Fuel 144 (2015) 157–163

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Fuel
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/fuel

On the ignition delay of two types of Castor oil bio-diesel using shock
tube experiments
Osayed S.M. Abu-Elyazeed ⇑
Mechanical Power Department, Faculty of Engineering, Mataria, Helwan University, Cairo, Egypt

h i g h l i g h t s

 Two types of biodiesel were synthesized using pyrolysis of Castor oil.

 The ignition delay of the Castor bio-diesels was higher than that of diesel.
 The ignition delay of all fuels was the minimum at stoichiometric mixture.
 The ignition delay of all fuels was decreased at higher ignition temperature.
 The ignition delay of all fuels was decreased at higher ignition pressure.

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

Article history: In the present work, two types of Castor biodiesel were synthesized by using the pyrolysis process. The
Received 18 August 2014 first was obtained through pyrolysis of raw Castor oil with no-catalyst, while the second was synthesized
Received in revised form 25 November 2014 in the presence of anhydrous sodium sulphate as a catalyst. Such two types were termed as Castor bio-
Accepted 11 December 2014
diesel number 1 (BD1) and Castor bio-diesel number 2 (BD2) with yield of 55% and 52% respectively. The
Available online 26 December 2014
pressure rise ignition delay of these types of Castor bio-diesel was studied, for this purpose, a shock tube
test set up was designed and manufacture. It was fully instrumented for ignition delay measurement
Keywords:
with two piezo-electric pressure transducers, dual mode charge amplifier, data acquisition card, laptop
Pyrolysis
Catalyst
computer with suitable LabVIEW software. The test variables include the type of fuel (BD1, BD2, and
Ignition delay period gas oil), equivalence ratio, ignition temperature, and ignition pressure. It was found that the ignition
Biodiesel delay of the gas oil was more than those of both BD1 and BD2; the delay period of BD1 was less than that
Castor oil of BD2. Rich and lean mixtures exhibited long delay whilst the minimum delay occurred near the stoichi-
Shock tube ometric mixture. Also, it was found that the delay period reduced considerably as the ignition pressures
and temperatures reduced. Modifications of the CIEs will not be needed to be suitable for running with
these types of biodiesels. The shorter ignition delay observed with BD1 and BD2 can lead to a reduction in
compression ratio. That makes the engine less stressed and accept turbo-charging more readily.
Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction transesterification [1]. There are a number of different recipes for

As oil and gas reserves gradually dwindle and global warming
due to CO2 emissions becomes more obvious, the world needs to
consider alternative fuels. A good deal of research work has been
done to investigate the use of vegetable oils as a road transport fuel
[1]. Vegetable oils can be used in diesel engines either in its neat
form, called straight vegetable oil, but needs many engine
modifications. Such straight oils can be used as blends with diesel
fuel without engine modifications [2]. Also, these oils can be used
in forms produced as a result of chemical reactions such as
⇑ Tel.: +20 1125075399; fax: +20 226333813.
E-mail address: bio_new_life@hotmail.com
producing shorter chain length chemical structures which are nor-
mally called ‘‘bio-diesel, and bio-gasoline’’. Such bio-fuels can be
blended with the conventional fuels as diesel or gasoline to use
its preferable properties for enhancing the performance and
emissions of internal combustion engines. These properties of
bio-diesels are high energy content, cetane number, Oxygen
content, low ash contents, and nil sulphur contents. And, the prop-
erties of bio-gasoline as high energy content, octane number, Oxy-
gen content, volatility, low ash contents, and nil sulphur contents
are used for developing the resistance of the abnormal combustion,
performance and emissions of spark ignition engines [3,4]. Vegeta-
ble oils are produced from numerous oil seed crops. While all veg-
etable oils have high energy content, most require some processing

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2014.12.041
0016-2361/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
158 O.S.M. Abu-Elyazeed / Fuel 144 (2015) 157–163
Nomenclature
BD Castor bio-diesel
F/A actual fuel to air ratio
(F/A)st stoichiometric fuel to air ratio
HRR heat release rate
M molecular weight (kg/kmol)
MS shock Mach number
N number of moles
P pressure (bar)
R gas constant (kj/kg k)

R universal gas constant, 8.31434 (kj/kg k)
T temperature (k)
s ignition delay (ms)
US shock speed (m/s)
V volume (m3)
to assure efficient use in internal combustion engines. Some of
these oils have already been evaluated as substitutes for diesel,
and gasoline fuels. These include the following vegetable oil fuels,
and their methyl esters: raw sunflower oil [1], blends of raw sun-
flower, cottonseed, corn, and olive oil with diesel fuel [2], raw rape-
seed oil [5], soybean oil methyl ester [6], distilled opium poppy oil
and refined rapeseed oil [7], jatropha oil [7–9], Jojoba oil [4,10], etc.
Of the many renewable sources known, Castor oil appears to be a
promising contender for producing diesel fuel as a promising scope
for cultivation in the relatively hot Egyptian weather. Among the
several recipes for bio-diesel production, transesterification as a
simple chemical reaction between stirred alcohol, and vegetable
oils in the presence of heat and catalyst could not produce low vis-
cosity and ash content bio-diesel especially by using high viscosity
vegetable oils such as raw Castor oil. The Oxygen content of bio-
diesel, which increased the specific fuel consumption, synthesized
by transesterification is due to the Oxygen content of the alcohol in
the chemical reaction as stated by Abu-Elyazeed et al. and Slim
et al. [10,11]. In contrary of transesterification, pyrolysis process
could produce not only low viscosity, ash content, and nil Oxygen
bio-diesel but also bio-mazot as a low grade fuel oil. Thus, through
the present work, two types of Castor bio-diesel were synthesized
by using the pyrolysis of Castor raw oil. The first one was produced
by using no catalyst and called Castor bio-diesel number 1 (BD1).
And, the second bio-fuel was produced in the presence of
anhydrous sodium sulphate as a catalyst and termed as Castor
bio-diesel number 2 (BD2).
The ignition delay in diesel engines may be divided in two peri-
ods, physical delay succeeded by chemical delay. The physical
delay is the duration in which the following processes are carried
out: atomization of the liquid fuel jet; vaporization of the liquid
droplets; diffusion of the fuel vapour into the air to form a combus-
tible mixture. Whilst, the chemical delay period includes the
decomposition of the heavy hydrocarbons into lighter components
and pre-ignition chemical reactions between the decomposed
components and air [12]. These types of delay period could explain
the needs of verifying qualitatively the shock tube experimental
results with experiments conducted on a diesel engine via heat
release rate (HRR) analysis [3]. It is worth to mention that the igni-
tion delay is one of the main variables that influence the combus-
tion chamber design, rate of pressure rise, peak cylinder pressure,
exhaust gas temperature, and exhaust emissions [13,14]. There-
fore, the main objective of this work was to study the ignition
delay of BD1, and BD2, as a fuel for diesel engines in the shock tube
and comparing the results with those of gas oil. Several terms are
used to characterize the ignition delay depending on the criterion
Suffices
1 initial condition
a air
f fuel
i initial condition
ig ignition
s shock
st stoichiometric
T total
Greek symbols
u equivalence ratio
q density
c specific heat ratio
used to define the onset of combustion; hence the terms heat
release delay, illumination delay and pressure rise delay. However,
since the pressure rise delay bears more engineering significance, it
was adapted in the present work.
2. Shock tube test rig
2.1. General description
The principle of the shock tube test rig generally relies on
containing a relatively high pressure gas in a pipe usually termed
the ‘‘driver section’’ (1) as shown in Fig. 1; such section is separated
by a diaphragm (2) from another pipe containing low initial pres-
sure fuel–air mixture, usually termed the ‘‘driven section’’ (3).
Upon rupture of the diaphragm a shock wave propagates through
the driven section. If the shock wave strength is sufficiently high,
the temperature of the fuel–air mixture in the driven section will
rise and thus the ignition temperature will be reached and hence
the mixture burns.
Fig. 1 shows a schematic of the shock-tube test setup. After
evacuation of the shock tube by a vacuum pump (23), the driver
section was charged by a combustible mixture of Acetylene,
Oxygen and Nitrogen; the gas supply and regulation device (5)
and gas bottles (16–18) shown were used for this purpose. A
high-tension, automotive-type ignition system (19–22) was
employed to generate a spark in the sparking plug (19) located in
the position shown in the driver section. Thus, the gaseous mixture
in the driver section (1) ignites, bursts the diaphragm (2) between
the driver and driven sections and generates a considerable shock
wave in the driven section (3). The driven section was, however,
evacuated by the vacuum pump from a special tapping controlled
by a gas-type ball valve (10). The driven section was then charged
by air and the test fuel. The walls of the driven section were heated
to a temperature above the boiling point of the test fuels by an
electric heater to prevent condensation of the test fuel on such
walls after charging. As the valves to the driven section are opened
and the atmospheric air passes through the venturi (11), Fig. 1, the
test fuel was injected at the throat (12) of the venturi using an
accurate syringe (accurate to within 0.01 cc). This venturi was
externally heated by a gas burner to ensure full vaporization of
the fuel during the charging process. The temperature of the mix-
ture (initial temperature) was measured using a thermocouple
type K fitted in the driven section (14). Whilst, the initial pressure
of the mixture was adjusted to the required value by using a vac-
uum pressure gauge.
 O.S.M. Abu-Elyazeed / Fuel 144 (2015) 157–163 159

All dimensions in mm

Fig. 1. Schematic of the shock tube test rig. 1. Driver Section, 2. Diaphragm, 3. Driven Section, 4. Test Section, 5. Quartz Window, 6. Piezo Electric Pressure, Transducer, 7.
Charge Amplifier, 8. Data Acquisition Card, 9. Laptop Computer, 10. Ball Valve, 11. Venturi, 12. Test Fuel Injection Point, 13. Vacuum Pressure Gauge, 14. Thermocouple with
its read out, 15. Gas Supply and Regulation Device, 16. Oxygen Bottle, 17. Acetylene Bottle, 18. Nitrogen Bottle, 19. Spark Plug, 20. Contactor, 21. Ignition Switch, 22. Ignition
Coil, 23. Vacuum Pump.

Two piezo-electric pressure transducers (6) were fitted in the
test section (4) in the driven part, as shown in Fig. 1, 400 mm apart.
Such transducers were calibrated in a special apparatus using an
instantaneous shock in a liquid. The output of such transducers
was connected to charge amplifiers (7) and then to 250 kHz NI-
DAQmx data acquisition card (8), which was connected to a laptop
computer (9). Data acquisition was facilitated by a LabVIEW soft-
ware for storing the measured data to an MS-Excel sheet. From
such record, the delay period was evaluated as will be shown later.
The method of varying the pressure, temperature and equivalence
ratio of the BD1, BD2, and gas oil by volume is indicated below.
2.2. Driver and driven sections
For the proper functioning of a shock tube, Bradley [15] and
Gaydon and Hurle [16] have put forward several design recom-
mendations, based on a review of theory and successful designs.
Here, 50.8 mm (2 in), high pressure, seamless tubing was used
for the construction of the driver and driven sections. Smaller
diameters ‘‘e.g. 12.7 mm (0.5 in)’’ can lead to shock attenuation
[15]. In the present work, the total length of the driver and driven
sections was 110 times the diameter. That lies within the limits of
40–150 indicated by Bradley [15]. The reason being to avoid the
catching up of the reflected rarefaction wave with the incident
shock wave before the incident shock passes the test section.
Here, a length of forty times tube diameter was provided
between the diaphragm and test section. In fact, Gaydon and Hurle
[16] recommended a minimum value for the said distance to be
8–10 tube diameters; however, they recommended that such dis-
tance should be considerably increased. The reason being to attain
a steady shock since the diaphragm rupture is far from being ideal.
The driver section was equipped at the right hand side with a
sparking plug fed by the electrical energy from a battery and coil
automotive-type ignition system as stated earlier. Also a vacuum
gauge, (13) in Fig. 1, was installed atop of the driver section to
measure the vacuum pressure. The driver section was connected
by a gas-type rubber hose to a gas supply and regulation device.
At the left hand side of the driver section, a thick plastic diaphragm
was fitted.
The driven section, nevertheless, was furnished by a vacuum
gauge for vacuum measurement. It was also connected by tapping,
valve and rubber hose to the vacuum pump, Fig. 1, through a spe-
cial valve in the gas supply and regulation device. The test section
was equipped with two quartz windows (5) for observation pro-
cesses. It was also equipped with two piezo-electric pressure trans-
ducers as mentioned above. Atmospheric air and the evaporated
test fuel were supplied to the driven section from the left hand side
through the heated venturi.
At this point, it is well to point out that charging the shock tube
was always carried out under vacuum to avoid high pressures sub-
sequent to combustion. Hence, it was imperative to ensure that the
rig holds vacuum well. Thus, vacuum was reduced to 0.04 bar and
the variation of vacuum was recorded with time over a 24 h period.
It was found that the maximum leakage rate reduced the vacuum
inside the shock tube by less than 0.1  103 bar/min. That was
considered satisfactory and indicates that the test rig was tight
enough.
2.3. Gas supply and regulation devices
A gas supply and regulation device was designed and built.
Three gas-type ball valves were used to adjust the supply of O2,
N2 and C2H2 from the gas bottles shown to the driver section. Each
valve was connected to a pressure gauge to record the stagnation
gas pressure. Hypodermic needles were installed in special sockets
placed downstream each valve. The purpose was to reduce the rate
of gas flow and thereby make the charging process more controlled
and convenient.
The gas supply device was also provided with a valve to read
the vacuum within the device. In addition, two more valves were
installed; one for connection to the vacuum pump for evacuation
purposes whilst the other was for connection of the driver or dri-
ven section to the gas supply device. Moreover, a master connec-
tion piece was made, which connects, all valves by rubber hoses.
The purpose was to enable gas mixing and simultaneous charging
if required.
3. Method of experiment and data reduction
The experiment was carried out by fitting a diaphragm between
the driver and driven sections of the shock tube and then charging
both sections and setting a shock wave to ignite the test fuel–air
160 O.S.M. Abu-Elyazeed / Fuel 144 (2015) 157–163

mixture. The driver section of the shock tube was first evacuated and since
by the vacuum pump through the gas supply and regulation  
device. Then such section was fitted by inflammable mixture of F F
¼u
Acetylene, Oxygen and Nitrogen. The relative quantities of Acety- A A st:
lene and Oxygen were calculated as follows:
For Oxygen: Pa
F 
PT
PT V a u A st:
PO2 V O2  O
¼ NO2 RT Vf ¼ ð6Þ
2 q f Ra T a
For Acetylene: The stoichiometric fuel to air ratio (F/A)st was determined from
 CH
PC2 H2 V C2 H2 ¼ NC2 H2 RT the stoichiometric equation of combustion for each test fuel. The
2 2
value of Vf can then be calculate at various values of / and constant
And the equation of state for the mixture of Acetylene and Oxygen pre-determined PT and Ta using Eqs. (3) and (6). Also, Vf was calcu-
is lated at constant / and Ta for various values of PT. Similarly, Vf was
 T calculated at constant / and PT for various values of Ta.
PT V T ¼ NT RT
After charging the driver and driven sections of the shock tube,
and since V O2 ¼ V C2 H2 ¼ V T = the volume of the driver section, a spark was generated in the sparking plug which ignites the
T O2 ¼ T C2 H2 ¼ T T = ambient temperature and from Dalton’s law mixtures of C2H2, O2 and N2 in the driver section. That bursts the
PT ¼ PO2 þ P C2 H2 diaphragm and the generated shock wave ignites the test fuel–air
mixture while the piezo-electric pressure transducers record the
P O2 N O2 1 pressure–time diagram for the two transducers which appear on
¼ ¼ ð1Þ
PT NO2 þ NC2 H2 1 þ NC2 H2 the laptop screen; such plot was, however, obtained using the
NO
2
LabVIEW software to be stored as an MS-Excel sheet through a
and, 250 kHz NI-DAQmx data acquisition card. That plot was obtained
P C2 H2 PO with gas oil as a fuel in the driven section. The time interval
¼1 2 ð2Þ between points O and X in Fig. 2(a) gives the time taken by the
PT PT
shock wave to travel from the upstream to the downstream trans-
The pressure in the driver section was always chosen to be ducer. Thus with prior knowledge of the distance between the two
1 bar. However, the Acetylene/Oxygen mixture was always diluted transducers, the shock speed (Us) was calculated. However, the
by Nitrogen such that the N2 pressure was always 0.4 bar. Thus PT time interval between points X and O in Fig. 2(b) give the thermal
mentioned above was invariably 0.6 bar. A stoichiometric mixture ignition delay of the test fuel. It must, however, be pointed out that
of C2H2 and O2 was used throughout, thus the stoichiometric com-
NC
2 H2
bustion equation gives NO
used in Eq. (1). Hence, P O2 and P C2 H2
2

were determined from Eqs. (1) and (2), the gas supply and regula-
tion device was used with the aid of the vacuum and pressure
gauges and the relevant valves to supply C2H2, O2 and N2. The dri-
ven section was evacuated using the vacuum pump through the
gas supply and regulation device after heating its walls to the
required temperature of the driven section. Then, the driven sec-
tion was charged as stated earlier. The quantity of test fuel to be
injected was calculated as follows:
ma 
Pa V a ¼ RT a
Ma
and
mf 
Pf V f ¼ RT f
Mf
and since Vf = Va volume of driven section, PT = Pa + Pf and Ta = Tf
measured temperature of hot air.
 
ma
Pa Ma 1
¼   m  ¼ F Ma
ð3Þ
PT ma
þ f 1 þ A Mf
Ma Mf

and since
P
Pa V a PTa PT V a
ma ¼ ¼ ð4Þ
Ra T a Ra T a
and
F
mf ¼ ma ¼ V f qf ð5Þ
A
The substitution of Eqs. (4) in (5) yields
Fig. 2. Pressure history recorded (a) indication the time taken (time interval
Pa
mf ma AF PT
PT V a AF between X and O) by the shock wave to travel from the upstream to the
Vf ¼ ¼ ¼ downstream transducers (b) indication of ignition delay (time interval between X
qf qf Ra T a and O) for gas oil at Pig = 24 bar, Tig = 1489 K and / = 0.9.
 O.S.M. Abu-Elyazeed / Fuel 144 (2015) 157–163 161

the time intervals stated above were automatically calculated by 4.2. Effect of fuel characteristics
the previous stored MS-Excel sheet.
The ignition pressure (Pig) and the ignition temperature (Tig) of Table 1 indicates the properties of the Castor biodiesels and gas
the fuel–air mixture in the driven section were calculated from oil. It is worth to mention that both Castor bio-diesels (BD1 and
[17]: BD2) proved to conform to ASTM D-6751 for bio-diesel.
8 vffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi9 The difference of the ignition delay of both Castor bio-diesels
u !2
Pig 1 < U 2s ut U 2s 4q1 U 2s = from that of gas oil is stipulated to be due to the changes in the
¼ 1 þ q1 þ 1 þ q1  physical and chemical properties. Table 1 illustrates that the den-
P1 2 : P1 P1 P1 ;
sity, viscosity and calorific value are different as both BD1 and
2cM 2s  ðc  1Þ BD2 have lower density (by 4.65% and 4.17% respectively), higher
¼ ð7Þ viscosity (by 2.22% and 6.67% respectively), and higher calorific
ð c þ 1Þ
value (by 9%, and 4.4% respectively) than those of gas oil but these
where P1 = initial total pressure in the driven section and properties have not significant effect on the ignition delay times as
8  9 mentioned in literature [12,20,21]. Also, the ignition delay time is
>
< cM 2
 c1 c1 2
M þ 1 >
= affected by both hydrogen content, and cetane number of the fuel.
T s 2 2 s
a ¼ ig ¼  2
ð8Þ As shown in Table 1, the hydrogen contents and cetane number of
T1 : > cþ1 >
;
2
M 2s both BD1 and BD2 are considerably higher (for hydrogen contents
by 8.3% and 5.84% respectively) and (for cetane number by 22.45%
where T1 is the temperature of hot mixture inside driven section and 12.24% respectively) than those of gas oil, hence leading to a
and Ms (the shock wave Mach number) is given by [12] shorter ignition delay period as stated by Wong and Steere [21]
 12 and Radwan et al. [22]. Although both BD1 and BD2 were synthe-
q1 sized from the same raw Castor oil, the difference of the physical
Ms ¼ Us ð9Þ
cP1 and chemical properties of BD1 compared to BD2 is predetermined
to be due to the effect of the presence of anhydrous sodium sul-
The specific heat ratio (c) was calculated by iteration as sug-
phate as catalyst used for synthesizing BD2. Such catalyst could
gested by Kleinschmit [17]. The equivalence ratio, /, was varied
change the chemical structure and hence the properties of BD2
as stated above. However, the ignition pressure (Pig) and the igni-
compared to those of BD1.
tion temperature (Tig), were varied by varying P1 and T1.
In order to ensure the consistency of the experimental results,
preliminary tests were carried out with the present shock tube 4.3. Effect of equivalence ratio
on gas oil at different equivalence ratios and the results agreed
with those given in the literature [13,18,19]. Also, repeated tests Fig. 3 shows the effect of equivalence ratio on the ignition delay
showed good reproducibility. of the two types of the Castor bio-diesels BD1, BD2 and gas oil. It is
clear that the variation of the ignition delay with the equivalence
ratio exhibit the familiar bell-shaped behaviour for all types of fuel.
4. Results and discussion
Also, it is observed that the minimum ignition delay times occur
near the stoichiometric condition and that agrees with the results
4.1. Synthesizing of Castor bio-diesel
of diesel and bio-diesel fuels which, were noticed by many inves-
tigators including Saleh [19]. That is stipulated to be due to the
The pyrolysis test bench, which consists of oil bath heater,
higher pre-flame reactions at this condition which reduced the
temperature controller, raw oil Pyrex flask (heated flask), cold
ignition delay.
water condenser, and bio-diesel Pyrex (receiver flask). Such rig
It is observed that the ignition delay times steeply increased as
was designed and constructed for the pyrolysis process at certain
the mixture gets leaner and modestly increased as the mixture gets
temperature. Two types of bio-diesel were synthesized by using
richer. Such increase is stipulated to be due to the fact that
this rig. The first one, which called Castor bio-diesel number 1
pre-flame reactions appear to have slow down leading to a long
(BD1), was synthesized with the presence of no-catalyst and the
ignition delay period.
results showed that the initial pyrolysis temperature of 340 °C,
the final temperature of pyrolysis of 380 °C and the yield of 55%
as the volumetric ratio of BD1 to the raw Castor oil. And, the sec-
ond bio-diesel BD2 was obtained in the presence of 1 wt.% of anhy- Table 1
drous sodium sulphate as a catalyst; it was found that the initial Properties of Castor bio-diesel number 1 (BD1), Castor bio-diesel number 2 (BD2) and
gas oil.
and final pyrolysis temperatures were 300 and 340 °C respectively
while the yield was 52%. Therefore, the presence of this catalyst Fuel Castor bio-diesel Castor bio-diesel Gas
reduced both the pyrolysis temperatures and yield. Thus, the BD1 BD2 oil

energy consumption in pyrolysis of Castor raw oil was reduced C, % 87.2 87.5 88.01
by using 1 wt.% of anhydrous sodium sulphate as a catalyst. And, H, % 12.8 12.5 11.82
API gravity 39 40 34.3
the amount of synthesized fuel is increased by using no catalyst
Sp. gravity @60/60 F 0.82 0.8241 0.86
pyrolysis. Viscosity @40 °C (c St) 4.6 4.8 4.5
Therefore, the properties of Castor bio-diesels BD1, BD2 and gas Pour point (°C) 15 8 4.5
oil were measured. Such properties will be discussed in the follow- Calorific value (MJ/Kg) 47 45 43.1
Cetane no. 60 55 49
ing section to illustrate the effect of these characteristics on the
Initial boiling point (°C) 120 120 120
ignition delay. Final boiling point (°C) 380 340 325
In addition, a series of shock tube experiments were performed Ash content (wt.%) 0.0012 0.008 0.01
to study the ignition delay of BD1, BD2 and gas oil. Measurements Water content (mg/kg) 0.04 0.05 0.15
were carried out in the ignition temperature range of 1450– Carbon residue (wt.%) 0.1 0.1 0.1
Sediment (wt.%) 0.011 0.01 0.02
1525 K, ignition pressure range of 16–24 bar with equivalence
Sulphur content Nil Nil 1.5
ratios varying from 0.7 to 1.2.
162 O.S.M. Abu-Elyazeed / Fuel 144 (2015) 157–163

Fig. 3. Effect of the equivalence ratio on the ignition delay of Castor-BD1, Castor- Fig. 4. Effect of ignition temperature on the ignition delay of Castor-BD1, Castor-
BD2 and gas oil. BD2 and gas oil.

Fig. 3 also gives a comparison between BD1, BD2, and pure gas
oil. The results show that the ignition delay of both BD1 and BD2
are shorter than that of gas oil. It is also observed that, the ignition
delay of the BD1 is lower than that of BD2.
The results suggest that, for low and high compression ratio
direct injection diesel engines both BD1 and BD2 can be used safely
where the ignition delay of such fuels lie within the ranges noticed
by Watson [23] and Heywood [24].

4.4. Effect of ignition temperature

The effect of ignition temperature on the ignition delay for the

test fuels is presented in Fig. 4. It is found that increasing the igni-
tion temperature leads to a decrease in the ignition delay for all
types of fuel. Such decrease is stipulated to be due to the fact that,
increasing temperature increases the number and velocity of
molecular collisions accompanied by an increase in the activated
complexes as mentioned by Levine [25]. Thus, the energy acquired
by the molecules increases, enabling to overcome the bond energy
more readily as indicated by Radwan et al. [13] and Rutland and
Wang [18]. It is observed that both Castor bio-diesel numbers 1
and 2 have shorter ignition delay period than that of gas oil. Also,
Fig. 5. Effect of ignition pressure on the ignition delay of Castor-BD1, Castor-BD2
the results show that, the ignition delay of the BD1 is lower than and gas oil.
that of BD2.

4.5. Effect of ignition pressure 5. Conclusions

The effect of ignition pressure on the ignition delay for the test
fuels is elucidated in Fig. 5. The results clear that higher ignition
pressures decrease the ignition delay. The primary reason is appar-
ently due to the fact that higher pressures mean higher collision
efficiency and more proximity of the air molecules with the fuel
molecules, improving the pre-ignition reaction activity as stated
by Levine [25]. Thus, the energy acquired by the molecules
increases, enabling to overcome the bond energy more readily as
indicated by Rutland and Wang [18]. Shorter ignition delay period
than that of gas oil is exhibited by both Castor bio-diesel numbers
1 and 2 exhibit. It is observed that, the ignition delay of the BD1 is
lower than that of BD2.
From the study presented in this work, the following conclu-
sions may be drawn:
1. The presence of 1 wt.% of anhydrous sodium sulphate as a cat-
alyst changes the properties and chemical structure of BD2
compared to BD1.
2. The presence of 1 wt.% of anhydrous sodium sulphate as a cat-
alyst and reduces the pyrolysis temperatures by 11.8%. Thus,
the energy consumption in pyrolysis of Castor raw oil is
reduced by using such catalyst.
3. The yield of synthesized fuel is reduced by 5.4% compared with
using no-catalyst pyrolysis.
 O.S.M. Abu-Elyazeed / Fuel 144 (2015) 157–163
4. The ignition delay of both Castor bio-diesels BD1 and BD2 runs
in step with cetane rating such that a shorter delay prevails
with higher cetane number fuels.
5. The minimum ignition delay times occur near the stoichiome-
teric condition. Richer or leaner mixtures result in longer
delays.
6. Both Castor bio-diesels BD1 and BD2 exhibit a shorter ignition
delay period than gas oil at all conditions.
7. Castor bio-diesel number 1 BD1 shows a shorter ignition delay
period than BD2 at all conditions.
8. For all types of fuels, as the ignition temperature is increased,
the ignition delay times tend to decrease.
9. Higher ignition pressures lead to shorter ignition delays. Thus
any design or operational factor that affects the ignition pres-
sure and/or temperature will affect the ignition delay.
References
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