COMBUSTION AND PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF KARANJA, JATROPHAAND COTTON-SEED OILBASED BIOFUEL AS SUBSTITUTE IN DIESEL ENGINE

Biofuel has become a main source as a substitution fuel and is making its place as a future renewable energy. The biodiesel has emerged as a potential substitute for diesel fuel on account of its renewable source and lesser emissions. Non-edible filtered Jatropha (Jatropha curcas), Karanja (Pongamia pinnata) and Cottonseed oil based biodiesel blends with diesel were tested for their use as alternate fuels in diesel engines. The objective of the present investigations was to check the practical applications of biodiesel in a single cylinder compression ignition engine used in agricultural applications in India. Diesel and biodiesel from Jatropha, Karanja and Cottonseed and their blends (10 to 50% by volume) were used for conducting tests at varying loads (0, 50, 75 and 100%). The engine combustion parameters such as peak pressure, heat release rate and performance were calculated. Combustion analysis shows that Karanja biodiesel that result in maximum peak cylinder pressure (5.32 bar). The result shows that when the test engine was fuelled with JME(Jatropha Methyl Ester) and CSME (Cottonseed Methyl Ester), the engine performance slightly poor, the combustion characteristics slightly changed than that of diesel fuel. The biodiesel reduces carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, unburned hydrocarbon (HC) emissions, but it increases nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions. Improved heat release characteristics were observed for the Karanja biodiesel.