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An analytical and experimental study of performance on jatropha biodiesel engine

Ganapathy Thirunavukkarasu (Internal Combustion Engines Laboratory, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, India)
Gakkhar Parkash Rakesh (Internal Combustion Engines Laboratory, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, India)
Murugesan Krishnan (Internal Combustion Engines Laboratory, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, India)

Biodiesel plays a major role as one of the alternative fuel options in direct injection diesel engines for more than a decade. Though many feed stocks are employed for making biodiesel worldwide, biodiesel derived from domestically available non-edible feed stocks such as Jatropha curcas L. is the most promising alternative engine fuel option especially in developing countries. Since experimental analysis of the engine is pricey as well as more time consuming and laborious, a theoretical thermodynamic model is necessary to analyze the performance characteristics of jatropha biodiesel fueled diesel engine. There were many experimental studies of jatropha biodiesel fueled diesel engine reported in the literature, yet theoretical study of this biodiesel run diesel engine is scarce. This work presents a theoretical thermodynamic study of single cylinder four stroke direct injection diesel engine fueled with biodiesel derived from jatropha oil. The two zone thermodynamic model developed in the present study computes the in-cylinder pressure and temperature histories in addition to various performance parameters. The results of the model are validated with experimental values for a reasonable agreement. The variation of cylinder pressure with crank angle for various models are also compared and presented. The effects of injection timing, relative air fuel ratio and compression ratio on the engine performance characteristics for diesel and jatropha biodiesel fuels are then investigated and presented in the paper.

Keywords: biodiesel, Jatropha curcas L., thermodynamic model, performance, diesel engine