An Analysis on Combustion Characteristic of CI Engine Using Cotton Seed Methyl Ester and its Blends

Abstract

The notion of using non-edible oils as an alternative for diesel engine is a highly debated area. The high energy crisis and increased environmental concerns makes it a hot topic. In this present work experimental study has been conducted to determine and optimize the combustion characteristics of cotton seed methyl ester (CSME) blends with diesel. Tests were conducted for B10 (10% blend of CSME with diesel), B20 (20% blend of CSME with diesel), B30 (30% blend of CSME with diesel) and was compared with diesel fuel. The brake thermal efficiency of blend B20 and diesel were 29.6% and 30.2% at rated power. Ignition delay, net heat release and in cylinder pressure for blends were found to be higher than diesel at rated power. There was a small increase in the amount of NO_X for B20but HC, CO and smoke opacity were reduced by 32.3%, 10% and 7.7% respectively than that of diesel. The test results show that B20 gives almost equal performance to that of diesel with significant reduction in emission.