Abstract—Due to the increase in cost and scarcity of petroleum resources have promoted research in alternative fuels for internal combustion engines. Among various possible options, fuels derived from triglycerides (vegetable oils/animal fats) are promising for substitutes of fossil diesel fuels. Vegetable oil poses some problems when subjected to prolonged usage in compression ignition engines because of high viscosity as reported by different researchers. In the present research, experiments were designed to study the effect of reducing Kusum oil’s viscosity by increasing the fuel temperature, thereby eliminating its effect on combustion of the engine. A single cylinder 5 hp, four stroke, constant speed, water cooled, direct injection diesel engine typically used in stationary operation was used for the experiments. The acquired data were analyzed for various parameters such as thermal efficiency, brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC), emission of CO, CO2, HC and NOx gases in exhaust. While operating the engine on Kusum (preheated and blends), performance were found to be very close to mineral diesel for lower blend concentrations. The preheated oil’s performance was slightly inferior in efficiency due to low heating value. In pollution point of view it can perform well for the unmodified engine for a long period operation without any ignition problem. People of rural areas and undeveloped areas can use this for their agricultural engines without depending on market and without modification of whole engine, at the same time they can reduce the requirement of diesel fuel from outside market.
Index Terms—Blending, Kusum oil, Straight vegetable oils, Viscosity.
S. K. Acharya is with the. Department of Mechanical Engineering and Technology, ITAR, Bhubaneswar (e mail: acharya_mech@sify.com).
M. K. Mohanty is with College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology. He is now with the Department of Farm Mechiner and Power Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India-751003 (corresponding author Fax No 91674-2562360 e-mail: mohanty65_m@yahoo.co.in).
R. K. Swain is with the Mechanical Engineering Department, IGIT, Saranga, Dhenkanal, Orissa.
Cite: S. K. Acharya and M.K.Mohanty R. K. Swain, "Kusum Oil as a Fuel for Small Horse Power Diesel Engine," International Journal of Engineering and Technology vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 219-223, 2009.
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