FUELS AND COMBUSTION

MODULE 4
 Abbreviations
• SVO- straight vegetable oil
• PPO- pure plant oil
• PSVO- preheated straight vegetable oil
• ESVO- emulsified straight vegetable oil
• BD- bio diesel
• IDI- in direct injection
• WC- waste cooking
• WVO- waste vegetable oil
 Vegetable oil, Why ?
• Fossil fuels such as oil have proven to be very harmful to our
environment
• Using vegetable oil means growing more crops for more fuel. As
long as the land is taken care of we can keep growing more crops
• The crops being used as a fuel actually suck out the same amount of
Carbon dioxide that they will release when in fuel form
• Renewable fuels do not contribute significantly to Global Warming
• Vegetable oil is used directly as a fuel, in either modified or
unmodified equipments.
• It is referred to as straight vegetable oil (SVO) or pure plant
oil (PPO)
• Suitability as a fuel, based on flash point, energy
content, viscosity, combustion products and other factors
• Cost, based in part on yield, effort required to grow and harvest,
and post-harvest processing cost.
 Various vegetable oils and their
important properties
• There are over 350 different plant types that can supply the oil, here
are a few

Plant types lb/oil acre kg. oil/hectare

Oil Palm 4585 5,000
Coconut 2070 2,260
Jatropha 1460 1,590
Rapeseed 915 1,000
Peanut 815 890
Sunflower 720 800
Safflower 605 655
Soybean 345 375
Hemp 280 305
Corn 135 145
 Contd.
• Major oils
• These oils make up a significant fraction of worldwide edible oil production. All are also used
as fuel oils.
1. Coconut oil, a cooking oil, with medical and industrial applications as well. Extracted
from the kernel or meat of the fruit of the coconut palm. Common in the tropics, and
unusual in composition, with medium chain fatty acids dominant.
2. Corn oil, one of the principal oils sold as salad and cooking oil.
3. Cottonseed oil, used as a salad and cooking oil, both domestically and industrially.
4. Olive oil, used in cooking, cosmetics, soaps, and as a fuel for traditional oil lamps.
5. Palm oil, the most widely produced tropical oil. Popular in West
African and Brazilian cuisine.
6. Peanut oil (Ground nut oil), a clear oil with some applications as a salad dressing, and,
due to its high smoke point, especially used for frying.
7. Rapeseed oil, including Canola oil, one of the most widely used cooking oils.
8. Safflower oil, until the 1960s used in the paint industry, now mostly as a cooking oil.
9. Sesame oil, cold pressed as light cooking oil, hot pressed for a darker and stronger flavor.
10. Soybean oil, produced as a byproduct of processing soy meal.
11. Sunflower oil, a common cooking oil, also used to make biodiesel.
 Contd.
• Multipurpose oils also used as biofuel
• The oils listed immediately below are all (primarily) used for other purposes – all
but tung oil are edible – but have been considered for use as biofuel.
1. Castor oil, lower cost than many candidates. Kinematic viscosity may be an issue.
2. Coconut oil (copra oil), promising for local use in places that produce coconuts.
3. Colza oil, from Brassica rapa, var. oleifera (turnip) is closely related
to rapeseed (or canola) oil. It is a major source of biodiesel in Germany.
4. Corn oil, appealing because of the abundance of maize as a crop.
5. Cottonseed oil, the subject of study for cost-effectiveness as a biodiesel feedstock.
6. False flax oil, from Camelina sativa, used in Europe in oil lamps until the 18th
century.
7. Hemp oil, relatively low in emissions. Production is problematic in some
countries because of its association with marijuana.
8. Mustard oil, shown to be comparable to Canola oil as a biofuel.
9. Palm oil, very popular for biofuel, but the environmental impact from growing
large quantities of oil palms has recently called the use of palm oil into question.
10. Peanut oil, used in one of the first demonstrations of the Diesel engine in 1900.
 Contd.
• Inedible oils used only or primarily as biofuel
• These oils are extracted from plants that are cultivated solely for producing oil-based
biofuel. These, plus the major oils described above, have received much more attention
as fuel oils than other plant oils.
1. Copaiba, an oleoresin tapped from species of genus Copaifera. Used
in Brazil as a cosmetic product and a major source of biodiesel.
2. Jatropha oil, widely used in India as a fuel oil. Has attracted strong proponents
for use as a biofuel.
3. Jojoba oil, from the Simmondsia chinensis, a desert shrub.
4. Milk bush, popularized by chemist Melvin Calvin in the 1950s. Researched in
the 1980s by Petrobras, the Brazilian national petroleum company.
5. Nahor oil, pressed from the kernels of Mesua ferrea, is used in India as a lamp
oil.
6. Paradise oil, from the seeds of Simarouba glauca, has received interest in India
as a feed stock for biodiesel.
7. Petroleum nut oil, from the Petroleum nut (Pittosporum resiniferum) native to
the Philippines. The Philippine government once explored the use of the
petroleum nut as a biofuel.
8. Pongamia oil (also known as Honge oil), extracted from Millettia pinnata and
pioneered as a biofuel by Udipi Shrinivasa in Bangalore, India.
 Contd.
11. Radish oil. Wild radish contains up to 48% oil, making it appealing as a fuel.
12. Rapeseed oil, the most common base oil used in Europe in biodiesel production.
13. Ramtil oil, used for lighting in India.
14. Rice bran oil, appealing because of lower cost than many other vegetable oils.
Widely grown in Asia.
15. Safflower oil, explored recently as a biofuel in Montana.
16. Salicornia oil, from the seeds of Salicornia bigelovii, a halophyte (salt-loving
plant) native to Mexico.
17. Soybean oil, not economical as a fuel crop, but appealing as a byproduct of
soybean crops for other uses.
18. Sunflower oil, suitable as a fuel, but not necessarily cost effective.
19. Tigernut oil has been described by researchers in China as having "great potential
as a biodiesel fuel.
20. Tung oil, referenced in several lists of vegetable oils that are suitable for
biodiesel. Several factories in China produce biodiesel from tung oil.
 Usage and Applicability
1. Modified fuel systems
• Most diesel car engines are suitable for straight vegetable oil (SVO) with
certain modifications.
• The viscosity and surface tension of the SVO/PPO must be reduced by
preheating.
• Preheating using waste heat from the engine or electricity.
• One common solution is to add a heat exchanger and an additional fuel
tank for the petro diesel or biodiesel blend and to switch between this
additional tank and the main tank of SVO/PPO.
• The engine is started on diesel, switched over to vegetable oil as soon as it
is warmed up and switched back to diesel shortly before being switched off
to ensure that no vegetable oil remains in the engine or fuel lines when it is
started from cold again.
• In colder climates it is necessary to heat the vegetable oil fuel lines and
tank as it can become very viscous and even solidify.
• Single tank conversions have been developed, largely in Germany, and
used throughout Europe.
 Contd.
• These conversions are designed to provide reliable operation with
rapeseed oil
• Modifications to the engines cold start regime assist combustion on
start up and during the engine warm up phase.
• Suitably modified indirect injection (IDI) engines have proven to be
operable with 100% PPO down to temperatures of −10 °C (14 °F).
• Direct injection (DI) engines generally have to be preheated with
a block heater or diesel fired heater.
• For long term durability it has been found necessary to increase the
oil change frequency and to pay increased attention to engine
maintenance.
 Contd.
2. Unmodified indirect injection engines
• Many cars powered by indirect injection engines supplied by in-line
injection pumps, or mechanical Bosch injection pumps are capable of
running on pure SVO/PPO in all but winter temperatures.
• Engine reliability would depend on the condition of the engine.
• Attention to maintenance of the engine, particularly of the fuel injectors,
cooling system and glow plugs will help to provide longevity.
3. Vegetable oil blending
• The relatively high kinematic viscosity of vegetable oils must be reduced to
make them compatible with conventional compression-ignition engines and
fuel systems.
• Cosolvent blending is a low-cost and easy-to-adapt technology that reduces
viscosity by diluting the vegetable oil with a low-molecular-weight solvent.
• This blending, or "cutting", has been done with diesel fuel, kerosene, and
gasoline, amongst others.
• Noted problems include higher rates of wear and failure in fuel pumps and
piston rings when using blends.
 Contd.
4. Home heating
• When liquid fuels made from biomass are used for energy purposes other than
transport, they are called bioliquids.
• With often minimal modification, most residential furnaces and boilers that are
designed to burn
• Heating oil can be made to burn either biodiesel or filtered, preheated waste
vegetable oil (WVO).
• If cleaned at home by the consumer, WVO can result in considerable savings.
• Many restaurants will receive a minimal amount for their used cooking oil, and
processing to biodiesel is fairly simple and inexpensive.
• Burning filtered WVO directly is problematic, since it is much more viscous,
that can be accomplished with suitable preheating.
• WVO can thus be an economical heating option for those with the necessary
mechanical and experimental aptitude.
5. Combined heat and power
• A number of companies offer compressed ignition engine generators optimized
to run on plant oils where the waste engine heat is recovered for heating.
 In CI engines
• Not just any car can be converted to use vegetable oil, but in fact only
diesel engines are capable
• Scientists discovered that the viscosity of vegetable oil could be
decreased through a simple chemical process.
• Conventional diesel engines can be modified to help ensure
the viscosity of the vegetable oil is low enough to allow
proper atomization of the fuel.
• This prevents incomplete combustion, that would damage the engine by
causing a build-up of carbon
• This process yields a vegetable oil-based fuel that works as well as
diesel fuel in modern diesel engines.
• This new fuel is called Bio-diesel
• There are 3 methods of using vegetable oil in Diesel engine
1) Biodiesel 2) Vegetable Oil/Kerosene Mix
3) Straight Vegetable Oil
 1. Bio-Diesel
• Is a fuel made from 80-90% vegetable oil, 10-20% alcohol, and
0.35-1.5% catalyst
• It’s a stable fuel that is reliable in most diesel engines
• Mixable with petroleum diesel fuel
• Biodiesel has a viscosity similar to petroleum diesel and can be used
as an additive in formulations of diesel to increase the lubricity.
• Biodiesel can be used in pure form (B100) or may be blended with
petroleum diesel at any concentration in most modern diesel
engines.
• Biodiesel's higher lubricity index compared to petroleum diesel is an
advantage and can contribute to longer fuel injector life.
• Biodiesel is a better solvent than petroleum diesel and has been
known to break down deposits of residue in the fuel lines of vehicles
that have previously been run on petroleum diesel
 Benefits of BD
• Biodiesel is biorenewable. Feed stocks can be renewed one or more
times in a generation.
• Biodiesel is carbon neutral. Plants use the same amount of CO2 to
make the oil that is released when the fuel is burned.
• Biodiesel is rapidly biodegradable and completely nontoxic,
meaning spillages represent far less risk than petroleum diesel
spillages.
• Biodiesel has a higher flash point than petroleum diesel, making it
safer in the event of a crash.
• Blends of 20% biodiesel with 80% petroleum diesel can be used in
unmodified diesel engines.
• Biodiesel can be used in its pure form but may require certain
engine modifications to avoid maintenance and performance
problems.
 Contd.
• Biodiesel can be made from recycled vegetable and animal oils or
fats.
• Biodiesel is nontoxic and biodegradable.
• It reduces the emission of harmful pollutants, mainly particulates,
from diesel engines (80% less CO2 emissions, 100% less sulfur
dioxide).
• Biodiesel has a high cetane number of above 100, compared to only
40 for petroleum diesel fuel. The high cetane numbers of biodiesel
contribute to easy cold starting and low idle noise.
• The use of biodiesel can extend the life of diesel engines because it
is more lubricating and, furthermore, power output is relatively
unaffected by biodiesel.
• Biodiesel replaces the exhaust odor of petroleum diesel with a more
pleasant smell of popcorn or French fries.
 2. Vegetable Oil/Kerosene Mix
• Diesel Engines can run on a mixture of vegetable oil and kerosene
• Mixing proportions of the two must be very accurate
• This method does not always produce very reliable results, and can
be damaging to a diesel engine if not done properly
• An extra fuel tank is also necessary in the vehicle.
• The vehicle must be started and cooled down on petroleum diesel
fuel
 3. Straight Vegetable Oil
• Diesel Engine can run on straight vegetable oil as long as the engine
is started on diesel fuel
• A heater is also necessary to keep the vegetable oil warmed to a
certain temperature
• Either used cooking oil (from a fryer) or new cooking oil can be
used
• A new vegetable oil tank must be installed, and modifications on the
heating hoses of the diesel engine must be done
• The vehicle is started and stopped on diesel fuel, then switched over
to run off the hot, straight vegetable oil
• When the engine is running the engine coolant is used to heat the
vegetable oil so it has a similar viscosity that of diesel
 Sources of Vegetable Oils
• In order to run your car on vegetable oil you must find an
accessible oil source.
• There are three main sources of used veggie oil:
1. Restaurants
2. Distributors
3. Chip Companies
 Oil Distributors
• Competitive pricing on bulk
• Very limited processing
• Oil generally has been used
for cooking
Snack Food Companies
• Used for cooking
• Often far cleaner and of a
higher quality then
restaurants
• There are many snack food
and chip companies around
the world
 Restaurants
• Most common source
• Provide anywhere from 5 to
over 50 gallons/week
• Quality and quantity is
largely dependent on what
they fry and how often they
change their oil
Frying Oil Types
• Hydrogenated: to be used
for longer periods and is
made up of larger oil
molecules. Will become
thick and even solid at temp
up to 100 F.
• Non-hydrogenated: “Pure”
can remain pour able at
temps below freezing
 Storage of Vegetable Oils
• Dumpster: Several hundred gallons. Very beneficial as settling
occurs which makes the top oil very clean and extremely save to
collect and filter

• Barrel: 55 gallon drub, usually does not have a very secure lid and
often water and debris get into the oil

• Jugs/Buckets: 4.5-5 gallon buckets, advantage being that you can

see what is in the oil (water, food, etc..) and very easy to travel with
(lightweight)
 Blending
• Biodiesel can be used with different blend of diesel.
• These blends without any prior processing found insufficient
to decrease the viscosity of biodiesel.
• Therefore injection related problems were remained unsolved
 Transesterification
• Transesterification of natural glycerides with methanol to
methylesters is a technically important reaction that has been used
extensively in the soap and detergent manufacturing industry
worldwide for many years.
• Almost all biodiesel is produced in a similar chemical process using
base catalyzed transesterification as it is the most economical
process, requiring only low temperatures and pressures while
producing a 98% conversion yield.
• The transesterification process is the reaction of a triglyceride
(fat/oil) with an alcohol to form esters and glycerol.
• A triglyceride has a glycerine molecule as its base with three long
chain fatty acids attached.
• The characteristics of the fat are determined by the nature of the
fatty acids attached to the glycerine. The nature of the fatty acids
can, in turn, affect the characteristics of the biodiesel.
 Contd.
• During the esterification process, the triglyceride is reacted with
alcohol in the presence of a catalyst, usually a strong alkaline like
sodium hydroxide.
• The alcohol reacts with the fatty acids to form the mono-alkyl ester,
or biodiesel, and crude glycerol.
• In most production, methanol or ethanol is the alcohol used
(methanol produces methyl esters, ethanol produces ethyl esters) and
is base catalyzed by either potassium or sodium hydroxide.
• Potassium hydroxide has been found more suitable for the ethyl
ester biodiesel production, but either base can be used for methyl
ester production.
 Contd.

• A successful Transesterification reaction is signified by the

separation of the methyl ester (biodiesel) and glycerol layers after
the reaction time. The heavier co-product, glycerol, settles out and
may be sold as is or purified for use in other industries, e.g.
pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and detergents.
• After the Transesterification reaction and the separation of the crude
heavy glycerin phase, the producer is left with a crude light
biodiesel phase. This crude biodiesel requires some purification
prior to use.
 Usage in Biodiesel
• The reverse reaction, methanolysis, is also an example of transesterification.
• This process has been used to recycle polyesters into individual monomers
(see plastic recycling).
• It is also used to convert fats (triglycerides) into biodiesel. This conversion was
one of the first uses.
• Transesterified vegetable oil (biodiesel) was used to power heavy-duty vehicles in
South Africa before World War II.
• Biolipid transesterification may have been discovered much earlier.
• In the 1940s, researchers were looking for a method to more readily
produce glycerol, which was used to produce explosives for World War II.
• Many of the methods used today by producers and home brewers have their
origin in the original 1940s research.
• Biolipid transesterification has also been recently shown by Japanese researchers
to be possible using a super-critical methanol methodology, whereby high
temperature, high-pressure vessels are used to physically catalyze the
biolipid/methanol reaction into fatty-acid methyl esters.
 Transesterification process effect in
SVO
• Transesterification process decreases effect on the viscosity of
vegetable oil, but biodiesel still has higher viscosity and
density when compared with diesel fuel.
• The viscosity of fuels has important effects on fuel droplet
formation, atomization, vaporization and fuel–air mixing
process, thus influencing the exhaust emissions and
performance parameters of the engine.
 Preheating
• Preheating process involves heating of biodiesel before injecting it
into combustion cylinder.
• Biodiesel can be preheated at different temperature of, 60°C, 90°C,
120°C, and 150°C.
• Heat exchangers can be used to preheat the biodiesel.
• Hot exhaust gases from engine are circulated around the fuel
flowing tubes
• These gases can increase the temperature of fuel flowing through
tubes or heating coils can be used to preheat.
• Preheating of biodiesel is the easy, less economical and efficient
way for mentioned problem evaluation.
• The preheating of the vegetable oil improves the injection
characteristics by decreasing the kinematic viscosity, surface tension
and the density of biodiesel.
• The Preheating container should be made of a material that is a good
heat conductor, able to withstand temperatures up to 1200°C
Preheating Process Cycle

Preheating Heat Exchanger

 Contd.
• The exhaust manifold is electronically operated and its operation
depends on the temperature in the pre-heating container.
• When required temperature is attained a valve cut of the supply of
exhaust gases.
 Emulsification
• An emulsification is the process by which a mixture of two or
more liquids that are normally immiscible are combined (unmixable or
unblendable).
• In an emulsion, one liquid (the dispersed phase) is dispersed in the other
(the continuous phase).
• A number of different chemical and physical processes and mechanisms
can be involved in the process of emulsification:
1. Surface tension theory – emulsification takes place by reduction of
interfacial tension between two phases
2. Repulsion theory – the emulsifying agent creates a film over one phase
that forms globules, which repel each other. This repulsive force causes
them to remain suspended in the dispersion medium
3. Viscosity modification – emulgents like acacia and tragacanth, which are
hydrocolloids, as well as PEG (or polyethylene glycol), glycerin, and
other polymers like CMC (carboxymethyl cellulose), all increase the
viscosity of the medium, which helps create and maintain the suspension
of globules of dispersed phase
 Contd.
• Often, emulsions do not persist in the emulsified stage for a
satisfactory length of time — they revert into the original phases
comprising the emulsion.
• For an emulsion to remain stable, sufficient energy input is required.
• Generally, the finer the droplets produced, the more stable the
emulsion.
• High shear mixing plays a controlling role in emulsification by
breaking down droplets while simultaneously limiting the re-
combining of droplets during processing.
• It also improves the suspension characteristics of the product.
• If an existing emulsion requires increased stability, shearing the
emulsion further decreases the droplet size even more; this process
of homogenization results in smaller and more uniform droplet size.
• However, this can lead to subsequent processing using a high-
pressure homogenizer, which adds to the cost of production.
 Contd.
• Oil continuous (water-in-oil) emulsified fuels are exemplified by
diesel (or biodiesel blended fuels) and water emulsions.
• These emulsified fuels were recognized
in Europe (France and Italy). CEN workshop standard was
established (CWA 15145:2004).
• Other types of fuels have been emulsified that contain between 5
and 30% water (by mass) in the overall fuel emulsion.
• Advantages
1. Emulsified fuels instead of the fuel itself are environmental and
economic benefits.
2. Addition of water to the diesel process decreases combustion
temperatures and lowers NOx emissions.
3. Emulsified fuels are singularly effective in simultaneously
reducing NOx and PM emissions.
 Performance Characteristics in Engine
• The significant performance parameters like Brake thermal efficiency, Specific
energy consumption and Exhaust gas temperature
1. Brake thermal Efficiency:-
• The Variation of brake thermal efficiency (BTE) with load with different fuels is
presented in Fig.
• In all cases the brake thermal efficiency increases with increase in brake power.
• This may be due to lower heat losses.
• The brake thermal efficiency is about 21.12%, 22.56% 23.33% and 31.85%, with
SVO, PSVO, ESVO and diesel respectively.
• The reason for lower thermal efficiency with SVO is lower heat content, higher
viscosity and poor volatility.
• With pre-heating and emulsions thermal efficiency increases due to reduction in
viscosity, better atomization of fuel and better combustion.
• The increase in thermal efficiency is more with ethanol emulsion due to presence of
inherent oxygen in ethanol improves the combustion process by supplying
additional oxygen .
 Contd.
2. Brake Specific energy consumption (BSEC) - is an ideal
variable to compare fuels with different densities. Because it gives
an idea of amount of heat energy supplied to develop the power.
• Better the combustion lower will be the BSEC. The BSEC decreased
with increase in load due to better combustion.
• Variation in BSEC with load is presented in fig.
• The brake specific energy consumption (BSEC) with raw vegetable
oil is highest among all test fuels this may be due to lower calorific
value and poor atomization because of higher viscosity.
• The BSEC with preheated vegetable oil and micro emulsions is
lower as compared to SVO due to improved combustion because of
better atomization.
• The BSEC is lower with emulsion as compared to PSVO due to
better atomization and micro explosions of ethanol leading to a
secondary atomization, enhancing the fuel atomization
 Contd.
3. Exhaust gas Temperature
• Fig indicates the exhaust gas temperature for various fuels.
• The exhaust gas temperature increases with increase in load for all tested fuels.
• This increase in EGT is due the fact that at higher load, extra amount of fuel is
injected to develop more power.
• The neat vegetable oil shows highest exhaust temperature (402◦C) as compared to
diesel due to slow combustion.
• This may be attributed to poor atomization due to high viscosity.
• Also poor volatility of SVO results in poor distribution of air fuel mixture in
combustion chamber and poor or slow combustion.
• By preheating the vegetable oil viscosity of the fuel decreases and volatility of the
fuel increase which results in better atomization and quick evaporation and mixing
of fuel vapors with air.
• This results in faster combustion and low exhaust gas temperature. and emulsions.
• Lower exhaust gas temperature with emulsions is due to better atomization and
reduction in charge temperature as a result of vaporization of ethanol and better
combustion.
 Emission Characteristics
• The main emissions from compression ignition engine are
hydrocarbon, carbon monoxides, oxide of nitrogen, smoke and
particulates.
1. Carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon emissions

• Figures shows the CO and HC emissions with various fuels.

• The maximum CO emissions are found at rated power.
• The carbon monoxide emissions with vegetable oils are higher as
compared to diesel fuel.
• This trend may be due higher viscosity and poor atomization. Micro
emulsion and preheated vegetable oil show lower CO emissions as
Compared to un-heated SVO.
• With preheated oil the CO emissions are reduced due to better spray
characteristics which leads to more complete combustion.
• The ESVO show drastic reduction in carbon monoxide emissions as compared
to straight vegetable oil due to lower viscosity and water admitted with ethanol
replaces a portion of fuel containing carbon.
 Contd.
• In addition, the presence of ethanol increases the availability of oxygen
during combustion resulting in more complete combustion.
• Some of the CO produced during combustion of emulsions may be
converted into CO2 by using extra oxygen molecule present in the
emulsion.
• Unburnt hydrocarbon emission from unheated vegetable oil fuelled engine
higher as compared to diesel fuel.
• This may be due poor vaporization and improper atomization of the
vegetable oil which results in incomplete combustion.
• The UBHC emissions are low with pre-heated oil because of improved
vaporization and better mixing of fuel vapors with air, more complete
combustion with micro - emulsion, the hydrocarbon emissions are lower
than SVO and preheated oil at full load.
• But at part load HC emissions with ESVO are slightly higher than pre-
heated oil this may be attributed presence of ethanol leads to lower
combustion temperature which leads to partial combustion.
 Contd.
2. Nitrous Oxide emission

• The nitrogen oxide emissions increase with increase in load as the

load increases, the overall fuel air ratio increases resulting in
increased average gas temperature in the combustion chamber.
• The NOx emissions are lower with vegetable oils as poor volatility
and lower heating value of vegetable oil gives lower premixed
combustion resulting to lower combustion temperatures as
compared to diesel fuel.
• Pre-heating of oil reduces the viscosity which results in
improvement in combustion leads to higher NOx emissions as
compared to un-heated oil.
• Further NOx emission with ESVO is drastically reduced due high
latent heat of evaporation of ethanol and butanol and lower
combustion temperatures along with shortened combustion duration.
 Contd.
3. Smoke Emissions

• The smoke density is high at higher loads due to more fuel being
injected into the combustion chamber resulting to incomplete
combustion.
• Smoke emissions with vegetable oil are higher due to poor
atomization, injection of larger droplets causing more over rich
zones in combustion chamber.
• With Pre – heated oil and emulsion smoke emission is lower as
Compared to SVO.
• The lower smoke emissions with micro-emulsions may be due to
more complete combustion and presence of additional oxygen.
 Combustion Characteristics
1. Cylinder Pressure

• Figure shows the variation of cylinder gas pressure with crank angle
for all blends of WCME and with diesel fuel at 100% full load.
• Cylinder pressure characterizes the ability of the fuel to mix well
with air and burn.
• The pressure waves in the cylinder during combustion indicate
engine noise.
• All biodiesel blends of WCME20, WCME40, WCME80 and
WCME100 follow similar cylinder gas pressure trends to that of
diesel fuel under full load condition
 Contd.
2. Peak Pressure

• The peak cylinder pressures are 6.70 MPa, 6.74 MPa, 6.79 MPa, 6.8
MPa and 6.39 MPa for WCME20, WCME40, WCME80,
WCME100 with diesel fuel respectively at full load conditions.
• It can be observed from the Figure that peak cylinder gas pressure
occurred within the range of 7–10 CA ATDC for all biodiesel and
with diesel fuel.
 Contd.
3. Heat Release Rate

• The comparison of heat release rate variations for biodiesel and its
blends with diesel fuel at 100% full load is shown in Figure.
• Heat release pattern of a fuel is helpful to get some valuable
information about the combustion process in an engine such as start
of combustion timing and heat release rate at different crank angles.
• It can be observed that WCME and its blends experience similar
combustion stages as diesel fuel at full load condition.
• But the premixed combustion rate of all biodiesel and its blends are
slightly higher than diesel fuel and main combustion rate of diesel
fuel is marginally higher than all biodiesel and its blends.
• This is due to the accumulation of large amount of diesel fuel in the
combustion chamber at the time of premixed combustion phase,
which resulted in higher heat release rate at full load condition.
 Major Challenges of Vegetable Oil
1. The price of vegetable oil is dependent on the feed stock price
2. Feed stock homogeneity, consistency and reliability are
questionable
3. Homogeneity of the product depends on the supplier, feed stocks
and production methods
4. Storage and handling is difficult (particularly stability in long term
storage)
5. Flash point in blends is unreliable
6. Compatibility with I.C. engine material needs to be studied further
7. Cold weather operation of the engine is not easy with vegetable
oils
8. Acceptance by engine manufacturers is another major difficulty
9. Continuous availability of the vegetable oils needs to be assured
before embarking on the major use of it in I.C. engines
 Technical Difficulties
1. Development of less expensive quality tests
2. Study of the effects of oxidized fuel on engine performance and its
durability
3. Emission testing with a wide range of feed stocks
4. Studies on developing specific markets such as mining, municipal
water supplies etc. which can specify bio-diesel as the fuel choice
for environmentally sensitive areas
5. Co-product development like the recovery of glycerol at reduced
cost
6. Efforts to be focused on responding to fuel system performance,
material compatibility, petroleum additive compatibility and low
fuel stability under long term storage
 Contd.
7. Continued engine performance, emissions and durability testing in
a variety Of engine types and sizes need to be developed to
increase consumer and manufacturer confidence
8. Environmental benefits offered by vegetable oil over diesel fuel
needs to be popularized
9. Studies are needed to reduce the production cost, develop low cost
feed stocks and identify potential markets in order to balance cost
and availability
10. Research on the effect of glycerol on engine durability, emission
and material compatibility
11. Development of additives for improving cold flow properties,
material compatibility and prevention of oxidation in storage, etc