Experimental Investigation on the Effectiveness of Biodiesel Based Sulfur as an Additive in Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel on the Unmodified Engine

ABSTRACT

Adequate lubricity and energy content play a significant role in fuel injection and performance in the diesel engine. The major challenge with ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) is lower lubricity. This study aims to perform experimental analysis to investigate the wear behavior of commercial diesel with biodiesel-based sulfur (BBS) solution as an additive and examine the engine characteristics. BBS is a novel solution with higher ester and sulfur content (500 ppm). By doping this novel solution, two test fuels, BS6D1 and BS6D2 were prepared with a sulfur concentration between BS4 and BS6 commercial diesels. Compared to BS6 commercial diesel, the BS6D2 sample showed a significant reduction in mean wear scar diameter (MWSD) and coefficient of friction (COF) by 43.97% and 33%, respectively. At peak load, BS6D2 had 4.13% higher brake thermal efficiency than BS6 diesel. Due to enhanced ignition quality, the brake-specific energy consumption (BSEC) for the BS6D2 sample was found to be the lowest, i.e., 3.85% less than BS6 diesel. Furthermore, a significant reduction in exhaust pollutants for BS6D2 sample compared to BS6 diesel at maximum loads, such as smoke opacity (14.06%), unburnt hydrocarbon (8.82%), and carbon monoxide (20.45%). In conclusion, the BS6D2 sample produces the best results of all the tested fuel samples evaluated on the unmodified diesel engine.

KEYWORDS:

• Commercial diesel
• high-frequency reciprocating rig (HFRR)
• performance
• emissions
• sulfur doping

Abbreviations

ULSD: Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel; EGT: Exhaust Gas Temperature (°C); BMEP: Brake Mean Effective Pressure; MWSD: Mean Wear Scar Diameter (mm); HFRR: High-Frequency Reciprocating; BSEC: Brake Specific Energy Consumption; BTE: Brake Thermal Efficiency (%); ASTM American Society for Testing and Materials; BTDC: before Top Dead Center; BBS: Biodiesel-Based Sulfur Solution (500 ppm); PM: Particulate Matter (%); BS4 Bharat Stage IV Diesel (37.35 ppm sulfur); CO: Carbon Monoxide (%); BS6: Bharat Stage VI Diesel (3.25 ppm sulfur); NO: Nitrogen Oxides (ppm); BS6D1: Doped Bharat Stage VI Diesel (23.35 ppm); UBHC: Unburnt Hydrocarbon (ppm); BS6D2: Doped Bharat Stage VI Diesel (35.82 ppm)

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Future scope

The author suggests that using the biodiesel-based sulfur solution in commercially available BS6 diesel improves the engine and fuel tribological attributes. However, more work remains to be done in terms of combustion analysis, the effect of advancement in injection timing on engine characteristics, NO_x emission control at medium to high loading conditions, and the optimal sulfur concentration in diesel fuel, all of which might be considered future work for adapting such novel fuels to the internal combustion engines.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.