Tamanu oil - an alternative fuel for variable compression ratio engine

Biodiesel can be produced from vegetable oils and also from waste fats. Biodiesel is a mono-alkyl-ester of long chain fatty acids derived from renewable feedstock such as vegetable oils by transesterification process. The esterified cotton seed oil, pungam oil, rice bran oil, and tamanu oil are chosen as the alternative fuels. Among these oils, tamanu oil is considered for the first time as an alternative fuel. An experiment is conducted to obtain the operating characteristics of the variable compression ratio (VCR) engine run by chosen esterified oils, and the results are compared with esterified tamanu oil. From the comparison of results, it is inferred that the engine performance is improved with significant reduction in emissions for the chosen oils without any engine modification. The effective compression ratio can be fixed based on the experimental results obtained in the engine since the findings of the present research work infer that the biodiesel obtained from tamanu oil is a promising alternative fuel for direct-injection four-stroke VCR engine.

[1]  Zongxuan Sun,et al.  Late Intake Valve Closing as an Emissions Control Strategy at Tier 2 Bin 5 Engine-Out NOx Level , 2008 .

[2]  Juhun Song,et al.  Biodiesel combustion, emissions and emission control , 2007 .

[3]  A. Humke,et al.  Performance and Emissions Characteristics of a Naturally Aspirated Diesel Engine with Vegetable Oil Fuels-(Part 2) , 1981 .

[4]  G. Greeves,et al.  Factors Affecting Smoke and Gaseous Emissions from Direct Injection Engines and a Method of Calculation , 1973 .

[5]  Metin Gumus,et al.  Performance and emission evaluation of a compression ignition engine using a biodiesel (apricot seed kernel oil methyl ester) and its blends with diesel fuel , 2010 .

[6]  Dennis N. Assanis,et al.  LEAN AND RICH PREMIXED COMPRESSION IGNITION COMBUSTION IN A LIGHT-DUTY DIESEL ENGINE , 2005 .

[7]  H. Y. Shrirame,et al.  PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF A DIESEL ENGINE FUELED WITH METHYL ESTER OF CASTOR SEED OIL , 2010 .

[8]  A. Koca,et al.  Comparison of performance and emissions of diesel fuel, rapeseed and soybean oil methyl esters injected at different pressures , 2010 .

[9]  Haji Hassan Masjuki,et al.  Investigations on Preheated Palm Oil Methyl Esters in the Diesel Engine , 1996 .

[10]  Yutaka Murata,et al.  Emissions suppression mechanism of premixed diesel combustion with variable valve timing , 2007 .

[11]  M. D. Schrock,et al.  Methyl and ethyl soybean esters as renewable fuels for diesel engines , 1984 .

[12]  S. Saravanan,et al.  Combustion characteristics of a stationary diesel engine fuelled with a blend of crude rice bran oil methyl ester and diesel , 2010 .

[13]  J. V. Gerpen,et al.  The effect of biodiesel oxidation on engine performance and emissions , 2001 .

[14]  Larry E. Wagner,et al.  Effects of soybean oil esters on the performance, lubricating oil, and water of diesel engines , 1984 .

[15]  N. S. Rathore,et al.  Experimental investigation of the effect of compression ratio and injection pressure in a direct injection diesel engine running on Jatropha methyl ester , 2010 .

[16]  C. Muraleedharan,et al.  Use of vegetable oils as I.C. engine fuels—A review , 2004 .

[17]  L. W. Lehman,et al.  The preparation of alkyl esters from highly unsaturated triglycerides , 1963 .

[18]  J. G. Hawley,et al.  Diesel engine exhaust gas recirculation--a review on advanced and novel concepts , 2004 .

[19]  Chris Brace,et al.  Dynamic Behaviour of a High Speed Direct Injection Diesel Engine , 1999 .