PERFORMANCE AND EMISSION EVALUATION OF A VCR DIESEL ENGINE USING MAHUA OIL METHYL ESTER

An experimental study was conducted on the performance and emission characteristics of Variable Compression Ratio (VCR) Diesel engine with mahua oil methyl ester (MOME) blend. A four strokes, single cylinder, and water cooled engine of 3.5 kW rating and compression ratio 17:1, 17.5:1 and 18:1 was used for the experiment. Also the blend of B10 (10%MOME+90% Diesel), B20 (20%MOME+80% Diesel) and B30 (30%MOME+70% Diesel) biodiesel was used for conducting the performance and emissions tests at varying load conditions. Various parameters such as brake thermal efficiency, brake specific fuel consumption and exhaust gas temperature emission of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, smoke and oxides of nitrogen gases in exhaust were recorded were recorded. The important properties of mahua methyl esters were compared with diesel fuel. The test results indicate that the fuel of B20 and compression ratio of 18 can be used in diesel engines without any engine modifications.