IDENTIFYING THE THERMAL PARAMETERS OF DIESEL ENGINE USING DIESEL FUEL AND SOYBEAN METHYL ESTER BLENDS

Abstract

This work examines numerically the use of soybean methyl ester (SME) biodiesel along with diesel in a constant-speed, single-cylinder diesel engine. Two fuels were tested: 20%SME and pure SME, besides a baseline neat diesel for comparison. The simulation software Diesel-RK was used in this study, which is based on the multizone combustion model. The results obtained for selected biodiesel showed a quicker start of combustion due to the reduction in the delay period, which is impacted by cetane number. Compared to diesel, the SMD was increased by 8.7% and 24% for the use of 20% SME and SME, respectively. The brake thermal efficiency (BTE) was decreased by 0.8% for 20%SME while it decreased by 6.62% with the use of pure SME. Remarkable reduction in the nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions was reported with the use of SME by 50% compared to diesel fuel. The carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions were increased as a result of using SME blends with diesel. The comparison between obtained findings with the result of other studies reported an accepted deviation.