The Effect of Preheating the Inlet Air to Study the Performance and Combustion Characteristics of Diesel Engine using Ethanol Emulsion

The main objective of this paper is to study the performance, combustion characteristics and to control the emissions of the diesel engine using emulsified fuel by preheating the inlet air. The present work has been carried out using single cylinder, four stroke and water cooled diesel engine. In the first phase, three sets of emulsified fuels 50D: 50E (50% diesel: 50% ethanol ' 100% proof), 60D: 40E, 70D: 30E have been prepared and tested. From the experiment, 50D: 50E has given the best performance result than the other emulsified fuel ratios and the diesel fuel. In the second phase, the experiment has been conducted for the diesel fuel and the best result obtained emulsified fuel ratio of 50D: 50E, by preheating the inlet air to 30°C, 40°C and 50°C. From the investigation it is observed that the effect of preheating the inlet air, the emulsified fuel has given the best result than the diesel fuel. Also it has been found that there is reduction in smoke density, particulate matter and exhaust gas temperature with an increase of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and brake thermal efficiency.