Performance of Coconut Biodiesel Fueled Diesel Engine with Exhaust Gas Emission Analysis

Abstract

Biodiesel fuel is biodegradable, Sulphur free, non-toxic and environmentally friendly. Current research focuses on coconut biodiesel production using crude coconut oil. Both one and two step transesterification methods were utilized to analyze the effect of free fatty acid on the transesterification process while the two-step transesterification reported highest yield biodiesel percentage of 84% compared to the one step i.e. 72%. The fuel properties found compatible with standards. The biodiesel blends fueled diesel engine performance tests were performed on diesel engine Water-cooled, four stroke, single cylinder, Direct Injection System (Kubota - RK95-1-NB-RDK). The biofuel blend with 10% of coconut biodiesel and 90% Petro-diesel shown the highest brake horsepower of 8.809KW, engine power of 1.685KW and mechanical efficiency of 15.24%. While in exhaust gas emission analysis, the hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide decrease with the increasing biodiesel blend whereas the nitrogen oxides increased.