Comparative study of performance and emission characteristics of Jatropha alkyl ester/butanol/diesel blends in a small capacity CI engine

Abstract

In order to meet growing global energy requirement and environmental norms, exhaustive research is being carried out to switch the energy demand to alternative energy sources. The main objective of the present study is to produce biodiesel from non-edible vegetable oil and compare the performance and emission parameters with diesel fuel. The use of vegetable oil has encountered problems due to its high viscosity, low volatilities, and high density. To avoid these problems the biodiesel is a substitute in CI engines. In this paper, biodiesel is produced using Jatropha methyl/ethyl ester and further blending it with diesel and butanol. The transesterification reaction is chosen for this process, with sodium methoxide as the catalyst. Comparison studies on the yield of esters using methanol and ethanol, as well as the impacts on the reaction rates, are discussed. The effects of reaction time and molar ratio on the reaction conversion are also examined. Determination of reaction yield is based on the conversion of triglycerides into alkyl esters as the main product. The performance parameters are evaluated such as BTE and Brake Specific Energy Consumption (BSEC) along with emissions of CO, HC, NO_x and smoke opacity for the test fuels. Combustion analysis was done using cylinder pressure and heat release rate with respect to crank angle.

Keywords:

• biodiesel
• Jatropha ethyl ester
• Jatropha methyl ester
• butanol
• petrodiesel blends

Acknowledgments

Research was conducted at Centre for Advanced Studies and Research in Automotive Engineering (CASRAE) Lab at Delhi Technological University, Delhi, India. I would like to acknowledge the help Mr Vasu Kumar provided at each and every step of the research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.