Title: Experimental Evaluation of Cottonseed Biodiesel as an Alternative Fuel for Diesel Engine
Abstract: Diesel engines are commonly used due to its low fuel consumption and higher torque. Nowadays, the world is facing the challenges of crises of fossil fuels due to rapid increase in utilization of its in transportation and industrialization. This further leads to environmental degradation by polluting the air. Hence, in the modern world, more importance is given on alternative source of energy. Several possible alternative sources are available as, namely biodiesel, alcohols, CNG, LPG, producer gas, etc. Biodiesel presents a promising alternative to diesel fuel since it is renewable and produced easily by transesterification process. Therefore, the research work is aimed at experimental evaluation of cottonseed biodiesel as an alternative fuel for diesel engine. Cottonseed is non-edible oil, thus food versus fuel conflict will not arise if this is used for biodiesel production. Biodiesel blends (B5, B10, B15, and B20) are prepared using cottonseed biodiesel and diesel at laboratory scale. The performance and emission characteristics of biodiesel blends fueled diesel engine are compared with base diesel. It is found that CO, HC, and smoke emissions are decreased with all biodiesel blends than base diesel. The cleaner and complete combustion take place due to oxygen content in biodiesel which helps to reduce CO and HC emissions. However, brake-specific fuel consumption (BSFC) and NO x emission are increased with biodiesel blends than base diesel. BSFC increased due to lower calorific value of biodiesel, whereas NO x emission increased due to advance in dynamic injection timing due to higher bulk modulus, higher spray penetration, higher in-cylinder temperature and oxygen content in biodiesel. The brake power is decreased from 3 kW with base diesel to 2.93, 2.9, 2.79, and 2.77 kW with B5, B10, B15, and B20, respectively.