Abstract

The use of biodiesel, the methyl esters of vegetable oils are becoming popular due to their low environmental impact and potential as a green alternative fuel for diesel engine. The aim of this study is to potential use of Pongamia oil methyl ester as a substitute for diesel fuel in diesel engine. Various proportions of Pongamia and Diesel (B25, B50, B75, and B100) are prepared by transesterification process on volume basis and used as fuels in a four stroke single cylinder direct injection diesel engine to study the performance and emission characteristics of these fuels and compared with neat diesel fuel. The engine tests have been carried out with the aim of obtaining brake thermal efficiency, BSFC, Emission levels and the behavior of the diesel engine running on Pongamia oil and its blend. This blend B25 substantially reduces the CO emission and emission of NOx in exhaust gases. When biodiesel was used as the fuel, acceptable changes occurred in the performance values. The maximum brake mean effective pressure (BMEP) obtained with the biodiesel was slightly higher than that obtained with the diesel fuel, with the difference being just slight under maximum power. While biodiesel increase the maximum engine power, it reduces the brake specific fuel consumption. Changes of maximum cylinder pressure have occurred at the same magnitude for both fuels for the same engine speeds. The overall analysis has shown that biodiesel has potential as an alternative fuel in conventional internal combustion engines.

Authors and Affiliations