PERFORMANCE AND EMISSION CHARACTERISTICS OF COMPRESSION IGNITION ENGINES USING BIODIESEL AS A FUEL: A REVIEW

Performance and emission characteristics of compression ignition (C.I.) engines were reviewed in this work. This study was conducted by reviewing works that were carried out using biodiesel derived from the oils of: cotton seed, mahua, rice-bran, canola, Shea butter and Jatropha; and biodiesel from waste frying oil, waste palm oil, blend of ethanol and biodiesel, and diesel-biodiesel-ethanol fuel blend. The results showed that while using biodiesel and its blends; brake power was reduced by 4-5% and brake specific fuel consumption increased by 5-10%. CO2 emissions were reduced by 5-8% and NOx increased by 11-22%. Neat biodiesel was better up in CO2 reduction by about 22.5% at higher loads when compared to B20. However, the increase in NOx emission and power losses resulting from neat biodiesel suggest that low blend biodiesel such as B20 has the potential of becoming optimum blend. The works under review revealed that biodiesel exhibits similar performance on diesel engine when compared to fossil diesel and possesses better emission characteristics. These findings identified biodiesel as a renewable and prospective future fuel that will protect our environment