Multi-zone phenomenological combustion modeling of biodiesel fueled compression ignition engine

Abstract

The renewable biodiesel fuel is considered as one of the most promising alternative fuels to compression ignition engines. As there are more than 350 oil-bearing crops with wide variation in their compositional characteristics, it is indispensable to study the combustion characteristics of biodiesel fuels to adopt them as alternative fuels for diesel engines. This article presents a multi-zone phenomenological model for predicting the combustion characteristics of non-edible karanja and jatropha biodiesel fuels in a compression ignition engine. The various thermo-physical properties of the biodiesel fuels needed for the combustion modeling are evaluated based on their methyl ester composition. The model predictions in terms of combustion characteristics of diesel and biodiesel fuels are validated with the experimental results at different engine speed and load conditions. The model predictions are observed to match well with the experimental values within the maximum prediction error of 8.6%. A comparative analysis of combustion characteristics between diesel and biodiesel fuel is also pursued. It is predicted that the peak pressure and spray average peak temperature of karanja and jatropha biodiesel are higher compared to those of diesel fuel which corroborate with the several observations reported in the literature.