A study on exhaust gas temperature and emission characteristics of a compression ignition engine fueled with transesterified rice bran oil

In recent times, mainly due to diminishing of fossil fuel reserves and increasing population and their living standards causing steep rise in energy consumption. Moreover, the usage of fossil fuels is severely impacting on environmental pollution that changing the climatic conditions, unpredictably. These problems have raised the need of alternative renewable fuel to sustain and meet the present and future energy demand. In the recent time, biodiesel has become a prospective replacement to diesel fuel, as alternative fuel, because of its physio-chemical properties and heating value. The present research study indented to analyse the emission characteristics of direct injection compression ignition engine fuelled with rice bran oil methyl ester (RBOME). The experimental analysis was carried out using a single cylinder, 4-stroke, and water cooled, direct injection diesel engine fuelled with different blends (BR20, BR40, BR60 and BR100) of RBOME at rated engine speed with different load conditions. The results revealed that biodiesel has higher exhaust gas temperature and lower exhaust emissions (carbon monoxide, smoke opacity) except NOx emissions when compared with diesel fuel.