Investigation of the effects of high-carbon alcohol addition to camelina oil methyl ester on the performance parameters and soot emission of a diesel engine

Reasons such as environmental problems and price instability have increased the interest in alternative energy sources. Biodiesel, which is a renewable alternative to diesel fuel, is among the most popular alternative fuels. Biodiesel is a biofuel obtained from the esterification of various oils such as vegetable, animal, waste frying and microalgae oils. In this study, the camelina plant, which has great potential in biodiesel production with its outstanding economic and agricultural characteristics, was preferred. The biodiesel was obtained from the camelina oil by the transesterification method, and the effects of adding different amounts of high-carbon alcohol (n-pentanol) to the biodiesel on the performance and formation of soot emissions of a diesel engine were investigated. High-carbon alcohols exhibit better fuel properties compared to low-carbon alcohols such as methanol and ethanol. Due to the increase in the number of carbons in the structure of alcohol, the cetane number and heat value increase, while the self-ignition temperature and the tendency to knock decrease. The engine experiments were carried out with four different fuels, namely diesel fuel (D100), biodiesel (B100), 10% pentanol added biodiesel (B90P10) and 20% pentanol added biodiesel (B80P20), at full-load variable-speed conditions. The experimental results revealed an improvement in the engine performance with the addition of 10% pentanol to biodiesel, while the performance parameters get worse with increasing pentanol ratio. In addition, due to the oxygen content of pentanol, it has been determined that it has positive effect on reducing the smoke emissions.

Automated summary

Environmental problems and price instability have led to a growing interest in alternative energy sources. Biodiesel, a renewable substitute for diesel fuel, is a popular alternative fuel. This study focused on camelina plants as a potential source for biodiesel production. By transesterification, biodiesel was obtained from camelina oil, and the effects of adding high-carbon alcohol (n-pentanol) to biodiesel were studied in terms of engine performance and soot emissions. Results showed that the addition of 10% pentanol improved engine performance, but increasing the pentanol ratio had a negative impact. Additionally, the presence of pentanol's oxygen content was found to reduce smoke emissions.