Effect of Exhaust Gas Recirculation on Performance and Emission Characteristics of a Diesel Engine Running With Corn Oil Biodiesel

Transesterified fuels (biodiesel) from vegetable oils are alternative fuels for diesel engines. They are renewable and offer potential reduction in CO and HC emissions due to higher O2 contents in vegetable oil. Many research studies have reported that exhaust from biodiesel fuel has higher NOx emissions while HC and PM emissions are significantly lower than operated with diesel fuel. The aim of the present investigation is to reduce NOx emissions. Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) is one of the most effective technique for reducing NOx emissions in compression ignition engines. An experimental investigation was conducted to study the effect of Exhaust Gas Recirculation on diesel engine Performance and Emission characteristics fueled with Corn Oil Methyl Ester and its blends with diesel. The EGR setup required for this work was developed on a single cylinder, direct injection, water cooled compression ignition engine. Corn Oil Methyl Ester produced by Transesterification process was used to operate the engine. The different EGR rates ranging from 0% to 10% in steps of 5% for Corn oil methyl ester blends with diesel fuel were consider for the study of various Performance and Emission characteristics. For all blends reduced NOx emission was observed with EGR. The better engine characteristics were obtained with EGR rate of 10% for all fuel blends.