A study of emission characteristic, deposits, and lubrication oil degradation of a diesel engine running on preheated vegetable oil and diesel oil

Vegetable oils are always considered as the potential sources since the renewable and alternative fuels have been being paid attention by all countries in the world based on the strategies of the environmental pollution reduction. The aim of this experimental study is to evaluate the effects of as-used fuels on emission characteristics, deposit formation, and lubricating oil (LO) degradation of a 4 stroke-4 cylinder diesel engine running on preheated vegetable oil and diesel oil. All tests were conducted under 2000 rpm of engine speed, and 80hp of power within different periods of time depending on the test purposes. The ICP-MS analyzer was used to measure the LO quality through the parameters of kinematic viscosity, density, and metal concentrations on the basis of ASTM D5185-09 standard after every 25 hours of the test duration. Meanwhile, the emission characteristics were tested by an exhaust analyzer after every 50 hours, and deposit formation on piston crown and piston groove was evaluated by the assistance of Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) after 300 hours of the test. Besides, the thorough analysis related to the relationship between deposit formation, the degradation of the engine LO and emission characteristics were presented.