Some Experimental Studies on Use of Biodiesel as an Extender in SI Engine

The present study was carried to explore the potential suitability of biodiesel as an extender of Kerosene in an off road dual fuel (gasoline start, kerosene run) generator set and results were compared with kerosene base line data. The biodiesel was blended with kerosene in two different proportions; 2.5% and 5% by volume. Physico-chemical properties of blends were also found to be comparable with kerosene. Engine tests were performed on three test fuels namely K100 (Kerosene 100%), KB 2.5 (Kerosene 97.5% + Biodiesel 2.5%) and KB5 (Kerosene 95% + Biodiesel 5%). It was found that brake thermal efficiency [BTE] increases up to 3.9% while brake specific energy consumption [BSEC] decreases up to 2.2% with increasing 5% volume fraction of biodiesel in kerosene. The exhaust temperature for blends was lower than kerosene. The test engine emitted reduced Carbon monoxide [CO] emission was 7.4 % less than using neat kerosene as compared to kerosene-biodiesel blends. The emission of Oxides of Nitrogen [NOx] was found to be comparable for all test fuels at lower loads. However, at higher loads, a reduction in the NOx emission (11%) for all the blends was observed as compared to kerosene. Hydrocarbon emission of kerosene was also partially reduced in compare to that of K100. It could be summarized that addition of biodiesel in kerosene as an extender can be successfully employed for running a dual fuel SI engine without detrimental effect on engine performance and better emission characteristics.