Effect of Diesel/Biodiesel Blended Fuels on Performance of C.I. Engine

A single cylinder four stroke diesel engine (Kirloskar) was tested at full load with the blended fuel at the rated speed of 1500 rpm. MOME, MOEE and WCME blended with diesel in proportions of 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%, by volume and pure diesel were used as fuel. Engine performance (specific fuel consumption, brake thermal efficiency, and Brake power) and exhaust emission (HC, CO, CO2 and NOx) were measured to evaluate and compute the behavior of the diesel engine running on biodiesel. The results show that the brake thermal efficiency of diesel is higher at all loads followed by blends of Mahua methyl ester and diesel. Experimentally the maximum brake thermal efficiency and minimum specific fuel consumption were found for blends up to 20% Mahua oil methyl ester at all loads among the blends. The specific fuel consumption was found to be even lower than the conventional diesel for blends up to B20. The CO emissions were found to be lesser than diesel while there was a slight increase in the smoke opacity and NOx. The reductions in brake specific fuel consumption and CO emissions made the blend of biodiesel B20 a suitable alternative fuel for diesel Engine.