EFFECTS OF FOSSIL DIESEL AND BIODIESEL BLENDS ON THE PERFORMANCES AND EMISSIONS OF AGRICULTURAL TRACTOR ENGINES

Rapid growth in the energy consumption has conditioned the need for discovering the alternative energy resources which would be adapted to the existing engine constructions and which would satisfy the additional criteria related to the renewability, ecology, and reliability of use. Introduction of biodiesel has been the focus of attention over the last ten years. The aim of this research is to investigate the influence of biodiesel on the performances and exhaust gas emissions of medium power agricultural tractor engines (37-66 kW). The reason for the selection of this category is that those types of tractors are most frequently used in agriculture. In this research biodiesel produced from sunflower oil was blended with fossil diesel. Biodiesel, fossil diesel, and fossil diesel blends with 15, 25, 50, and 75%v/v biodiesel were tested for their influence on the engine performances and emissions. The testing was performed on a four-cylinder diesel engine with 48 kW rated power. The experimental research on the engine performances was conducted in compliance with OECD test CODE 2, and the exhaust gas emissions were tested according to the ISO 8178-4, C1. The use of biodiesel and fossil diesel blends reduced the engine power with the increase of biodiesel share in the blend. However, the exception was the blend with 15%v/v biodiesel which induced a slight increase in the engine power. Depending on the share of biodiesel in the blend all blends fuels showed increased specific fuel consumption compared to the fossil diesel. Thermal efficiency increased as a result of more complete combustion of biodiesel and fossil diesel blends. The exhaust gas emissions implied that the addition of biodiesel reduced the content of CO2 and CO, as well as the temperature of exhaust gases, but it increased the emission of NOx.