is used to determine the relative weights of the criteria, whereas TOPSIS is used for obtaining the final ranking of alternative blends. An efficient pair-wise comparison process and ranking of alternatives can be achieved for optimum blend selection through the integration of ANP and TOPSIS. The obtained preference order for the blends are as B20 > B40 > Diesel > B60 > B80 > B100. This paper highlights a new insight into MCDM techniques to evaluate the best fuel blend for the decision makers such as engine manufactures and R&D engineers to meet the fuel economy and emission norms to empower the green revolution.

Performance characteristics of mix oil biodiesel blends with smoke emissions

Fossil fuel resources are being depleted day by day and its use affects the environment adversely. Renewable energy is one of the alternate for sustainable development and biodiesel is one of the suitable alternate which can replace the diesel. The major hurdles in the successful commercialization of biodiesel are high feedstock cost and conversion technology to reduce viscosity. The choice of raw material and biodiesel production method must depend upon techno-economical view. There are some specific regions for different types of oil availability. It is therefore required to produce biodiesel from the mixture of oils to fulfill the requirements of energy demand in a particular country according to its suitability and availability of feedstock. Karanja and Linseed crops are abundantly available in India. Biodiesel was produced from a mixture of Karanja and Linseed oils by alkaline transesterification. In this experimental study, biodiesel blends of 10%, 20% and 30% were used with diesel in a diesel engine at a constant speed of 1500 rpm with varying brake powers (loads) from 0.5 kW to 3.5kW to evaluate brake thermal efficiency, brake specific fuel consumption, brake specific energy consumption, exhaust gas temperature, mechanical efficiency, volumetric efficiency, air fuel ratio and smoke opacity. They were compared with diesel and found satisfactory. BTE was found to be 28.76% for B10 at 3.5kW load. Smoke opacity was also found to be reduced with all blends. Smoke opacity was found to be reduced up to 10.23% for B10 biodiesel blend as compared to that of diesel at 3.5kW. Experimental investigation has revealed that biodiesel produced from a mixture of Karanja and Linseed oils can be successfully used in diesel engines without any engine modification and B10 was found to be an optimum biodiesel blend in terms of brake thermal efficiency. Article History: Received April 14th 2016; Received in revised form June 25th 2016; Accepted July 10th 2016; Available onlineHow to Cite This Article: Mohite. S, Kumar, S. & Maji, S. (2016) Performance characteristics of mix oil biodiesel blends with smoke emissions. Int. Journal of Renewable Energy Development, 5(2), 163-170.http://dx.doi.org/10.14710/ijred.5.2.163-170

Complementary biodiesel combination from tung and medium-chain fatty acid oils

The complementary blending of tung oil biodiesel with coconut oil and palm kernel oil biodiesels was investigated to improve the biodiesel properties. Tung oil is considered a potential non-edible oil feedstock for biodiesel production. However, tung oil biodiesel has unfavorable fuel properties, including a high density, kinematic viscosity, and iodine value and low oxidation stability because of the high content of α-elaeostearic acid (C18:3). In contrast, medium-chain saturated fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) such as lauric acid methyl ester (C12:0) is the predominant component in palm kernel oil and coconut oil biodiesels. The palm kernel oil and coconut oil biodiesels exhibited a low density, kinematic viscosity, and iodine value as well as high oxidation stability, features that are complementary to the deficiencies of tung oil biodiesel. An optimum blending ratio obtained comprised the COME, PKME, and TME at a weight ratio of 20:20:60. Most of the fuel properties of the optimum biodiesel blend could meet the biodiesel specifications, with the exception of the oxidation stability. In addition, the multiple linear correlations between the properties of biodiesel blends and their FAME composition were established. Furthermore, the effectiveness of butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), N,N′-di-sec-butyl- p -phenylenediamine (PDA), and tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) at concentrations between 1000 and 20,000 ppm was investigated to improve the oxidation stability of the biodiesel blend. ► Coconut and palm kernel oil biodiesels were complementary to tung oil biodiesel. ► An optimal ratio of coconut, palm kernel, and tung oil biodiesels was 20:20:60 wt.%. ► N,N′-di-sec-butyl- p -phenylenediamine was suggested to stabilize the biodiesel blend.

A nonlinear regression based multi-objective optimization of parameters based on experimental data from an IC engine fueled with biodiesel blends

This study reports the results of an experimental investigation of the performance of an IC engine fueled with a Karanja biodiesel blends, followed by multi-objective optimization with respect to engine emissions and fuel economy, in order to determine the optimum biodiesel blend and injection timings complying with Bharat Stage II emission norms. Nonlinear regression has been used to regress the experimentally obtained data to predict the brake thermal efficiency, NOx, HC and smoke emissions based on injection timing, blend ratio and power output. To acquire the data, experimental studies have been conducted on a single cylinder, constant speed (1500 rpm), direct injection diesel engine under variable load conditions and injection timings for neat diesel and various Karanja biodiesel blends (5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 50% and 100%). Retarding the injection timing for neat Karanja biodiesel resulted in an improved efficiency and lower HC emissions. A tradeoff relationship between the NOx and smoke emissions is observed, which makes it difficult to determine the optimum blend ratio. The functional relationship developed between the correlating variables using nonlinear regression is able to predict the performance and emission characteristics with a correlation coefficient (R) in the range of 0.95–0.99 and very low root mean square errors. The outputs obtained using these functions are used to evaluate the multi-objective function of optimization process in the 0–20% blend range. The overall optimum is found to be 13% biodiesel-diesel blend with an injection timing of 24°bTDC, when equal weightage is given to emissions and efficiency.

Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Biodiesel Utilization on Lubricating Oil Degradation and Wear of a Transportation CIDI Engine

In the present experimental research work, rice-bran oil methyl ester (ROME) is derived through transesterification of rice-bran oil using methanol in the presence of sodium hydroxide catalyst. On the basis of previous research for performance, emission, and combustion characteristics, a 20% (v/v) blend of ROME (B20) was selected as optimum biodiesel blend. This experimental investigation was aimed to investigate the effect of biodiesel on wear of in-cylinder engine components. Endurance tests were conducted on a medium duty direct injection transportation diesel engine with B20. Tests were conducted under predetermined loading cycles in two phases: engine operating on mineral diesel (B00) and engine fueled with B20. After completion of these tests, engines were dismantled for observing the physical condition of various vital engine parts, e.g., piston rings, bearings, cylinder liner, and cylinder head. Physical measurements of these vital parts were also carried out to assess the wear of these parts. The physical wear of various parts except big end bearings (connecting rod bearing bore) were found to be lower in the case of B20 fueled engine. Wear metals in the lubricating oil samples drawn from the engines at regular intervals were investigated. Relatively lower wear concentrations of all wear metals except lead were found in the lubricating oil of B20 fueled engine. To quantify the wear of cylinder liners, surface parameters at different locations in the liner (top dead center, bottom dead center, and midstroke) were measured and compared. A qualitative analysis was also carried out by conducting surface profiles and scanning electron microscopy at the same locations.

Experimental investigations of the effect of biodiesel utilization on lubricating oil tribology in diesel engines

Biodiesel is an alternative fuel derived from vegetable oils by modifying their molecular structure through a transesterification process. Linseed oil methyl ester (LOME) was prepared using methanol in the presence of potassium hydroxide as a catalyst. The use of LOME in compression ignition engines was found to develop a very compatible engine-fuel system with lower emission characteristics. Two identical engines were subjected to long-term endurance tests, fuelled by an optimum biodiesel blend (20 per cent LOME) and diesel oil, respectively. Various tribological studies on lubricating oil samples drawn at regular intervals from both engines were conducted in order to correlate the comparative performance of the two fuels and the effect of fuel chemistry on lubricating oil performance and life. A number of tests were conducted in order to evaluate the comparative performances of the two fuels such as density measurement, viscosity measurements, Flashpoint determination, moisture content determination, pentane and benzene insolubles, thin layer chromatography, differential scanning calorimetry, etc. All these tests were used for an indirect interpretation of the comparative performance of these fuels. The performance of biodiesel fuel is found to be superior to that of diesel oil and the lubricating oil life is found to be longer while operating the engine on biodiesel

Wear Assessment in a Biodiesel Fueled Compression Ignition Engine

Biodiesel is prepared using linseed oil and methanol by the process of transesterification. Use of linseed oil methyl ester (LOME) in a compression ignition engine was found to develop a highly compatible engine-fuel system with low emission characteristics. Two similar engines were operated using optimum biodiesel blend and mineral diesel oil, respectively. These were subjected to long-term endurance tests. Lubricating oil samples drawn from both engines after a fixed interval were subjected to elemental analysis. Quantification of various metal debris concentrations was done by atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). Wear metals were found to be about 30% lower for a biodiesel-operated engine system. Lubricating oil samples were also subjected to ferrography indicating lower wear debris concentrations for a biodiesel-operated engine. The additional lubricating property of LOME present in the fuel resulted in lower wear and improved life of moving components in a biodiesel-fuelled engine. However, this needed experimental verification and quantification. A series of experiments were thus conducted to compare the lubricity of various concentrations of LOME in biodiesel blends. Long duration tests were conducted using reciprocating motion in an SRV optimol wear tester to evaluate the coefficient of friction, specific wear rates, etc. The extent of damage, coefficient of friction, and specific wear rates decreased with increase in the percentage of LOME in the biodiesel blend. Scanning electron microscopy was conducted on the surfaces exposed to wear. The disk and pin using 20% biodiesel blend as the lubricating oil showed lesser damage compared to the one subjected to diesel oil as the lubricating fluid, confirming additional lubricity of biodiesel.

Effect of Biodiesel Utilization of Wear of Vital Parts in Compression Ignition Engine

The combustion related properties of vegetable oils are somewhat similar to diesel oil. Neat vegetable oils or their blends with diesel, however, pose various long-term problems in compression ignition engines, e.g., poor atomization characteristics, ring-sticking, injector coking, injector deposits, injector pump failure, and lube oil dilution by crank-case polymerization. These undesirable features of vegetable oils are because of their inherent properties like high viscosity, low volatility, and polyunsaturated character. Linseed oil methyl ester (LOME) was prepared using methanol for long-term engine operations. The physical and combustion-related properties of the fuels thus developed were found to be closer to that of the diesel oil. A blend of 20 percent was selected as optimum biodiesel blend. Two similar new engines were completely disassembled and subjected to dimensioning of various vital moving parts and then subjected to long-term endurance tests on 20 percent biodiesel blend and diesel oil, respectively. After completion of the test, both the engines were again disassembled for physical inspection and wear measurement of various vital parts. The physical wear of various vital parts, injector coking, carbon deposits on piston, and ring sticking were found to be substantially lower in case of 20 percent biodiesel-fuelled engine. The lubricating oil samples drawn from both engines were subjected to atomic absorption spectroscopy for measurement of various wear metal traces present. AAS tests confirmed substantially lower wear and thus improved life for biodiesel operated engines.

Biodiesel Development and Characterization for Use as a Fuel in Compression Ignition Engines

Neat vegetable oils pose some problems when subjected to prolonged usage in CI engine. These problems are attributed to high viscosity, low volatility and polyunsaturated character of the neat vegetable oils. These problems are reduced to minimum by subjecting the vegetable oils to the process of transesterification. Various properties of the biodiesel thus developed are evaluated and compared in relation to that of conventional diesel oil. These tests for biodiesel and diesel oil include density, viscosity, flash point, aniline point/cetane number, calorific value, etc. The prepared biodiesel was then subjected to performance and emission tests in order to evaluate its actual performance, when used as a diesel engine fuel. The data generated for various concentrations of biodiesel blends were compared with base line data generated for neat diesel oil. It was found that 20 percent blend of biodiesel gave the best performance amongst all blends. It gave net advantage of 2.5 percent in peak thermal efficiency and there was substantial reduction in smoke opacity values. This blend was chosen for long term endurance test. The engine operating on optimum biodiesel blend showed substantially improved behavior. A series of engine tests provided adequate and relevant information that the biodiesel can be used as an alternative, environment friendly fuel in existing diesel engines without substantial hardware modification.