Experimental studies on performance and emission measures of a 4-stroke compression ignition engine using palm bio-diesel blended with N-butanol

Abstract

The enormous consumption of energy, stiff increase in oil prices, and customary fuel degradation contribute to massive fuel crises in most of the developed countries. Despite the mild energy disaster and extreme environmental regulations, Diesel engines pose a vital option for automobile vehicles. However, the increased Diesel emissions and the higher labor cost associated to cut down the same make the Bio-diesels blended with N-butanol a better option to resolve the fossil gasoline problems in the future. Hence, the present study highlights the performance and emission measures of a 4-stroke Compression Ignition (CI) engine using N-butanol additive (solvent) with Palm Bio-diesel. Experiments are conducted (i) with only Diesel (ii) with Palm Bio-diesel (in percentages of 10, 15, and 20) mixed with Diesel, and (iii) with N-butanol additive (considered 10% only) to the mixture of Palm Bio-diesel (in percentages of 10, 15, and 20) and Diesel. Experimental analyses are carried out in the same engine using an eddy current dynamometer. The effect of various performance parameters like Brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC), Brake thermal efficiency (BTE), Brake specific energy consumption (BSEC), and Exhaust gas temperature (EGT) on the engine load (varying between 0 and 16 N) is evaluated. On the other hand, different regulated emission measures like Smoke opacity, Nitrogen Oxide (NO_x), Carbon Monoxide (CO), Carbon Dioxide (CO₂), and Hydrocarbons (HC) are also evaluated at the same engine loads. The idea is to identify the feasibility and potential benefits of these biofuel blends in the CI engine. Adding 10% N-butanol to Bio-diesel, the HC, CO₂, CO, and smoke opacity are reduced to a greater extent. The NO_x emissions are also controlled to a larger extent using N-butanol. Again, the BA10 (10% Palm Bio-diesel, 10% N-butanol, and 80% Diesel) has a 2% higher BTE and a 1.33% lower BSFC compared to Diesel and B10 (10% Palm Bio-diesel, and 90% Diesel). The addition of N-butanol to Diesel also helps in reducing the fuel density, kinematic viscosity, and cetane value of blended fuels and can be used as a substitute fuel for Diesel engines.