Experimental Investigations of Diesel Engine Performance Using Blends of Distilled Waste Cooking Oil Biodiesel with Diesel and Economic Feasibility of the Distilled Biodiesel

Abstract

This paper elaborates on the production of distilled biodiesel of standard EN14214 from waste cooking oil (WCO). Its economic viability is assessed and experimental investigations of a single-cylinder, four-stroke engine using a mixture of distilled biodiesel and diesel of Euro 5 standard are described. The physical and chemical characteristics of biodiesel produced from waste cooking oil were determined. Fuel samples prepared with different percentages of biodiesel and diesel were used to run the engine. We observed the effects of increasing the percentage of biodiesel in the mixture on brake power, brake specific fuel consumption, brake thermal efficiency, and the exhaust emission from the engine. The emission species included O2, CO, CO2, NOx, and SO2. Improved engine performance and reduced emissions from the engine were noticed with blended fuels with 10% and 20% distilled WCO biodiesel mixed with 90% and 80% mineral diesel by volume, respectively. The results of this study indicate that the distilled biodiesel blends with mineral diesel can be used as an alternative fuel to run diesel engines without changing the engine design, thereby providing an alternative energy resource with reduced costs for power generation by using engine fuel. An economic assessment and sensitivity analysis were used to determine the feasibility of distilled WCO biodiesel as an alternative fuel to diesel.