Experimental Investigation of Feasibility of Using Biodiesel Produced from Nahar, Castor, and Rice Bran Seeds in CI Engine

Scarcity of diesel is an ever-growing problem since the fossil fuel resources are limited. The demand for energy in the transportation sector is continuously increasing due to growing number of vehicles. In this study, an effort has been made to tackle this problem by giving alternative biodiesel as an option to the problem. In the present work, locally available seeds of nahar, castor, and rice bran have been chosen for study since they are available abundantly and cheap. Three different blends (B10, B20, and B30) are prepared from the three methyl esters (nahar, castor, and rice bran). To determine the suitability for the engine testing operations, fuel characterization has been done to determine various properties of the fuel like flash point, fire point, cloud point, pour point, calorific value and density. These three biodiesels B10, B20, and B30 have been tested in compression ignition engine. The performance characteristics have been studied and analyzed to determine the various output parameters of the engine like brake thermal efficiency, specific fuel consumption, and indicated power. The engine performance parameters are obtained by the different blends of biodiesels. The performance analysis and optimization of the parameters for the combustion process will help us to use biodiesel as an alternative fuel in the day today’s energy needs.