Experimental evaluation of combustion, emission and performance of research diesel engine fuelled di-methyl- carbonate and biodiesel blends

This study details an outcome of the Di-methyl-carbonate(DMC) as a cetane improver on neat Almond biodiesel (BD100) to evaluate the emission and performance engine characteristics. Four fuels namely diesel, biodiesel (Almond Methyl Ester), a blend of B100-10% and 20% by volume of DMC (BD9ODMC1Oand BD8ODMC20) are prepared and tested on a stationary research diesel engine. The experimental parameters for BD8ODMC20 showed a 1.6% increase in thermal efficiency thereby reducing 4.1% of fuel consumption than the neat biodiesel at peak conditions. Experimental outcomes revealed that 20% of DMC reduces 7.4% CO, 5.2% HC and 4.7% NOx and 3.6% smoke emissions of BD100. Further, The DMC inclusion at 10% volume significantly reduces the peak pressure and increases the net Heat Release rate values and its corresponding CA. An inclusion of 20% DMC in BD100 reduces the In-Cylinder Pressure and increases the Net Heat Release Rate values by 2.2% and 4.7% respectively than BD100. From this study, it is inferred that BD8ODMC20 blend could be utilized as a substitute fuel for CI engine.