Combustion Analysis of Diesel Engine Fueled with Jatropha Oil Methyl Ester - Diesel Blends

Abstract

Abstract This work involves the analysis of the combustion, performance and emission characteristics of a direct injection diesel engine fuelled with jatropha methyl ester (JTME), diesel and their blends. JTME is prepared by the alkali transesterification of Jatropha oil with methanol. The combustion parameters are determined by measuring in-cylinder pressure with respect to crank angle. The results show that ignition delay, maximum heat release rate and combustion duration are lower for JTME and its blends compared to diesel. Though JTME and its blends recorded lower Brake thermal efficiency, they have lower tail pipe emissions as compared to diesel, except for nitrogen oxides. Keywords: Diesel engineJatropha methyl esterBiodieselCombustion characteristicsPerformance and emissions ACKNOWLEDGEMENT We thank the management of Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering for providing us with the necessary experimental setup to perform this research.