Performance of diesel engine using bio-fuel from sesame oil

Abstract

Energy has become a crucial factor for humanity to continue the economic growth and maintain high standard of living especially after industrial revolution. “Fossil fuels are still the main source of energy. But the endless consumption of fossil fuels will bring the reserve to an end in near future. As a result fuel prices are soaring because of diminishing supply than demand. So researchers world over are in constant search of alternate fuels in the last three to four years, aimed at reducing CO2 emissions and global dependency on fossil fuels. The use of vegetable oils as a fuel in diesel engine causes some problems due to their high viscosity compared with conventional diesel fuel. Various techniques and methods are used to solve the problems resulting from high viscosity. One of these techniques is blending of fuel. In this study, a mix of 5%, 10%,15%, 20%, 25% sesame oil and diesel fuel was used as alternative fuel in a direct injection diesel engine. Diesel engine performance and exhaust emissions were investigated and compared with the diesel fuel in a diesel engine. The experimental results show that the engine power and torque of the mixture of sesame oil diesel fuel are close to the values obtained from diesel fuel and the amount of exhaust emissions are lower than those of diesel fuel. Hence it is seen that mix of sesame oil 20% and 80% diesel fuel can be used as an alternative fuel successfully in a diesel engine without any modification and also it is an environmental friendly” fuel in terms of emission parameters.