Optimization of the Effect of Low Heat Rejection Diesel Engine Using Biodiesel with Taguchi Method

The current study focus on the effect of thermal barrier coated (TBC) piston on diesel engine and also the emission characteristics. The test engine piston was coated with a Ni-Cr-Al-Y bond coat of 50 μm thick and a top coat of 250 μm thick with a mixture of 93% of ZrO₂, 3 % of Y₂O₃, 2 % of Gd₂O₃ and 2% Nd₂O₃ which is coated onto the target surface by following the plasma spray technique. The experimentation will be conducted in a 4-stroke 1-cylinder diesel engine using diesel, Mahua (MB 100) and Jatropha (JB 100) fuels with and without coating. As a result of this investigation, it was found that a coated engine’s brake thermal efficiency (BTE) had increased by 2.8% when compared to the baseline engine and the brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) has been reduced by 3.2 % with a coated piston when compared to the baseline piston when JB 100 was used as a fuel. In coated engines, the hydrocarbon (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions got reduced by 7% and 6.5% the oxide of nitrogen (NOx) emission was increased by 12% compared to the baseline engine. The Taguchi approach was used to estimate the appropriate factor ratios in terms of performance and emission characteristics.