Abstract

Performance and emission study of rice bran oil methyl ester in a 4-stroke natural aspirated direct injection diesel engine

Author(s): Sharanappa Godiganur, R.P.Reddy

Fossil fuel resources are decreasing daily.As a renewable energy, biodiesel has been receiving increasing attention because of the relevance it gains fromthe rising petroleumprice and its environmental advantages.Biodiesel operates in conventional combustion-ignitionengines rangingfromlight to heavy-duty, just like petroleumdiesel.No engine modifications are required, and biodieselmaintains the payload capacity and range of diesel. This paper presents the results of investigations carried out in studying the fuel properties of rice branmethyl ester (ROME) and its blendwith diesel from10%to 50% by volume and in running a diesel engine, incorporatedwith eddy current dynamometerwith these fuels. Engineperformance(brake specificfuel consumption, specific energyconsumption, brake thermal efficiencyand exhaust gas temperature) and emissions (CO,HCandNOx)weremeasured to evaluate and compute the behavior of the diesel engine running on biodiesel. The reductions in exhaust emissions and brake specific fuel consumptiontogetherwithincrease brake power, brake thermal efficiencymade the blend of biodiesel (B20) a suitable alternative fuel for diesel and thus could help in controllingair pollution.