Experimental Investigations on a Karanja Oil Methyl Ester Fueled DI Diesel Engine

The methyl ester of karanja oil, known as biodiesel, is receiving increasing attention as an alternative fuel for diesel engine. This paper presents the results of investigations carried out in studying the fuel properties of karanja oil methyl ester (KOME) and its blend with diesel from 20% to 80% by volume and in running a DI diesel engine with these fuels. Engine tests have been carried out with the aim of obtaining performance characteristics such as Brake specific fuel consumption(BSFC), brake thermal efficiency, brake power, exhaust gas temperature, emission such as CO, UBHC, NO_x, smoke opacity and combustion parameters to evaluate and compute the behavior of the diesel engine running on KOME and its blends with diesel fuel. The addition of KOME to diesel fuel has significantly reduced CO, UBHC and smoke emissions but it increases the NOx emission slightly. The results show that: no significant power reduction in the engine operation when operated with blends of KOME and diesel fuel. Although there is a slight increase in brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC), brake specific energy consumption (BSEC) has improved. The brake thermal efficiency also improved remarkably at B20 and B40.