Computational Investigation of Performance and Emission Characteristics of Diesel Engine Running on Soybean Biodiesel with Varying Injection Timing

Abstract

On account of the energy crisis and search for possible next generation alternative fuel, biodiesels have emerged as a popular choice for research in case of diesel engines. The characteristics of biodiesel are similar to diesel and thus they have been the subject of research for many years. Efforts are being made to increase the Brake Thermal efficiency and decrease the NOx emissions from diesel engines when running on biodiesels. For this, extensive experimentation is required which is cost ineffective and exhaustive. This work investigates the performance and emissions of a single cylinder diesel engine running on Soybean Biodiesel by varying the Injection Timing via the numerical approach using Diesel-RK software. Simulations were carried out for three different injection timings of 23°, 26°, and 29° bTDC for Soybean Methyl Ester (SME), at different load conditions in terms of brake power and constant speed of 1500 rpm and the results have been compared with those of baseline diesel fuel. The predicted results show better engine emission characteristics for the advancement of injection timing except NOx emissions while engine performance is better for retardation of timing except PM and Smoke emissions. The performance of diesel fuel is better than Soybean biodiesel, while SME exhibits low Smoke and PM emissions.