Author : Hari Vasudevan, Sandip Mane, Naresh Deshpande and Ramesh Rajguru

The current economic scenario in India demands and impresses upon the need for exploring alternatives to petroleum derived fuels, due to their depletion as well as due to the concern for environmental issues. The biodiesel is a non-toxic, biodegradable and renewable alternative fuel that can be used as a substitute for diesel in diesel engines. This paper discusses the performance characteristics of a single cylinder diesel engine, using Coconut Methyl Ester (CME) and its diesel blends. Experiments were conducted with pure diesel and the blends of CME-diesel by volume for different load range. The exhaust conditions were measured using exhaust gas analyzer. The effect of use of CME as well as CME-diesel blends on the performance of the engine for brake thermal efficiency, brake specific fuel consumption, exhaust temperature and air-fuel ratio as well as the engine emissions from CME and CME-diesel blends are analyzed and compared with that of the conventional diesel fuel.

Keywords: Biodiesel, coconut methyl ester, diesel blends, performance. emissions.