Optimisation of performance and emission characteristics of CI engine fuelled with Mahua oil methyl ester–diesel blend using response surface methodology

ABSTRACT

The aim of present study is to optimise the performance and emission characteristics of compression ignition engine fuelled with biodiesel blended diesel fuel using response surface methodology (RSM). During engine trials, two parameters, viz. blend ratio and load torque, were varied and the responses like brake thermal efficiency (BTE), brake-specific fuel consumption (BSFC), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbon (HC), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and smoke opacity were investigated. Statistical tool like RSM was used to design experiments. Optimisation of parameters was performed using the desirability approach of RSM for superior performance and lower emission. The results revealed that at optimal input parameters (40% fuel blend and 15 Nm load torque), the values of performance and emission parameters in optimal solutions: BSFC (kg/kWh): 0.2252, BTE (%): 29.2885, CO (vol. %): 0.00757, HC (ppm): 5.7195, NO_x (ppm): 319.78, smoke (vol. %): 4.50 were found for the Mahua oil methyl esters blended with diesel.

KEYWORDS:

• CI engine
• performance
• optimisation
• Mahua oil methyl ester
• response surface methodology

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.