The effect of using different Biodiesel fuels on jet development in a Diesel engine

The fuel properties and the injection rate-shape play an important role in the improvement of the combustion process of Diesel engines. In this work, the influences of using the forthcoming renewable biodiesel fuels on fuel jet development utilizing a computer simulation model created with the AVL Hydsim software were studied. Biodiesel fuels B20, B30 and B100 were considered and compared with the original pure Diesel fuel D100. The injection system behaviour under research was that one existing on a tractor engine equipped with Delphi DP200 pump and Delphi injectors. Two engine speeds of 1400 rpm and 2400 rpm were considered representative for the engine operation. For these speeds, the fuel jet characteristics as penetration, spray cone angle and Sauter mean diameter were analyzed. It can emphasize that in similar conditions of needle lift and injection rate-shape variation the usage of biodiesel fuels does not significantly alter the injection pressure and the Sauter mean diameter. However, the specific physical properties of biodiesel fuels affect substantially the spray penetration and its cone angle.

A Study on Performance Evaluation of Biodiesel from Grape Seed Oil and Its Blends for Diesel Vehicles

With incessant increases in fuel prices worldwide and concerns for environmental pollution, the need for alternative sources of energy is becoming urgent. In this study, the potential of grape seed oil for biodiesel as an alternative fuel was evaluated. Refined grape seed oil was bought in liquid form and then subjected to an alkali-catalyzed transesterification process for biodiesel production. The physicochemical properties of the resulting biodiesel—namely, viscosity, cetane number, and heating value—were investigated. The biodiesel was blended with a conventional diesel in various proportions and combusted in a four-cylinder, four-stroke compression ignition (diesel) engine under two loading conditions. Experimental results revealed that the blend ratio of B70 (70% GS biodiesel and 30% conventional diesel) gave the best overall engine performance in terms of maximum power, minimum emissions, and fuel consumption. Furthermore, a novel neural network technique called extreme learning machine was adopted to investigate the optimal blend ratio using the dataset obtained from the experimental results. The results also indicate that the best choice of biodiesel blend ratio is approximately B73.67 (73.67% GS biodiesel and 26.33% conventional diesel). The study shows that grape seed oil could serve as a reliable source of production of quality biodiesel fuels, which could be used as an alternative to conventional diesel fuels.

Optimization of Piston Grooves, Bridges on Cylinder Head, and Inlet Valve Masking of Home-Fueled Diesel Engine by Response Surface Methodology

Naturally replenished biodiesel fuels are more precise in place of diesel engine applications as they have complying thermal properties, which are extensively used by various researchers. However, there is necessity to optimize their utility to meet stringent emission norms as per Bharat Stage VI (BS VI) and Euro 6. From the exhaustive survey on the studies, number of piston grooves (NG), number of grooves-n-bridges on cylinder head (Gr-Br), and inlet valve masking (IVM) using the response surface methodologies (RSM) technique have not been reported on the competence, emissions, and combustion attributes of diesel engines running on Honge oil methyl ester (HOME), hence this is an identified gap in literature. The present simulation work is for optimizing the performance and lessoning exhaust emitted from the diesel prime mover tested on non-conventional and petro fuels. Experimentation was carried out to inquest the competence, combustion, and emittance of a vertical cylinder, overhead valve, water cooling, open or induction swirl diesel engine running on HOME as the injecting fuel. The object of the present effort is to optimize competence of diesel engines via a statistics inquest called designs of experiments (DoE). To curtail the diverse variations to be experimented on, full factorial designs (FFDs) array was employed. The response surface methodologies (RSM)-based nonlinear or quadratic predictors establish the relation between the input parameters and proposed attributes. The RSM-based mathematical predictors are established to prognosticate the distinguished engine output attributes at 95% confidence interval. The response surface assay discovered that a combination of 2B 3G, ‘IVM’ of 900, and ‘NG’ of six grooves yields highest brake thermal efficiency (BTE), lessoning smoke, carbon monoxide (CO), and hydrocarbon (HC), but nitrogenous oxides (NOx) emissions increased slightly. Additionally, combustion attributes, such as Ignition delay (ID) and combustion duration (CD), were lessoned, but peak pressure (PP) and heat release rate (HRR) had a higher contrast to performance of HOME biodiesel in a conventional CI engine.

Locating and Quantifying Carbon Steel Corrosion Rates Linked to Fungal B20 Biodiesel Degradation

Fungi that degrade B20 biodiesel in storage tanks have also been linked to microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC). A member of the filamentous fungal genus Byssochlamys , and a yeast from the genus Wickerhamomyces were isolated from heavily contaminated B20 storage tanks from multiple Air Force bases. Although these taxa were linked to microbiologically influenced corrosion in situ , precise measurement of their corrosion rates and pitting severity on carbon steel was not available. In the experiments described here, we directly link fungal growth on B20 biodiesel to higher corrosion rates and pitting corrosion of carbon steel under controlled conditions. When these fungi were growing solely on B20 biodiesel for carbon and energy, consumption of FAME and n-alkanes was observed. The corrosion rates for both fungi were highest at the interface between the B20 biodiesel and the aqueous medium, where they acidified the medium and produced deeper pits than abiotic controls. Byssochlamys produced the most corrosion of carbon steel and produced the greatest pitting damage. This study characterizes and quantifies the corrosion of carbon steel by fungi that are common in fouled B20 biodiesel through their metabolism of the fuel, providing valuable insight for assessing MIC associated with storage and dispensing B20 biodiesel. IMPORTANCE Biodiesel is widely used across the United States and worldwide, blended with ultralow sulfur diesel in various concentrations. In this study we were able to demonstrate that the filamentous fungi Byssochlamys AF004 and the yeast Wickerhamomyces SE3 were able to degrade fatty acid methyl esters and alkanes in biodiesel causing increases in acidity. Both fungi also accelerated the corrosion of carbon steel, especially at the interface of the fuel and water, where their biofilms were located. This research provides controlled, quantified measurements and the localization of microbiologically influenced corrosion caused by common fungal contaminants in biodiesel fuels.