Studies on impact of nozzle geometry And antioxidant additives on Performance combustion and emission of Diesel engine operating on kapok Methyl ester blends

Abstract

The increased demand for vehicles in this modern era and the stringent newlineemission norms by the authorities are the driving force behind the research in newlinealternative fuels. The oils derived from vegetable seeds are found to be a viable newlinealternative source for usage in Internal Combustion Engines. This research work is newlineaimed at exploring the possibilities of using one such vegetable oil viz., Ceiba newlinePentendara (Kapok) seed oil in Internal Combustion engines. The virgin seed oil is newlineabout ten times denser and viscous than the petroleum diesel. Direct application of newlinesuch raw oil on engine may lead to adverse effects such as injector clogging, smoky newlineexhaust, seizure of piston- cylinder and so on. Raw seed oil obtained from seeds is newlinesubjected to a chemical process known as transesterification to make it suitable for newlineusage in Engines. From the inference from previous research works it was evident newlinethat fuels derived from vegetable oils exhibit better combustion quality while newlinelagging in the quantum of emission. The challenge lies in balancing between the newlinecombustion quality and undesirable emissions. This research work is aimed at newlinetweaking the nozzle hole number for optimizing the NOx-soot trade off along with newlinethe proven method of using antioxidant additive with the fuel. newlineThe experiments are conducted with three different blends of kapok newlinemethyl ester with diesel (20 %, 30 % and 40 %) in a DI diesel engine configured newlinewith three different injectors of 4, 5 and 6 holes respectively. The results newlineindicated minimum NOx soot trade off for all the blends while the engine is newlinerunning with 6 hole injector. In order to enhance the Cetane number of fuel and newlinefurther reduction of NOx the experiment is repeated with B40 blend and B40 newlineblended with 1000 ppm of Tertiary Butyl Hydroquinone and Propyl Gallate newline(Antioxidant additives) for the same injector configurations as above. newlineCombustion Behavior of the fuel is comprehensively studied with reference to newlineinjector profile and additives used. The pattern of emissions are also newlinemeticulously noted down to arrive at an optimum combination. newline