Study of emission characteristics of a diesel engine run by fuel blends of diesel, jatropha biodiesel and cetane improver

Biodiesel produced from oils of vegetable seeds has the potential to be a key alternative energy source for CI engines. The calorific value of vegetable oils is somewhat lower than that of diesel fuel. This is due to the existence of oxygen in vegetable oil molecules. The cetane number of vegetable oils ranges from 35 to 40 based on the composition, but diesel does have a cetane number of roughly 45. Decreasing the fuel aromatic component or adding cetane improvers to the fuel is an inexpensive alternative for reducing diesel engine emissions. This study attempts to provide an insight by comparing the engine emission characteristics and performance for diesel - Jatropha biodiesel blend (BD50) with and without cetane improver. From the experimental study, compared to diesel, the thermal efficiency, CO, and HC concentrations of B50 with DMC fuel at maximum load were reduced by 1 %, 20 % and 12 %, respectively, but the NOX concentration increased by 18 %.