Annona: A new biodiesel for diesel engine: A comparative experimental investigation

The aim of the present study is to analyze the performance, emission and combustion characteristics of a Single cylinder, Direct Injection (DI), compression ignition (CI) engine using a suitable biodiesel as fuel. The biodiesel selected to conduct this experimental investigation is Annona methyl Ester (AME) and its blends with diesel. The selection of AME is based on an extensive review of literature which indicated that this is relatively unexplored as fuel on a diesel engine. The performance, emission and combustion characteristics are evaluated by operating the engine at different loads. The performance parameters evaluated are Brake thermal efficiency (BTE), Brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) and Total fuel consumption (TFC). The emission constituents measured are Carbon monoxide (CO), Carbon dioxide (CO2), unburned hydrocarbons (HC), Oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and smoke. The combustion parameters evaluated are Cylinder pressure, Heat Release Rate (HRR), Cumulative Heat Release Rate (CHRR). It is found that A20 (20% AME + 80% diesel) blend showed better performance and reduced emission. But, it showed a very marginal increase in NOx emission when compared to diesel. However, A20 can be used as an alternate fuel for DI Cl Diesel engine without any modifications. (C) 2014 Energy Institute. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.