EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS ON PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS OF HIGH GRADE SEMI ADIABATIC DIESEL ENGINE WITH COTTON SEED BIODIESEL

Biodiesels derived from vegetable oils present a very promising alternative for diesel fuel, since they have numerous advantages compared to fossil fuels. They are renewable, biodegradable, provide energy security and foreign exchange savings besides addressing environmental concerns and socio?economic issues. However drawbacks associated with biodiesel of high viscosity and low volatility which cause combustion problems in CI engines, call for engine with hot combustion chamber. They have significant characteristics of higher operating temperature, maximum heat release, and ability to handle low calorific value fuel. Investigations were carried out to evaluate the performance with low heat rejection combustion chamber with crude cotton seed biodiesel. It consisted of an air gap insulated piston, an air gap insulated liner and ceramic coated cylinder head with different operating conditions of cotton seed biodiesel with varied injection timing and injector opening pressure. Exhaust emissions were determined at full load operation of the engine.