Studies on dual fuel engine performance and exhaust emission analysis by response surface methodology

Abstract

In this present study, a five factor three level Box-Behnken response surface design was used to study the effect of five independent variables such as diesel (40%-100%), ethanol (0%-30%), pongamia oil methyl ester (POME) (0%-30%), compressed natural gas (CNG) (0%-20%), and load of the engine (0%-100%) on the performance (brake thermal efficiency, brake specific fuel consumption, and exhaust gas temperature) and emission characteristics (carbon mono-oxide (CO), carbon dioxides (CO2), unburnt hydrocarbon, oxides of nitrogen (NOX), and smoke) of a single cylinder, four stroke, water cooled diesel engine converted to dual fuel system. It was operated with either diesel fuel or blend with CNG using an electronically controlled solenoid actuated valve mechanism. The experimental results showed that all the process variables have significant effect on the engine performance. The emission characteristics (CO, CO2, NOX, and Smoke) were significantly lower than the diesel fuel emissions. From the experimental results, second order polynomial models were developed to predict the response variables. The optimal conditions were determined and it was found to be: Diesel 70%, Ethanol 15%, POME 15%, CNG 10%, and load 50%, respectively, with a desirability value of 0.894. © 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.