Performance analysis of blends of karanja methyl ester in a compression ignition engine

Abstract

On the face of the upcoming energy crisis, vegetable oils have come up as a promising source of fuel. They are being studied widely because of their abundant availability, renewable nature and better performance when used in engines. Many vegetable oils have been investigated in compression ignition engine by fuel modification or engine modification. The vegetable oils have very high density and viscosity, so we have used the methyl ester of the oil to overcome these problems. Their use in form of methyl esters in non modified engines has given encouraging results. Karanja oil (Pongamia Pinnata) is non edible in nature is available abundantly in India. An experimental investigation was made to evaluate the performance, emission and combustion characteristics of a diesel engine using different blends of methyl ester of karanja with mineral diesel. Karanja methyl ester was blended with diesel in proportions of 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50% and 100% by mass and studied under various load conditions in a compression ignition (diesel) engine. The performance parameters were found to be very close to that of mineral diesel. The brake thermal efficiency and mechanical efficiency were better than mineral diesel for some specific blending ratios under certain load.