RSM based empirical model for the performance and emission characteristics of ROME biodiesel

Abstract

In the current scenario, the production of biodiesel for IC engine plays important role due to the undesirable pollution and cost hike of the conventional fuels. In India, milk from the rubber tree (HeveaBrasiliensis) is used for the production of elastic materials which are most widely used in engineering applications. But the seed from the rubber tree is kept wasted without any further usage and hence in this research the oil produced from the rubber seed is suggested for effective biodiesel production. The rubber seed oil (RSO) is converted in to usable rubber seed oil methyl ester (ROME) biodiesel using trans-esterification and tested for the characteristics of performance and emission through variable compression ratio (VCR) engine. The detailed set of experiments are conducted in the VCR engine with different biodiesel-diesel ratios to evaluate the BTE, SFC, CO, CO2 and NOx levels of the blends. A mathematical model also developed using Response Surface Method (RSM) for these parameters such that the compression ratio, fuel blend, engine load, and injection pressure are the design variables, The experimental results are used in the RSM to create the mathematical models and the models are checked for the ANOVA and p-test. Finally the models are tested with the new sets of experimental results.