Influence of Diethyl Ether on the Performance and Emissions of a Compression Ignition Engine Fuelled with Biodiesel

Abstract

India is one of the major importers of petroleum products and hence government of India has taken several steps to find suitable alternative fuels to the fossil fuels. The biodiesel derived from non-edible oils is considered as an immediate substitute for the fossil diesel. In this work, biodiesel was produced from non-edible honge oil and used as substitute for the diesel. The engine tests were carried out on a diesel engine which is most widely used for agricultural purpose. From the engine tests, we observed that the diesel engine performance with biodiesel is lower than the diesel due to lower volatility and slightly higher viscosity of the biodiesel. Hence, the objective of this work is to study the impact of diethyl ether (DEE) on the performance of the engine. The engine tests were conducted on a single cylinder, water cooled, compression ignition engine at steady state condition. The engine test results showed an increase in brake thermal efficiency and reduction in engine exhaust emissions such as CO, HC and smoke with the addition of DEE as an additive. From this work we conclude that the DEE can be used as an ignition improver for the honge oil biodiesel.