PERFORMANCE AND EMISSION CHARACTERISTICS OF A CI ENGINE OPERATED ON VEGETABLE OILS AS ALTERNATIVE FUELS

An experimental analysis was done using a four-stroke, single cylinder, constant speed, water-cooled diesel engine, which was interfaced with Engine software. Performance and emission characteristics were evaluated for three non-edible vegetable oils, i.e. thumba, jojoba, neem oil, as well as jojoba methyl ester, to study the effect of injection pressure at 205, 220, 240 and 260 bar with a variation in injection timing at 23°bTDC and 28°bTDC. The performance of jojoba methyl ester improved with an increase in injection pressure. A maximum brake thermal efficiency of 29.72% was obtained with lower emissions compared to the other vegetable oils; this might be explained by low viscosity and better combustion. Further investigations were carried out with a new lubricant, SAE 5W-30, which improved the performance of the CI engine by 1.59%. All of the abovementioned investigations were fruitful and these results are expected to lead to substantial contributions in the development of a viable vegetable oil engine.