Effect of PME and JME B10 Biodiesel-Blends on Fuel Properties and Diesel Engine Performance

Abstract

The research is to investigate the effect of B10 biodiesel-blends from Palm Oil Methyl Ester (PME) and Jatropha Oil Methyl Ester (JME) on the fuel properties and diesel engine performance. Tests have been carried out to measure the fuel properties of the blended fuels (J10D90, P10D90, and J5P5D90) such as density, kinematic viscosity and calorific value compared with D100 pure diesel as base fuel. The experiments were performed with single cylinder four-stroke diesel engine at constant engine load of 3 Nm and variation engine speeds from 1000 to 3000 rpm at 500 rpm interval, thus to obtain the brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC), and brake thermal efficiency (BTE). The results of fuel properties show that blend J10D90 have the highest density and kinematic viscosity which were 3% and 4% higher than base fuel respectively. The result shows that BSFC is increased with the increase of density and kinematic viscosity. The BSFC increased 16% when engine fuelled with J10D90 as compared with base fuel at 3000 rpm and constant engine load of 3Nm. In contrast, BTE is decreased 20% as compared with base fuel at same engine test condition. This is due to high viscosity which led to poor fuel atomization and mixing process. In conclusion, the blending of fossil fuel with PME and JME led to changes in several fuel properties which significantly improved the engine performance.