Performance and Emission Characteristics of a CI Engine Operating on Methyl Esters blended Diesel with Di-Methyl Carbonate Additives

Abstract

This paper investigates the effect of an oxygenated additive di-methyl carbonate (DMC), in Calophyllum Inophyllum methyl ester (CIME)-diesel blends, on engine performance and exhaust emission characteristics. The results are compared with those additives in CIME blends with diesel, and presented in this paper. Experiments were conducted at various compression ratios (CR) for the given blends of B20 and B40 using a single cylinder variable compression ratio compression ignition engine. Based on the experimental results, it is observed that the DMC added with CIME –diesel blends has improved the thermal efficiency up to 2.6% and 3% and a rise in brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) of about 2.7% and 5.3% compared with CIME-diesel blends and diesel respectively, at higher compression ratios. Further, for the B20+A blend there is a marginal reduction in carbon monoxide (CO) emission of 22.7% and unburned hydro carbons (UBHC) emission of 12.7%, at the cost of the rise in oxides of nitrogen (NOx) than in those of diesel.