An Experimental Study on the Influence of Blended Karanja Biodiesel on Diesel Engine Characteristics

Abstract

The primary source of global warming is the exploitation of fossil fuels. Biodiesel is a renewable energy source that can be used to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It has emerged as a promising alternative to petroleum-based fuels due to its lower carbon footprint. However, it is important to note that the economic and energy output of vegetable oil plants that are involved in the production of this fuel is not known. Current research trends on biodiesel fuels have been investigated on non-edible oils, which present better performance when blended with diesel. This work studies the performance of karanja-based biodiesel on VCR engines with different Diesel Blending Ratio (DBR) of 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%. Engine performance and exhaust gas analysis tests are carried out on a VCR-diesel engine at various loads to examine specific characteristics of karanja biodiesel as a fuel. As per observations, DBR 10%, 20% of biodiesel exhibited better performance than the other blended fuels. To enhance the performance of DBR 10% and 20% biodiesel were graded up with the addition of 5% Methanol. The overall performance of all blended fuels is compared in all aspects.