Evaluation of Diesel Engine Performance Using Neem Oil Methyl Esters and Biogas as an Alternative Source

Abstract

Abstract

The Neem oil methyl ester (NOME) used as a biofuel is produced by transestetrification process with an aim to reduce the viscosity level, fuel economy and less environmental pollution. Further, addition of biogas to the NOME is expected to improve the performance. The objective of study was to evaluate the performance parameters such as Total fuel consumption (TFC), Specific fuel consumption (SFC) and Brake thermal efficiency (BTE). The experiment was carried out on 3.7Kw diesel engine under dual-fuel mode. NOME and methane enriched biogas was used for experimentation; biogas was directly admitted to the engine along with air. The tests were carried out for B25, B50, B75 and B100 of NOME with constant flow of 0.5 LPM biogas. An electrical loading was applied up to 80% with an interval of 20% and the parameters such as fuel consumption, voltage, current and exhaust gas temperature was recorded. The maximum thermal efficiency of 18.16%, TFC of 1.2 kg/h and SFC of 0.25 kg/hr was obtained. An injection angle of 23° and injection pressure of 180 bar was set for the experiment. The experiment suggested that B25 is the blend in which better performance was recorded and also observed that increased biogas flow rate reduces fuel consumption but greater than 0.5 LPM biogas flow rate leads distinguishable noise in the engine.

Keywords: Biogas, neem oil, diesel engine, neem oil methyl esters (NOME)

Cite this Article

Manjunath BB, PuttaBoregowda B, Chandrashekar R. Evaluation of Diesel Engine Performance Using Neem Oil Methyl Esters and Biogas as an Alternative Source. Journal of Energy, Environment & Carbon Credits. 2018; 8(1): 21–25p.