Energy 35 (2010) 2484e2492

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Performance and emission study of preheated Jatropha oil on medium capacity

diesel engine
Bhupendra Singh Chauhan a, *, Naveen Kumar b, Yong Du Jun a, Kum Bae Lee a
a
Division of Automobile and Mechanical Engineering, Kongju National University, Republic of Korea
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Delhi Technological University, Bawana Road, Delhi 42, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Diesel engines have proved its utility in transport, agriculture and power sector. Environmental norms
Received 6 September 2009 and scared fossil fuel have attracted the attention to switch the energy demand to alternative energy
Received in revised form source. Oil derived from Jatropha curcas plant has been considered as a sustainable substitute to diesel
21 February 2010
fuel. However, use of straight vegetable oil has encountered problem due to its high viscosity. The aim of
Accepted 23 February 2010
Available online 2 April 2010
present work is to reduce the viscosity of oil by heating from exhaust gases before fed to the engine, the
study of effects of FIT (fuel inlet temperature) on engine performance and emissions using a dual fuel
engine test rig with an appropriately designed shell and tube heat exchanger (with exhaust bypass
Keywords:
Fuel inlet temperature
arrangement). Heat exchanger was operated in such a way that it could give desired FIT. Results show
Unheated and preheating Jatropha oil that BTE (brake thermal efciency) of engine was lower and BSEC (brake specic energy consumption)
Kinematic viscosity was higher when the engine was fueled with Jatropha oil as compared to diesel fuel. Increase in fuel inlet
temperature resulted in increase of BTE and reduction in BSEC. Emissions of NOx from Jatropha oil during
the experimental range were lower than diesel fuel and it increases with increase in FIT. CO (carbon
monoxide), HC (hydrocarbon), CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions from Jatropha oil were found higher than
diesel fuel. However, with increase in FIT, a downward trend was observed. Thus, by using heat
exchanger preheated Jatropha oil can be a good substitute fuel for diesel engine in the near future.
Optimal fuel inlet temperature was found to be 80
C considering the BTE, BSEC and gaseous emissions.
2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction increased multifold in terms of oil and electricity. Rapidly

Energy is considered as an index of economic growth and social
development. Per capita energy consumption is considered as the
measure of prosperity of a country. Although India is rich in coal
and abundantly endowed with renewable energy in the form of
solar, wind, hydro and bio-energy, its hydrocarbon reserve is only
0.8 billion tones, accounting for a mere 0.4% of the worlds reserve.
India accounted for 10.88% of total primary energy consumption in
Asia-Pacic region and 3.83% of world primary consumption in
2008 [1]. Per capita energy consumption remains as low as
492 KGOE (kilogram of oil equivalent) compared with a world
average of 1796 KGOE in 2007 [2]. India has an agriculture based
economy and agriculture is an energy transformation process as
energy is produced and consumed in it. Oil and electricity are two
major energy sources which are used in agriculture sector. Because
of mechanized farming and the amount of energy consumption has
* Corresponding author. Tel.: 82 10 2660 1756; fax: 82 41 551 0376.
E-mail address: bhupeee_2000@yahoo.com (B.S. Chauhan).
increasing prices and uncertainties concerning petroleum avail-
ability have drawn the attention of scientists to work on alternative
fuel sources. Further, an urgent need to reduce dependence on
petroleum derived fuels for better economy and environment is
required. Adaptation of bio-origin alternative fuels can address
both these issues.
The world is moving towards a sustainable energy era with
major emphasis on energy efciency and use of renewable energy
sources. Liquid bio-origin fuels are renewable fuels coming from
biological raw material and have been proved to be good substi-
tutes for oil in transportation and agriculture sector. These fuels are
gaining worldwide acceptance as a solution for problem of envi-
ronmental degradation, energy security, restricting import, rural
employment and agricultural economy. Most promising biofuels
and competitive in current market without subsidy are ethanol,
methanol, vegetable oil based fuels. Researchers are also striving to
develop second generation biofuels from cellulosic materials using
different conversion processes [3].
Therefore, the main objectives of this study are to determine
the important physico-chemical properties of Jatropha oil,

0360-5442/$ e see front matter 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.energy.2010.02.043
 B.S. Chauhan et al. / Energy 35 (2010) 2484e2492 2485

Nomenclature NOx oxides of nitrogen

HC hydrocarbon
ASTM American society for testing and materials KGOE kilogram of oil equivalent
aTDC after top dead centre MJ/kg mega Joule per kilogram
bhp/kW brake horse power/kilo Watt mm millimetre
BMEP brake mean effective pressure cSt centi Stroke
BSEC brake specic energy consumption EGR exhaust gas recirculation
BSFC brake specic fuel consumption JO Jatropha oil (unheated)
BTE brake thermal efciency PJO preheated Jatropha oil
bTDC before top dead centre PJO 40 preheated Jatropha oil at 40
C
CO carbon monoxide PJO 60 preheated Jatropha oil at 60
C
CO2 carbon dioxide PJO 80 preheated Jatropha oil at 80
C

C degree centigrade PJO 100 preheated Jatropha oil at 100
C
FIT fuel inlet temperature rpm revolutions per minute

development of dual fuel mode experimental diesel engine test rig,
development of heat exchanger and other arrangement for pre-
heating Jatropha oil, determination of viscosity variation on
elevated temperature and to carry out exhaustive experiments on
test rig to evaluate the performance and emission characteristics of
preheated Jatropha oil and compare them with baseline results of
diesel oil.
2. Vegetable oils as diesel fuel
Vegetable oils are lipid material derived from plants. Vegetable
oils may be edible or non-edible and the vegetable oil economy is
growing steadily around the world. Petroleum based diesel fuels
have different chemical structures compared with vegetable oils.
The former contain only carbon and hydrogen atoms arranged in
normal (straight chain) or branched chain structures, and aromatic
congurations. The normal structure is preferred for better ignition
quality. Diesel fuel can contain both saturated and straight or
unbranched chain unsaturated hydrocarbons, but the latter are not
present in large amounts, making oxidation a problem [4]. Vege-
table oil has different chemical structure, where R, R0 and R0 are
alkyl groups of different carbon chain length (varying from 12 to
18), and eCOOe is a carboxyl group. Large size of vegetable oil
molecule and the presence of oxygen in the molecule suggest that
some fuel properties of vegetable oil are different from diesel fuel
[5]. Vegetable oil consists of about 97% triglycerides; the remaining
3% for diglycerides, monoglycerides and free fatty acids. Chemical
structure of triglyceride molecule is represented in Fig. 1. Struc-
turally, triglyceride is a reaction product of a molecule of glycerol
with three fatty acid molecules, yielding three molecule of water
and one molecule of triglyceride [6].
Characteristics of a variety of vegetable oils fall within a narrow
band and are closer to those of diesel oil. The kinematic viscosity of
vegetable oils varies in the range of 30e40 cSt at 38
C. High
viscosity is due to larger molecular mass and chemical structure.
Vegetable oils have high molecular weights of 600e900, which are
three or more times higher than diesel fuel. The ash point of
vegetable oils is also very high (above 200
C). Their heating value
is at the range of 39e40 MJ/kg, comparatively lower than that of
diesel fuels (about 45 MJ/kg). This is because the presence of
chemically bonded oxygen in vegetable oil lowers heating value by
about 10%. Cetane number is in the range of 32e40, while the
iodine value ranges from 0 to 200, depending upon unsaturation.
The cloud and pour point of vegetable oils are higher than that of
diesel fuel [7]. Key properties of Jatropha oil and diesel are
summarized in Table 1.
Advantages of vegetable oil as engine fuel lie in their renewable
nature and wide availability of sources. This is particularly attrac-
tive to countries lacking source of liquid fossil fuels. It can also be
produced on small scale for on-farm operation to run tractor, pump
and small engine for power generation. Such fuel contains potential
for lower contribution on combustion to the atmospheric concen-
tration of carbon dioxide than from the xed carbon in fossil fuel. It
is clear that the use of vegetable oil as fuel in diesel engine depends
upon their physical and chemical properties, and on their
combustion characteristics as well as the type of engine used and
operating conditions [8].
Main problems associated with the use of vegetable oil in diesel
engine are categorized as operational and durability. Former

Table 1
Physico-chemical properties of diesel and Jatropha oil.

Property Diesel oil Jatropha oil

Density (kg/m3) 830 918
API gravity 37.15 22.81
Kinematic viscosity at 40
C (cSt) 2.5 37
Cloud point (
C) 12 9
Pour point (
C) 17 4
Flash point (
C) 70 238
Caloric value (kJ/kg) 42,200 37,500
Carbon residue (%, w/w) 0.05 0.8
Ash content (%, w/w) 0.01 0.04
Carbon (%, w/w) 86.71 77.21
Hydrogen (%, w/w) 12.98 10.25
Nitrogen (ppm) 5 3
Oxygen (%, w/w) 0.31 12.52
Sulfur (ppm) 340 8
Fig. 1. Structure of a typical triglyceride molecule.
2486 B.S. Chauhan et al. / Energy 35 (2010) 2484e2492
included the ignition quality characteristics, e.g. poor cold engine
start-up, misre, and ignition delay, and latter includes incomplete
combustion, e.g. deposit formation, carbonization of injector tip,
ring sticking, lubricating oil dilution and degradation, polymeri-
zation during storage. Carbon deposits around the nozzle orice,
upper piston ring grooves and on piston rings are the main prob-
lems during the use of vegetable oil as fuel [9].
In the light of above facts, it is clear that straight vegetable oil is
not suitable as fuel for diesel engine; hence they have to be
modied to bring their combustion properties closer to diesel. This
fuel modication is mainly aimed at reducing the viscosity to
eliminate ow/atomization related problems. Following four
techniques can be used to reduce the viscosity of vegetable oils:
1) Heating/pyrolysis,
2) Dilution/blending,
3) Micro-emulsion,
4) Transesterication.
Undoubtedly, transesterication is well accepted method of
utilizing vegetable oils in Compression Ignition (CI) engine without
signicant long-term operational and durability issues. However,
transesterication process is not easy and requires reaction vessels,
chemicals, electricity and heat inputs. This results into complexity
of the process and it becomes very difcult for the rural population
or the people located in the remote areas to use transesterication
of locally available vegetable oils for fueling their farm machinery
or stationary diesel engines and it shall be relevant to develop some
alternative to transesterication which would permit the use of
neat vegetable oil in diesel engine. Different vegetable oils are used
as a replacement of diesel fuel and the brief reviews of some
important outcomes are discussed below.
Humke et al. [6] in tests with degummed crude soybean oil and
crude soybean oil found that nozzle deposit formation after 10 h
caused engine performance to decrease and emissions to increase.
Bari et al. [10] performed short term performance tests using
crude palm oil as a fuel for diesel engine and found crude palm oil
to be a suitable substitute, with a peak pressure about 5% higher
and ignition delay about 3
shorter compared with diesel. Emis-
sions of NOx and CO (carbon monoxide) were about 29% and 9%
higher respectively for crude palm oil. However prolonged use of
crude palm oil as fuel caused the engine performance to
deteriorate.
Rakopoulos et al. [11] conducted to evaluate and compare the
use of a variety of vegetable oil of various origin as supplement to
conventional diesel fuel at blend ratios of 10/90 and 20/80 in a DI
(direct injection) diesel engine. They found that NOx was reduced
with use of vegetable oil in the diesel engine.
Machacon et al. [12] revealed the effects of pure coconut oil and
coconut oil diesel fuel blend on the performance and emissions of
a direct-injection diesel engine. Operation of the test engine with
pure coconut oil and coconut oil blended with diesel fuel for a wide
range of engine load conditions. The blend tested were 20/80,
40/60, 60/40 and 80/20 coconut oil/diesel fuel, by volume ratios.
The trial was shown to be successful even without engine modi-
cations. They found that by increasing the amount of coconut oil in
the diesel fuel blend resulted in lower smoke and NOx emissions.
However, this resulted in an increase in the BSFC. This was attrib-
uted to the lower heating value of neat coconut oil fuel compared to
diesel fuel.
Schlick et al. [13] conducted experiments on a direct-injection
diesel engine operating on mechanically expelled unrened
soybean oil and sunower oil blended with diesel fuel on a 25:75 v/v
basis. They evaluated that the power remained constant throughout
200 h of operation.
Hemmerlein et al. [14] conducted experiments on naturally
aspirated exhaust gas turbocharged air cooled and water cooled
engines using rapeseed oil. Experiments were conducted using
ltered rapeseed oil. It has been reported that the brake power and
torque using rapeseed oil as fuel are 2% lower than that of diesel.
The heat release rate is very similar for both fuels. With all the
engines tested, maximum brake power was obtained with rapeseed
oil. Also, lower mechanical stresses and lower combustion noise
were observed. The emissions of CO and HC (hydrocarbon) are
higher, whereas NOx and particulate emissions were lower in
comparison with diesel fuel.
Ziejewski et al. [15] tested blends of 25/75, high oleic sunower
oil/diesel fuel and 25/75 high oleic safower oil/diesel fuel and they
evaluated that results from both the fuels were comparable with
standard diesel fuel. The fuels were compared on the performance
and emission results including, power output, fuel consumption,
CO, CO2 (carbon dioxide), NOx and HC and the carbon and lacquer
residue formation on the internal part of the engine. The results
indicated no signicant change in engine performance for the
tested fuel, throughout the duration of the investigation. The
carbon and lacquer deposits were within a normal range for both
fuels in comparison to the results from the results of standard
diesel fuel.
Nwafor and Rice [16] prepared blends of neat rapeseed oil and
diesel fuel in 25/75, 50/50, 75/25 respectively and conducted the
test run. There were no signicant problems with engine operation
using these alternative fuels. The test results represent increase in
brake thermal efciency as the amount of rapeseed oil in the blends
increases. Reduction of power output was also noted with
increased amount of rapeseed oil in the blends.
Ajiwe and Obika [17] tested the African pear seed to nd out
whether it possesses the physical and chemical properties enabling
it to be used as a fuel in diesel engines.
Karosmanoglu et al. [18] tested sunower oil as a fuel in a single
cylinder, direct-injection air-cooled diesel engine and concluded
that no signicant drop or increase in power and fuel consumption
was observed. The engine didnt display any uctuations due to the
change in the balancing force and the lubricating oil characteristics
exhibited no remarkable change.
Silvio [19] used heated palm oil as fuel in diesel generator.
Studies revealed that exhaust gas temperature and specic fuel
consumption were increased with an increase in charge
percentage. The carbon-monoxide emission was increased with
increase of load. Unburned HC emissions were lower at higher
loads, but tended to increase at higher loads. This was due to a lack
of oxygen resulting from the operation at higher equivalence ratios.
Palm oil NOx emissions were lower as compared to the diesel fuel.
They also reported that a diesel generator can be adapted to run
with heated palm oil and would give better performance.
Al-Hasan [20] extracted the oil from PP (Pistachia Palestine)
fruits and tested its physical and combustion properties. The
properties of a new energy resource of PP oil have been investi-
gated. Pistachia Palestine tree forms a signicant fraction of
different forest trees in Jordan. The fruit of the PP tree is usually left
without being utilized although it contains oil that may have
a value if it is professionally processed. PP oil can be easily produced
from PP fruits by oil pressing. PP oil is a promising source of fuel and
an excellent additive to diesel fuel. The oil is ammable and special
care must be taken when it is handled. Increasing the PP oil
percentage in the fuel blends decreases the brake power and
thermal efciency, and increases the brake specic fuel consump-
tion. Utilization of such oil helps in environmental protection
against solid waste pollution.
Yu et al. [21] conducted a study on waste cooking oil collected
from the noodle industry. The oil was used as fuel in the engine
 B.S. Chauhan et al. / Energy 35 (2010) 2484e2492
without any further treatment. The performance and emission
characteristics have also been compared with diesel fuel. The
experimental results indicated that combustion characteristics
were generally similar to that of diesel. The energy released at the
late combustion phase was higher, which was due to heavier
molecular weight materials present in the waste cooking oil. The
engine performance was similar to that of diesel fuel. The emissions
of CO, NOx and SOx were higher for waste cooking oil compared to
that of diesel. At high temperatures, tar like substances was found
to be depositing in the combustion chamber.
Nwafor [22] evaluated the effect of increasing fuel inlet
temperature on viscosity and performance of a single cylinder,
unmodied diesel engine. The overall result showed that fuel
heating increased peak cylinder pressure and at low speed and
under part-load operation. The high combustion temperature at
high engine speed becomes the dominant factor, making both
heated and unheated fuel to acquire the same temperature before
fuel injection.
Forson et al. [23] tested 97.4%/2.6%; 80%/20%; and 50%/50% by
volume blends of diesel and Jatropha oil on a single-cylinder direct-
injection engine. They found carbon dioxide emissions were similar
for all fuels, the 97.4% diesel/2.6% Jatropha fuel blend was observed
to be the lower net contributor to the atmospheric level. The test
further showed increases in brake thermal efciency, brake power
and reduction of specic fuel consumption for Jatropha oil and its
blends with diesel generally, but the most signicant conclusion
from the study is that the 97.4% diesel/2.6% Jatropha fuel blend
produced maximum values of the brake power and brake thermal
efciency as well as minimum values of the specic fuel
consumption. They also suggested the use of Jatropha oil as an
ignition-accelerator additive for diesel fuel.
Ramadhas et al. [24] used rubber seed oil in a compression
ignition engine and have reported that rubber seed oil blend fueled
engine has higher carbon deposits inside combustion chamber than
diesel-fueled engine. Utilization of blends required frequent
cleaning of fuel lter, pump and the combustion chamber.
Pramanik [25]analyzed performance of the engine using blends
of diesel and Jatropha oil in a single-cylinder CI engine. Signicant
improvement in engine performance was observed compared to
vegetable oil alone. The specic fuel consumption and the exhaust
gas temperature were reduced due to decrease in viscosity of the
vegetable oil. Acceptable thermal efciencies of the engine were
obtained with blends containing up to 50% volume of Jatropha oil.
From the properties and engine test results it has been established
that 40e50% of Jatropha oil can be substituted for diesel without
any engine modication.
Agarwal and Agarwal [26] conducted various experiments to
study the effect of reducing Jatropha oil viscosity by increasing the
fuel temperature and thereby eliminating its effect on combustion
and emission characteristics of the engine. The obtained data was
analyzed for various parameters such as thermal efciency, BSFC
(brake specic fuel consumption), smoke opacity, and CO2, CO and
HC emissions. While operating the engine on preheated Jatropha oil
performance and emission parameters was found very close to
mineral diesel for lower blend concentrations. However, for higher
blend concentrations, performance and emissions were observed
to be marginally inferior.
Saravanan et al. [27] analyzed combustion characteristics of
crude rice bran oil blend with diesel oil, 20/80 on volume basis as
a fuel in a stationary small duty direct-injection compression
ignition engine. When operating with blend the cylinder pressure
was comparable to that of diesel. It was observed that the delay
period and the maximum rate of pressure rise for blend fuel were
lower than those of diesel. The occurrence of maximum heat
release rate advanced for blend fuel with lesser magnitude when
2487
compared to diesel. Blend fuel requires more crank angle duration
to release 50% & 90% of heat when compared with diesel. The brake
specic fuel consumption of blend fuel was found to be only
marginally different from that of the diesel and its hourly fuel cost
was higher than that of diesel. Blend fuel has lower smoke intensity
and higher NOx emission than those of diesel.
Karthikeyan and Mahalakshmi [28] studied the feasibility of
using oil from turpentine obtained from the resin of pine tree. The
emission and performance characteristics of a DI diesel engine
were studied through DF (dual fuel) mode. Turpentine was induc-
ted as a primary fuel through induction manifold and diesel was
admitted into the engine through conventional fueling device as an
igniter. The result showed that except volumetric efciency, all
other performance and emission parameters were better than
diesel fuel with in 75% load. The toxic gases like CO, Unburnt
Hydrocarbon (UBHC) were slightly higher than DBL (diesel base-
line). Around 40e45% smoke reduction was obtained with DF
mode. The pollutant NOx was found to be equal to that of DBL
except at full load.
Mani and Nagarajan [29] experimented with waste plastic oil as
a fuel in a single cylinder, four stroke, direct injection, diesel engine.
The inuence of injection timing on the performance, emission and
combustion characteristics was investigated using waste plastic oil
as a fuel. Tests were performed at four injection timings (23
, 20
,17

and 14
bTDC (before top dead centre)). Compared to the standard
injection timing of 23
bTDC, the retarded injection timing of 14

bTDC resulted in decreased oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide and
unburned hydrocarbon while the brake thermal efciency, carbon
dioxide and smoke increased under all the test conditions.
Blending of vegetable oils with diesel was done in above
investigations mainly to reduce the viscosity of vegetable oil. It is
evident from above that preheated vegetable oil can prove to be an
attractive substitute to diesel fuel and the focus of this study is to
use preheated Jatropha oil as a fuel for decentralized energy
production. Jatropha oil is a promising fuel for this application as it
is non-edible and does not pose food security problem and also it
can be cultivated on marginal and degraded land and could be
produced easily in rural areas [30].
3. Denition of the problem
It is clear from above that vegetable oil can be used either as an
extender or complete replacement to diesel fuel. Many researchers
have reported encountering difculties with use of vegetable oil in
diesel engine. These difculties are mainly attributed to the high
viscosity of vegetable oils. Due to high viscosity, two strategies can be
employed when using Jatropha oil as fuel for use in diesel engines.
The rst one is to modify the engine to adapt to the fuel, while the
Fig. 2. Kinematic viscosity of Jatropha oil at different temperatures.
2488 B.S. Chauhan et al. / Energy 35 (2010) 2484e2492

Table 2 Viscosity is a function of temperature. In the present investi-

Specications of the diesel engine. gations, viscosity was reduced by heating the Jatropha oil and was
Parameters Value measured in the range of 40e100
C (in the interval of 40
C, 60
C,
Model DAF 8 80
C and 100
C). As viscosity is a measure of resistance against
Rated brake power (bhp/kW) 8/5.9 ow, it affects atomization and fuel delivery rate. It is an important
Rated speed (rpm) 1500 property because if it is too high or low then atomization and
Number of cylinder One
mixing of air and fuel in combustion chamber get affected. Varia-
Bore  stroke (mm) 95  110
Compression ratio 17.5:1 tion of kinematic viscosity of Jatropha oil at different temperatures
Cooling system Air cooled (radial cooled) measured with the help of Petrotest kinematic viscometer and the
Lubrication system Forced feed results are summarized in Fig. 2. Absolute viscosity is the product of
Cubic capacity (l) 0.78 kinematic viscosity and uid density. Kinematic viscosity of liquid
Inlet valve open (
) 4.5 bTDC
Inlet valve closed (
) 35.5 aBDC
fuel samples was measured using kinematic viscometer 3.2 at 40
C
Exhaust valve open (
) 35.5 bBDC as per the specication given in ASTM D445. A suitable capillary
Exhaust valve closed (
) 4.5 aTDC tube was selected, and then a measured quantity of sample was
Fuel injection timing (
) 26 bTDC allowed to ow through the capillary. Efux time was measured to
calculate kinematic viscosity using relation:

second one is to process the fuel to adapt to the engine. Literature n ct (1)
suggests that developing special engines like the Elsbett engine or
modifying existing diesel engines to preheat Jatropha oil rst to where n kinematic viscosity, cSt or mm /s 2

reduce viscosity and lter the fuel could achieve rst strategy.
Modication of engines to run on raw Jatropha oil requires new
injector, glow plugs, lter and heat exchanger to the old diesel engine
design. Second option is more practical since developing countries
and rural community in particular may not have enough funds to
support the engine modication. Adaptation of Jatropha oil to the
existing diesel engine can be done by blending Jatropha oil with
diesel, producing methyl esters through transesterication process
that can be used directly instead of diesel. However, fuel modication
techniques such as transesterication process require expertise and
equipments and not easily understandable to rural community.
Exploring the possibility of using neat Jatropha oil can be done by
using an auxiliary heat exchanger unit in the existing engine to heat
viscous oil by exhaust gases before entering to the engine.
c constant, mm2/s2
t time, s
4. Testing procedure
A Kirloskar diesel engine (DAF) 8, constant speed, single
cylinder, air cooled, direct injection, was selected due to large use in
agricultural sector and household electricity generation. The
detailed specications of the test engine are summarized in Table 2.
The main components of experimental setup are two fuel tanks
(diesel and Jatropha oil), fuel consumption measuring unit, elec-
trical loading arrangement, voltmeter, ammeter, rpm meter,

Fig. 3. Schematic diagram of the experimental setup.

 B.S. Chauhan et al. / Energy 35 (2010) 2484e2492 2489

Fig. 4. Schematic diagram of the counter ow heat exchanger.

temperature indicator. AVL 437 smoke meter and AVL Di gas
analyzer were used for emission measurement. The engine was
started using diesel oil for at least 30 min; once the engine has
warmed up, it was then switched over to Jatropha oil. For switching
the engine from diesel to Jatropha oil, a two way valve was provided
on the control panel. One end of the valve is connected to Jatropha
oil, while the other is connected to diesel. Fuel from valve enters
into the engine through fuel measuring unit, which enables the
volumetric ow of the fuel to be measured easily. The fuel from fuel
measuring unit then enters in heat exchanger followed by fuel lter
before entering to the engine.
The schematic diagram of the experimental setup with a heat
exchanger along with all instrumentations is shown in Fig. 3. A shell
and tube type counter ow heat exchanger, as shown in Fig. 4 was
developed to preheat the vegetable oil using heat from the exhaust
gases. In order to control the temperature of Jatropha oil in the
range of 40e100
C, bypass valve was used to adjust the amount of
exhaust gases which rises the temperature of Jatropha oil.

Fig. 5. Pressure and crank angle diagram of the test engine.

2490 B.S. Chauhan et al. / Energy 35 (2010) 2484e2492
Thermocouples were provided in the fuel line to measure the
temperature of Jatropha oil before and after the heat exchanger.
Engine start at no load and feed control was so adjusted that it can
attain the rated speed and steady state condition. Fuel consump-
tion, rpm, exhaust temperature, smoke density, CO, NOx, HC, CO2
and power output were measured. Engine was loaded gradually to
keep the speed with in the permissible range. The pressure and
crank angle diagram of the test engine is shown in Fig. 5. Jatropha
oil was heated at different fuel inlet temperature and their
performance and emission characteristics were evaluated to
compare with diesel fuel and unheated Jatropha oil. Before turning
off the engine, Jatropha oil was replaced by diesel oil. Engine was
allowed to run on diesel oil until all Jatropha oil in fuel lter and
pipe line was consumed.
5. Results and discussion
The variation of the brake thermal efciency of the engine with
preheated Jatropha oil at different temperature is shown in Fig. 6
and compared with baseline data of diesel and unheated Jatropha
oil. It was observed that initially with increasing brake power;
brake thermal efciencies of all the fuels were increased and then
tend to decrease with further increase in brake power. Brake
thermal efciencies of Jatropha oil (unheated and preheated) were
found to be lower than diesel fuel throughout the entire operating
range. As the degree of temperature of preheating of Jatropha oil
increases break thermal efciency also increases and at highest
temperature it is close to diesel fuel. The possible reason for this
reduction is lower caloric values due to presence of oxygen in
unsaturated hydrocarbon and high viscosity of Jatropha oil as
compared to diesel fuel. However, thermal efciency of preheated
Jatropha oil was higher than unheated Jatropha oil. This is due to
the fact that preheated Jatropha oil has lower viscosity which
results in increase of brake thermal efciency. In case of preheated
Jatropha oil highest brake thermal efciency was found at 100
C.
Peak thermal efciency for PJO 40 (preheated Jatropha oil at 40
C),
PJO 60 (preheated Jatropha oil at 60
C), PJO 80 (preheated Jatropha
oil at 80
C) and PJO 100 (preheated Jatropha oil at 100
C) was
26.17%, 26.44%, 27.4% and 27.69% respectively whereas peak
thermal efciency of diesel was 28.51%.
Brake specic energy is a parameter to compare the energy
requirement for producing unit power in case of each test fuel.
Variation of BSEC (brake specic energy consumption) vs. BMEP
(brake mean effective pressure) for all the test fuels is shown in
Fig. 7. It is clear that brake specic energy consumption of Jatropha
oil (either unheated or preheated) is higher than diesel which is
due to high density and low caloric value of fuel. It was observed
Fig. 6. Variation of brake thermal efciency with brake mean effective pressure.
Fig. 7. Variation of brake specic energy consumption with brake mean effective
pressure.
that with increase in degree of preheating, brake specic energy
consumption was found to be lower. This was due to the fact that
higher fuel inlet temperature results in lower viscosity which
causes better atomization and subsequently better combustion and
results in lower brake specic energy consumption.
Fig. 8 shows the variation of exhaust gas temperature with brake
mean effective pressure for diesel and Jatropha oil (unheated and
preheated). Result shows that the exhaust gas temperature
increases with increase in brake power for each fuel. Highest value
of exhaust gas temperature of 389
C was observed with the PJO
100 and lowest was achieved with JO (Jatropha oil) of about 345
C
whereas the corresponding value with diesel was found to be
359
C. This is due to the poor combustion characteristics of
Jatropha oil because of its high viscosity. As Jatropha oil is heated
with the help of a heat exchanger, its viscosity and density reduce.
High fuel inlet temperature before entering into the fuel pump and
injectors, minimizes the resistance to ow and result in good
combustion at high loads. At stoichiometric airefuel ratio, exhaust
gas temperature is lower than in a lean or rich airefuel ratio.
Because of the above stated reasons, combustion becomes good as
compared with that of unheated Jatropha oil which results in
increased exhaust gas temperature. Higher exhaust temperature
with Jatropha oil is indicative of lower thermal efciencies of the
engine. At lower thermal efciency, less of the energy input in the
fuel is converted to work. Results obtained are in accordance with
Pramanik [25] in which he has reported higher exhaust
temperature.
Variations of NOx emissions for all test fuels are shown in Fig. 9.
NOx is produced during the combustion process when nitrogen and
oxygen are present at elevated temperatures. NOx emissions
Fig. 8. Variation of exhaust temperature with brake mean effective pressure.
 B.S. Chauhan et al. / Energy 35 (2010) 2484e2492
Fig. 9. Variation of NOx with brake mean effective pressure.
increased with the increasing engine load due to a higher
combustion temperature. This proves that the most important
factor for the emissions of NOx is the combustion temperature in
the engine cylinder and the local stoichiometry of the mixture. It
can be seen that within the test range, NOx emissions from the
unheated Jatropha oil are lower than that of diesel fuel but NOx
emissions increase as the fuel inlet temperature increased. Due to
preheating of Jatropha oil, temperature inside the combustion
chamber increases and this increase in temperature results in
increased NOx emissions in the exhaust gases. NOx in engine can be
reduced with either pre-combustion or post-combustion tech-
nology. For diesel, highest NOx emission is 2046 ppm. With
unheated JO (Jatropha oil), highest NOx emissions are 1813 ppm.
But in case of PJO 40, PJO 60, PJO 80 & PJO 100, highest values of NOx
are 2079, 2495, 2612 and 2696 ppm respectively.
Fig. 10 shows the comparison of CO emissions for all the test
fuels at different engine load. Within the experimental range, CO
emission of unheated Jatropha oil is higher than diesel fuel and
preheated Jatropha oil. This is possible because of high viscosity of
vegetable oil. Higher the viscosity, more difcult is to atomize
inside the combustion chamber and hence incomplete combustion
occurs in case of vegetable oil as fuel. This resulted in locally rich
mixtures in the engine. In consequence it caused more carbon
monoxide generated during the combustion, due to lack of oxygen
locally, results in poor mixing and the temperature not increase at
lower loads. When input temperature of fuel is increased it results
in low CO emission. As already stated, Jatropha oil viscosity
decreases with increase in temperature; atomization of fuel drop-
lets becomes good enough to reduce the concentration of CO in
exhaust emissions. CO emission is high due to less turbulence due
to high mass of vegetable oil. The above results are in conrmation
with the results obtained by Agarwal and Agarwal [26].
Fig. 10. Variation of carbon oxide with brake mean effective pressure.
2491
Fig. 11. Variation of carbon dioxide with brake mean effective pressure.
The variations of CO2 emissions of different fuels from the
engine are shown in Fig. 11. In the range of whole engine load, CO2
emission of diesel fuel is lower than other fuels. This is because
vegetable oil contains oxygen element; carbon content is relatively
lower in the same volume of fuel consumed at the same engine
load, consequently CO2 emissions from vegetable oil and its blends
are lower but with increase in temperature of Jatropha oil,
combustion inside the cylinder becomes better. This better
combustion results in increased value of CO2. Highest value of CO2
with diesel, unheated Jatropha oil and preheated Jatropha oil at
100
C was 11.3%, 11.6% and 13.9% respectively. Result shows that
there was a slight increase in CO2 emissions when using plant oil
and these results are in agreement with Agarwal and Agarwal [26]
in which he has reported increased CO2 emissions.
The variation of un-burnt HC emissions for diesel and Jatropha
oil (unheated and preheated) is shown in Fig. 12. HC emissions of all
the fuels are lower at partial engine load, but increased at higher
engine load. This is due to relatively less oxygen available for
reaction when more fuel is injected into the engine cylinder at
higher engine load. Due to large particle size, injector timing and
nozzle choking also increase combustion timing. The effect of fuel
adsorption in the oil is not signicant for small air-cooled utility-
type engines. HC emissions of unheated Jatropha oil are higher than
that of diesel fuel but with heated Jatropha oil this value decreases
and at a temperature of about 100
C, it comes lower than that of
diesel. Value of unburned hydrocarbon emission from the diesel
engine running at constant speed from no load to full load is higher
in case of straight vegetable oil and lower for mineral diesel oil. HC
emissions are lower at partial load, but tend to increase at higher
loads for both the fuels. This is due to lack of oxygen resulting from
engine operation at higher equivalence ratio.
Fig. 12. Variation of unburned hydrocarbons with brake mean effective pressure.
2492 B.S. Chauhan et al. / Energy 35 (2010) 2484e2492
Fig. 13. Variation of smoke opacity with brake mean effective pressure.
Fig. 13 shows the comparison of smoke opacity for all the test
fuels at different load conditions. Opacity is the degree to which
smoke blocks the light, and for Jatropha oil (unheated and pre-
heated) is higher than diesel fuel at no load and medium load
conditions. However, at full loads smoke opacity is found lower
than diesel fuel. This may be due to the fact that higher load, oxygen
content of Jatropha oil may be responsible for better combustion
and resulting into lower smoke opacity. This effect may be offset by
high viscosity and density at lower load. When fuel inlet temper-
ature of Jatropha oil is increased, smoke opacity decreases. This
may be due to lower viscosity at higher fuel inlet temperature. It is
relevant to mention that with increase in fuel inlet temperature,
brake thermal efciency improved for all gaseous emissions in
comparison to unheated Jatropha oil. Restricted air lters,
mismatch of injection timing, poorly maintained or malfunctioning
engines are sometimes the cause of excessive smoke.
6. Conclusions
Main objective of present investigation is to evaluate suitability of
Jatropha curcas oil (unheated and preheated) as an extended fuel for
CI engine and to evaluate the performance and emission character-
istics of the engine. Experimental results show that the engine
performance with unheated Jatropha oil is slightly inferior to the
performance with diesel fuel. As fuel inlet temperature of Jatropha
oil increased, viscosity decreased, the engine performance improved.
Thermal efciency of the engine was lower and brake specic energy
consumption of the engine was higher when engine was fueled with
unheated Jatropha oil compared to diesel fuel. However, in case of
preheated Jatropha oil, these parameters were superior to unheated
Jatropha oil. Oxides of nitrogen from Jatropha oil during the whole
range of experiment were lower than diesel fuel. However, for pre-
heated Jatropha oil, NOx emissions were increased. CO, HC, CO2
emissions from unheated Jatropha oil were found higher than diesel
fuel during the whole experimental range. With preheated Jatropha
oil, the value of CO, HC and smoke opacity was decreased and CO2
emissions were slightly increased. Result shows that at 100
C of fuel
inlet temperature of Jatropha oil, performance and emissions were
favorable but leakage of lube oil from the engine occurred. Therefore,
80
C was evaluated as the optimal fuel inlet temperature, consid-
ering the BTE (brake thermal efciency), BSEC and gaseous emissions
and durability and safe operation of the engine.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the authorities of Delhi Technological
University and Kongju National University for the support extended
during the preparation of this manuscript. The authors also wish to
thank staff members of Center of Advanced Studies and Research in
Automotive Engineering, Delhi Technological University for all the
assistance extended during carrying out the experimental work.
Thanks are also due to all friends and colleagues who have given
their valuable suggestions during this study.
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