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A high concentration of palm oil biodiesel fuel blend is a strong candidate to substitute conventional diesel fuel (B10) due to its prospect to release fewer emissions. This paper shall present findings when testing palm oil biodiesel fuel blends (B10, B20, and B30) at medium speed (2500 rpm) in a single-cylinder Yanmar L70N diesel engine coupled to an eddy current dynamometer. In this study, a timed burette and an airbox determined the engine’s fuel and air consumption, respectively. In contrast, a flue gas analyzer measured the emission released by the fuel blend. The result indicates that as the concentration of palm oil biodiesel increases in the blends (from B10 to B30), there is no significant difference (average less than 5%) between the fuel blends in terms of brake thermal efficiency, brake specific fuel consumption, and air-fuel ratio. On the other hand, the emission results showed a reduction in CO, CO2, and NOx when the concentration of palm oil biodiesel increases in the blends. Considering the fuel blend would have no significant difference in the engine performance and its ability to reduce most emission, it is safe to conclude that B30 would be a good alternative for current diesel fuel (B10).

Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) is a promising technology. However, it suffers from low range characteristics thus increasing the anxiety to prospect customers and hindering its market penetration. To overcome this challenge, a range extender that can generate additional power to charge the battery could be the solution. This brief review article will highlight the prospects and challenges of range extender technology for electric vehicles. A number of automobile manufacturers have launched their Range Extended Electric Vehicles (REEVs) models and the detailed comparison will be given. Several types of range extenders will be discussed, including the internal combustion engine, microturbine, and fuel cell. Lastly, this report will suggest the use of Low Temperature Combustion (LTC) i.e Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) engine be utilised as range extenders for electric vehicles.

Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) is a commonly research new combustion mode due to its advantages over conventional combustion in internal combustion engine such as higher thermal efficiency as well as lower particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emission. However, combustion phasing control difficulty is the main challenge in order to achieve this HCCI combustion due to the absence of direct auto-ignition control. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of engine load conditions, intake charge temperature and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) rate numerically on the combustion characteristics of HCCI engine in a single-cylinder and four-stroke engine fuelled with n-butanol. Predictive one-dimensional engine cycle simulation with single-zone model is employed in this study. A chemical kinetic mechanism of n-butanol is used to in this model to capture the chemical reaction process during the combustion. It was found that these parameters play important roles towards the combustion phasing of the HCCI engine as well as the in-cylinder pressure. This HCCI model is able to predict the trend of the combustion characteristics comprehensively with the variation of these critical parameters resulting in a good agreement with previous HCCI studies.