AN INVESTIGATION ON THE PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS OF A DIESEL ENGINE USING DIESEL-RICE BRAN BIODIESEL BLENDS AT DIFFERENT INJECTION PRESSURES

The depletion of fossil fuels, increasing demand fo r petroleum fuels prompted extensive research on alternative sources of energy for internal combustion engines. Biodiesel as alternative fuel has been widely studied as alternative for diesel fuel due to its merits such as lower sulfur, lower aromatic hydrocarbon and higher oxygen content. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of injection pressure on the performance characteristics of a single cylinder diesel using diesel and diesel-rice bran biodiesel blends B10 (90% diesel a nd 10% rice bran biodiesel), B20 (80% diesel and 20% rice bran biodiesel) and B30 (70% diesel and 30 % rice bran biodiesel). The diesel engine was tested at 180, 200, 220 and 240 bar injection pressure by using diesel fuel, diesel-rice bran biodiesel blends. The engine was run at its rated speed of 15 00 rpm and the parameters related to performance were measured at the rated power of the engine.