Cut-off Percentage of Ethanol in Diesel-Biodiesel Based Fuel Blends and Analysis of Emissions in Four Stroke-Compression Ignition Engines

Abstract

One of the major challenging problems faced globally is energy security, and new generation researchers’ emphasis is on alternative fuels, which could switch the fossil fuels products entirely or moderately. The current study focuses on the use of ethanol as an alternative fuel for internal combustion engines. The speciality of this fuel is the oxygenated short-chain alcohols. These alcohols may be made through the fermentation of biomass, hence this fuel comes under a renewable source of energy. A four-stroke, single-cylinder, water-cooled and naturally aspirated compression ignition diesel engine was selected for this research. The above engine tested fuels like diesel, blends of diesel and ethanol. Diesel (D 100) (v/v), ethanol 5% with the addition of diesel 95% (E 5) (v/v), ethanol 10% with the addition of diesel 90% (E10) (v/v), ethanol 15% with the addition of diesel 85% (E 15) (v/v) and ethanol 20% with the addition of diesel 80% (E20) (v/v). The influence of the upturn of ethanol in the diesel delivered a decline of nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO) and unburnt hydrocarbons (UHC) matched to diesel fuel. It concluded that in these test fuels, E15 has higher brake thermal efficiency; E20 has higher brake specific fuel consumption. For emissions, E20 is the best blend compared to the remaining test fuels.

Keywords

• ethanol, biodiesel, engine performance, emissions, di diesel engine