Experimental investigation of evaporation rate and emission studies of diesel engine fuelled with blends of used vegetable oil biodiesel and producer gas

Abstract

An experimental study to measure the evaporation rates, engine performance and emission characteristics of used vegetable oil methyl ester and its blends with producer gas on naturally aspirated vertical single cylinder water cooled four stroke single cylinder diesel engine is presented. The thermo-physical properties of all the bio fuel blends have been measured and presented. Evaporation rates of used vegetable oil methyl ester and its blends have been measured under slow convective environment of air flowing with a constant temperature and the values are compared with fossil diesel. Evaporation constants have been determined by using the droplet regression rate data. The fossil diesel, biodiesel blends and producer gas have been utilized in the test engine with different load conditions to evaluate the performance and emission characteristics of diesel engine and the results are compared with each other. From these observations, it could be noted that, smoke and hydrocarbon drastically reduced with biodiesel in the standard diesel engine without any modifications.