Experimental analysis on neat mustard oil methyl ester subjected to ultrasonication and microwave irradiation in four stroke single cylinder Diesel engine

Transesterification of fatty acid using the application of ultrasound stirring and microwave irradiation has been used of late for biodiesel production from various vegetable oil and animal fats. However analysis on influence of these techniques on performance, combustion and emission aspects has received little attention. In this work, transesterification of mustard oil with methanol was performed using ultra sound stirring (42 kHz / 170 W, 80 W) and microwave irradiation (230v AC, 50 Hz, 900 W). Reaction time, conversion rate, fuel properties, performance, emission and combustion characteristics were compared with conventional transesetrification. Results indicated that Mustard oil methyl ester subjected to ultrasonication and microwave irradiation (MOMESUM) has 5.71% more yield than conventional transesterification process. It was also observed that BTE for MOMESUM is improved by 5.84% with 5.14% reduction in BSFC when compared to MOME. CO, HC, NOx and Smoke emission was found to decrease by 11.39%, 3.81%, 7.99% and 5.3% respectively for MOMESUM.