Energy and Exergy Analysis of a CI engine fuelled with biodiesel fuel from palm kernel oil and its blends with petroleum diesel

Exergy analysis method has been widely used in the design, simulation and performance assessment of various types of engines for identifying losses and efficiencies. In this study, the first and second Laws of thermodynamics are employed to analyze the quantity and quality of energy in a single -cylinder, direct injection diesel engine using petroleum diesel fuel and biodiesel fuel from palm kernel. The experimental data were collected using steady-state tests which enable accurate measurements of air, fuel, and all the relevant temperatures. Balances of energy and exergy rates for the engine were determined and then various performance parameters and energy and exergy efficiencies were calculated for each fuel operation and compared with each other. The results of tested biodiesel from palm kernel showed similar energetic and exergetic efficiencies as petroleum diesel fuel although exergy efficiency of petroleum diesel was higher than that of palm kernel oil biodiesel and its blends. Therefore, as biodiesels derived from Palm Kernel oil (Pkl 100) have comparable performances to diesel fuel, it was concluded that they can be used as substitutes for petroleum diesel without much power loss.