International Conference on Recent Advances in Mechanical Engineering and Interdisciplinary Developments [ICRAMID - 2014]

Biofuel (Cooking Oil) Blends Contribution in DI

Diesel Engine - Performance & Emission Study
N.Kanthavelkumaran

P.Seenikannan

Mechanical Engineering,
Arunachala College of Engineering for Women,
Manavilai, Vellichanthai, Tamilnadu, India
kanthavelpriya@yahoo.com

Abstract - In present scenario researchers focusing the

alternate sources of petroleum products. Based on this,
current research work focused the emission study of its
characteristics and potential as a substitute for Diesel
fuel in CI engines. Current research biodiesel is
produced by base catalyzed transesterification of rice
bran oil is known as Rice Bran Oil Methyl Ester
(Biofuel). In this research various proportions of
Biofuel and Diesel are prepared on volume basis. It is
used as fuels in a four stroke single cylinder direct
injection Diesel engine to study the performance and
emission characteristics of these fuels. Varieties of
results obtained, that shows around 50% reduction in
smoke, 33% reduction in HC and 38% reduction in CO
emissions. In result discussion a different blends of the
brake power and BTE are reduced nearly 2 to 3% and
3 to 4% respectively around 5% increase in the SFC.
Therefore it is accomplished from the this experimental
work that the blends of Biofuel and Diesel fuel can
successfully be used in Diesel engines as an alternative
fuel without any modification in the engine. It is also
environment friendly blended fuel by the various
emission standards.
Keywords Biofuel, Blend, Exhaust Emission, RBOBD,
Transesterification

Mechanical Engineering,
Sethu Institute of Technology,
Pulloor, Kariapatti, India
seenipkannan@yahoo.co.in

transesterification are popularly known as biodiesel. India

taking efforts are being made for using non-edible and
under exploited oils for production of methyl esters or
biodiesel [1]. Blending petroleum Diesel fuel with methyl
esters of vegetable oils is the most common practice of
using biodiesel in diesel engines in current time. It shows a
report that significant reductions in the exhaust gas are
achieved with the use of blends in Diesel engines [2].
Quite a lot of studies have shown that diesel and
biodiesel blends reduce un-burnt hydrocarbons, smoke
opacity, carbon dioxide, particulate matters and carbon
monoxide emissions, but the Oxides of Nitrogen emissions
have slightly increased [3]. It was mention detailed from
several earlier studies that the transesterification of the
crude vegetable oil with alcohol in the incidence of catalyst
is the easiest method for production of biodiesel [4, 5]. A
constituent of rice bran oil is the antioxidant -oryzanol, at
around 2.5% of crude oil content. Attention to be a single
compound when initially remote, it is now known to be a
mixture of steryl and other triterpenyl esters of ferulic acids
[6]. It is the relatively high fractions of tocopherols and
tocotrienols, together as vitamin E. Phytosterols category a
rice bran oil is rich. The present experimental work shows
about the production of biodiesel from rice bran oil by
transesterification with methanol, production of
investigational fuels for the engine test in the form of three
blends of rice bran oil biodiesel (RBOBD) and Diesel as
B10, B20 and B30 and measurement of various engine
performance parameters and exhaust emissions.

I. INTRODUCTION
Usage of vegetable oils in Diesel engines restore
petroleum diesel is being studied over the last century.
Many scientists and researchers over the years have studied
various types of vegetable oils and their use in Diesel
engines. On the other hand some physico-chemical
properties of vegetable oils like low volatility, high
viscosity, density and formation of carbon deposits tend to
boundary their use as fuel in DI Diesel engines. This kind
of work was experimentally established and internationally
accepted that the transesterification process is an effective
method for biodiesel preparation and reduce in viscosity
and density of vegetable oils. Reversible reaction between
the triglycerides of the vegetable oil and alcohol in the
presence of an acid or base as catalyst in transesterification
processes. As a result of transesterification the monoalkyl
esters of the vegetable oil are formed and glycerin is
produced as a byproduct in the process. The monoalkyl or
methyl esters of the vegetable oil produced during

II. PRODUCTION OF BIODIESEL & BLENDS

Rice bran oil and methanol were mixed in a molar ratio of
3:1 and the mixture was dispensed into the investigation
reactor. Then base catalyst (KOH) in 1% volume was
added into the already present mixture in the reactor. The
mixture inside the reactor was heated to a temperature of
65oC and stirred incessantly [7]. The mixture in the reactor
was allowed to remain at the same temperature for a period
of 3 hours and then it was permissible to settle under
gravity. When the settling process were completed two
layers were formed, the top layer was found to be Rice bran
oil methyl esters (RBOME) and the bottom layer being
glycerol. After that, the glycerol was separated out and the
RBOME was mixed with 10% (by volume) hot water and
shaken properly and allowed to settle again for 24 hours

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International Conference on Recent Advances in Mechanical Engineering and Interdisciplinary Developments [ICRAMID - 2014]

(One day). After settling was over the bottom layer was
separated which contained KOH and water. The fraction
was biodiesel and moisture. After completing the moisture
removal pure biodiesel or RBOME was obtained.
When the production of Rice Bran Oil Methyl
Ester, it was blended with neat diesel fuel in various
volume concentrations to prepare blends of biodiesel.
These blends were subsequently used in the
experimentation. The level of blending for convenience is
referred as BAA. Where, AA indicates the percentage of
biodiesel present in the blends. For example a B10 blend is
prepared with 10% biodiesel and 90% diesel oil by volume.
During the present engine experiments the blends prepared
and used were B10, B20 and B30.
III. TEST FUEL & EXPERIMENTATION
The test fuels used in the engine during the experiments
were B10, B20, B30 and Diesel oil. Before application on
the engine, different physico-chemical properties of all the
above test fuels were determined and compared to each
other.
Table 1. Properties of Diesel and RBOME
Rice bran oil
Fuel properties
DIESEL
biodiesel
Density(gm/cc)
0.831
0.872
Viscosity(cSt)

3.21

4.81

Flash point(C)

76

157

Cetane number
Calorific
value(KJ/KG)

47.2

51.6

44585

41382

Cubic Capacity
Method of ignition
Cylinder Diameter
Piston Stroke
Engine Weight
Compression ratio
Dynamometer
Rated Output

:
0.553(ltr)
:
CI Diesel Engine
:
80 mm
:
110 mm
:
130 kg
:
16.5: 1
: Eddy Current Dynamometer
:
5.1 kW

The current sets of experiments were carried out

on a four stroke single cylinder direct injection water
cooled diesel engine equipped with eddy current
dynamometer. For this investigation two separate fuel tanks
with fuel flow control valves were used for the operation of
the engine on diesel and biodiesel. For that, one fuel tank
contained diesel and the other tank was filled with
individual fuel blends of B10, B20 and B30. The engine
was operated with full load and constant speed. The
performance parameters like brake power, torque, specific
fuel consumption and brake thermal efficiency were
measured for diesel and all blended fuels. The CO and HC
emissions were also measured for diesel and all blended
fuels by using the data obtained from the exhaust gas
analyzer.
IV. RESULTS & DISCUSSION
A. CO Emissions

A. Experimental Setup
A schematic diagram of the experimental setup and test
apparatus are given below.

Fig 2. Emission Strategy Load vs CO

Fig 2 shows a variation in CO emission at different loads
with all blended fuels. At low and medium loads, CO
emissions of the blends were not much diverse from those
of diesel fuel [8]. However at full load conditions the CO
emissions of the blends diminish significantly when
compared to those of sole fuel. This kind of performance
can be recognized towards the complete combustion
occurring in case of blends due to the presence of oxygen
in the methyl esters of rice bran oil.
B. HC Emissions
Fig 3 shows a variation in HC emission at different
loads with all blended fuels. At lower loads the HC
emissions are typically less and at higher loads they are
more.

Fig 1. Layout of Experimental Setup

B. Specification of Test Engine
Engine type
:
Kirloskar AV 1 engine
No. of Cylinder
:
Single Cylinder
Cooling Method
:
Water-Cooled,

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International Conference on Recent Advances in Mechanical Engineering and Interdisciplinary Developments [ICRAMID - 2014]

a reduction for the blends of Rice Bran Oil Methyl Ester

shown in fig 5. Nevertheless, B10 blend the brake power
developed is very close to that with diesel. A 2.6 %
reduction in brake power is obtained with the B30 blend.
The lesser value of power output with biodiesel blends is
due to the lowering heating value and higher viscosity of
the blends as compared to petro diesel [13].
E. Brake Thermal Efficiency

Fig 3. Emission Strategy Load vs HC

However at maximum load operation the HC emission is
higher for diesel [9]. With higher blends of biodiesel the
HC emission gradually decreases [10].
C. Smoke Opacity

Fig 6. Performance BMEP vs BTE

While increasing the brake power, brake thermal efficiency
(BTE) increases for all types of fuels. The BTE is
identified maximum in case of diesel than remaining three
blends of RBOME. As the percentage of biodiesel
increases in the blend it results in a slightly decreases in
BTE. A 3.4% decrease in BTE is observed for the B30
blend in the experiments. This is due to the exact
information that with higher blends of biodiesel, the fuel
are more viscous so lower is the heating value [14].
F. Brake Specific Fuel Consumption

Fig 4. Emission Strategy Load vs Smoke Opacity

The variation in smoke emission at different loads with all
the test fuels is shown in Fig 4. The smoke is created due to
incomplete combustion of fuel in the combustion chamber
[11]. It is seen from the graph, smoke emissions are less
with blends of RBOME in comparison to that of diesel
fuel. This is because of improved combustion of blends due
to the accessibility of more oxygen in biodiesel [12].
D. Brake Power

Fig 7. Performance BMEP vs BSFC

The brake specific fuel consumption was found to be
lowest for diesel and tend to raise a little with the biodiesel
blends shown in fig 4. The BSFC is more with higher
blends of biodiesel. BSFC is observed in case of the B30
blend raise up to 5%. This is because of higher viscosity
and lower heating value of the blends as compared to petro
diesel.
Fig 5. Performance Load vs BP

V. CONCLUSIONS
The main goal of this study was production and
characterization of biodiesel from Rice bran oil and
preparation of B10, B20, and B30 blends for use in a single

During the experimentation the power developed by the

engine at varying load is higher for Diesel and slightly with

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International Conference on Recent Advances in Mechanical Engineering and Interdisciplinary Developments [ICRAMID - 2014]

cylinder DI diesel engine. The brake power of the engine

using all the blends of RBOME is very close to the value
obtained with diesel. A nominal reduction in brake power
is obtained with the B30 blend. The BTE of the test engine
for the three blends was found little lower than the value
obtained with diesel. The engine with B30 blend shows
3.4% reduction in BTE. The BSFC increases linearly with
the increase in biodiesel percentage in the various blends.
Around 5% increase in BSFC is observed with the B30
blend. As per the exhaust emissions with the blends, it was
found that the CO, HC and smoke emissions were reduced
significantly when compared to those of diesel. The results
show around 50% reduction in smoke, 34% reduction in
HC and 38% reduction in CO emissions at maximum load
conditions.
Form the above conclusions; it is identified that the
performance of the test engine when operating with
RBOME blends were very satisfactory. It is very close to
that of Diesel oil and significant improvement was noticed
in the exhaust emissions of CO, HC and Smoke when the
engine was operating with the various blends. So that, this
research conclude that the blends of biodiesel can be
successfully used as substitute fuel in diesel engines
without any engine alterations.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors would like to thank the management of Sethu
Institute of Technology, Kariapatti for their permission to
submit this research article. The authors would also like to
express their appreciation to Dr.A.Senthilkumar, Principal,
Sethu Institute of Technology, Pullor, Kariapatti,
Dr.A.Asha, Professor, Department of Mechanical
Engineering, Kamaraj College of Engineering and
technology, Virudhunagar for their helpful comments.
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