Properties and Use of Jatropha Curcas Ethyl Ester and Diesel Fuel Blends in Variable Compression Ignition Engine

摘要

There is an increasing interest in India to search for suitable alternative fuels that are environmental friendly. This paper presents the results of investigations carried out in studying the fuel properties of Jatropha ethyl ester and its blend with diesel fuel from 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% blends by volume and compare performance, emission characteristics of ester blends with base line results of diesel fuel at compression ratio of 17.5:1. The performance parameters evaluated were: brake thermal efficiency, brake specific fuel consumption, mechanical efficiency, and volumetric efficiency and exhaust gas temperature. The emission parameters evaluated were: carbon monoxide and oxides of nitrogen. The brake thermal efficiency of Jatropha ethyl ester blends with diesel were higher than diesel fuel. The maximum brake thermal efficiency and brake specific fuel consumption at 75% of rated load for B40 blend was 9.8% and 4.9% higher than that of diesel fuel respectively. Brake specific fuel consumption was found to be higher for all blends. The exhaust gas temperature increased with increase in load and amount of blended ester in the diesel fuel. Mechanical efficiency for all the blends increased with increase in load. However, CO emission was found to be lower for Jatropha ethyl ester blend. NOx emissions on Jatropha ethyl ester blends were higher than Diesel fuel.