Author : N. Janardhan, Maddali. V.S. Murali Krishna and P.Usha Sri

It is essential that the alternative fuels for IC engines should be derived from the indigenous sources and preferably renewable energy sources. These requirements have generated a great deal of interest in vegetable oils as substitute or supplementary fuels for diesel engines. Experiments were carried out to evaluate the performance of diesel engine with air gap insulated low heat rejection (LHR–3) combustion chamber consisting of air gap insulated piston with 3 mm air gap, with superni (an alloy of nickel) crown, air gap insulated liner with superni insert and ceramic coated cylinder head with crude vegetable oil with varied injector opening pressure. Performance parameters [brake thermal efficiency, exhaust gas temperature, coolant load, volumetric efficiency and sound levels.] were determined at various values of brake mean effective pressure (BMEP) of the LHR–3 combustion chamber and compared with neat diesel operation on conventional engine (CE) and vegetable oil operation at similar operating conditions. Engine with LHR–3 combustion chamber with vegetable oil operation showed improved performance at manufacturer’s recommended injection timing of 27o bTDC, and the performance improved marginally with increased injector opening pressure n comparison with CE with diesel and vegetable oil at 27obTDC.

Keywords: Vegetable oil; Fuel performance, Conventional engine, LHR engine

Article published in International Journal of Current Engineering and Technology, Vol.5, No.4 (Aug-2015)