EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION ON PERFORMANCE AND EMISSION CHARACTERISTICS OF DIESEL-ETHANOL-BIODIESEL BLEND IN DIESEL ENGINE

In this paper the performance and emission characteristics of the blends are made from biodiesel of soybean oil and E10 (10% ethanol and 90% diesel) in the proportions ranging from 20% to 40% of biodiesel. Extraction of biodiesel from the soybean oil was made by using the transesterification method. Anhydrous ethanol (10%) was added as an additive to the diesel-biodiesel blends which helps to reduce the ignition delay and slight reduction of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emission. Performance test was conducted at steady state DI diesel engine at constant speed by varying loads at no load, 25%, 50%, 75% and full load. The above tests were taken without any engine modifications or tuning. It is observed that as the increasing of biodiesel ratio, there is a slight increase in brake thermal efficiency (BTE) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emission, while carbon monoxide (CO), and hydrocarbons (HC) emission reduced and a slight reduction of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emission due to addition of anhydrous ethanol to the blends.