Applied Mechanics and Materials Vols. 813-814

Abstract: In the present investigation, a biodiesel derived from soybean oil with 1, 4-Dioxan was tested as an alternative fuel for agricultural diesel Engine. The performance and emissions studies were conducted for both neat and blended biodiesel (B25, B50, B75 and B100) with and without antioxidant and the comparison is also made with petroleum diesel. On using biodiesel, the emissions of HC and NO_x were less compared to diesel. The brake thermal efficiency of B25+1, 4-Dioxan and mechanical efficiency of B50+1, 4-Dioxan is nearly similar to that of diesel.

Abstract: Increasing automobile emission is becoming a major problem to our environment. The available solutions like catalytic convertors, exhaust gas recirculation are costly and energy intensive. This paper examines the viability of the wet scrubber technology to reduce pollutants in the exhaust gas of the engine. This technology is already being used to reduce pollutants in static applications but not in the automobile sector. It passes the exhaust through a suitable solvent which dissolves some of the pollutants. But the problem in using these scrubbers for automobile emission control is their large size and requirement of external source of energy. In this paper a method to modify the wet scrubber technology to suit the automobile industry has been discussed and its effectiveness has been studied. This paper focuses on proving that the wet scrubber technology can be effectively used for treating automobile exhaust gas. It has been experimentally confirmed that the amount of pollutants in the exhaust could be reduced by 10% by using a wet scrubber.

Abstract: Now a days increasing in prices and depletion of fossil fuels, creates very necessary to find out an alternative fuel (biodiesel) from renewable natural resources. This paper deals with the transesterification of animal fat (dairy scum oil) to obtain Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME) or biodiesel in presence of calcium oxide catalyst at 65°C. The properties of produced biodiesels and their blend for different ratios (B10, B20, B30 and B100) are comparable with properties of diesel and ASTM biodiesel standards. Tests have been conducted on CI engine for different blends of biodiesel with standard diesel, at an engine speed of 1500 rpm, fixed compression ratio 17.5, fixed injection pressure of 200bar and varying brake power. The performance parameters includes brake thermal efficiency, brake specific fuel consumption, Exhaust gas temperature and emissions parameters as Carbon monoxide (CO), Carbon dioxide (CO₂), Hydrocarbon (HC) and Oxides of nitrogen (NOx) varying against Brake Power (BP).

Abstract: Day by day depletion of liquid fossil fuels creates necessity to find out an alternative liquid fuel like biodiesel. Rapid growth in transportation, industrialization and civilization from time to time causes increase in requirement of fuel and energy. This paper deals with the production of biodiesel from Simarouba Glauca, Dairy scum and Karanja oil by transesterification process using calcium oxide as a heterogeneous catalyst and methanol as the alcohol. Biodiesels are blended with diesel in different proportions and tested the physicochemical properties such as viscosity, flash point and density for each blended biodiesel. The important properties of biodiesel such as cloud point, pour point, ash content and carbon residue are tested and compared with other biodiesels.

Abstract: In this study the effect on exhaust gases of a diesel engine fuelled by biodiesel and coupling Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) has been done. EGR is a pre-treatment technique to trim down NO_x from diesel engines as it is expected to reduce the flame temperature and the oxygen concentration in the combustion chamber. Fossil fuels so-called biodiesel is picked as the blending fuel. Existence of oxygen in Biodiesel aids complete combustion and anticipated to reduce CO and HC emissions. Exhaust Gas Recirculation technique can capably reduce the amount of NO_x. EGR may tend to increase the CO and HC emissions, biodiesel which has higher oxygen content is blended to diesel so that it may compensate CO and HC emissions. The performance and emission characteristics of EGR along with biodiesel in a diesel engine are discussed.

Abstract: In the current study, combustion characteristics were evaluated using mahua biodiesel blends at different compression ratios on a direct injection CI engine. Non edible mahua oil was transesterified into biodiesel by two stage technique. Combustion parameters were evaluated for B5, B10 and B20 blends of mahua biodiesel with diesel and they were compared with straight diesel at compression ratios of 16, 17 and 18.Compression ratio was varied without altering the combustion chamber geometry and the static spill timing was set to 23° bTDC. Parameters like In cylinder pressure, heat release rate, rate of pressure rise and cumulative heat release were evaluated in this study at 100% engine loading conditions. Higher peak cylinder pressure and heat release was observed at higher compression ratios. The ignition delay of the blends were slightly higher compared to diesel at all CR tested. Peak cylinder pressure of the blends was slightly higher at CR 18. The ignition delay was also observed to be lower at higher compression ratio. The peak pressure was observed closer to TDC at higher compression ratios for all fuels tested.

Abstract: The drawbacks associated with bio-fuels can be minimized by making modifications to combustion chamber. Modification of combustion chamber is achieved by providing an air gap in between the crown and the body of the piston with the top crown made of low thermal conductivity material. Experimentation is carried on a diesel engine with brass as piston crown material and karanja as test fuel, which is found to be a better alternative fuel based on the tests carried out prior to modification. Investigations are carried out on the performance of the engine with modified combustion chamber consisting of air gap insulated piston with 2 mm air gap with brass crown when fuelled with karanja oil. Comparative studies are made between the two configurations of engine with and without modification at an injection timing of 29^o bTDC. Performance, heat balance and emission plots are made with respect to brake power. Fuel consumption increased with modification. The mechanical and volumetric efficiencies are similar in both the cases. Indicated and brake thermal efficiencies got reduced with modification. But, it is good to see that HC and CO emissions are showing positive trend. Thus, the present investigation hints the possibility of improvements while making piston modification and providing air gap insulation.

Abstract: In the present era there is a great need of green energy. Domestic and industrial requirements depend on the conventional energy sources which are depleting and polluting atmosphere. Many sources of green energy are under research to meet the required demand. In the present experimental work, performance of Mahua bio-diesel is studied and its pollution level is checked by emission test. The test results are compared with that of pure diesel.

Abstract: Electricity is very vital in our day to day life. The motive of our journal is to generate electricity from the from the exhaust gases of an internal combustion engine by the principle of Seebeck effect.Exhaust gases from an automobile bring out the excess heat generated which would be very high.The idea is to convert this exhaust heat to another form of energy i.e., electricity with the help of thermoelectric devices like thermocouples, thermopiles, Peltier device. The voltage generated by the thermocouple is very small and many thermocouples are required to make a practical thermoelectric generator. If a loop is made from wires using two dissimilar metals, a voltage will appear between the junctions of the wires if one junction is hotter than the other. Such a loop made with dissimilar metals is known as a thermocouple and the phenomenon is named the Seebeck effect. A semi conductor thermocouple device named Peltier device is used to convert the exhaust heat generated from an automobile into electricity.

Abstract: Biodiesel is considered as one most of the promising alternate fuels for the diesel engines without any major engine modifications due to its similar properties that of diesel. However, it is imperative to study the fuel spray behavior and its effective distribution inside the engine which affect combustion and emission characteristics. Hence, a model will be a useful tool in analyzing the spray characteristics of different biodiesel fuels. Therefore, in this paper a numerical modeling is pursued to analyse the spray characteristics namely spray penetration, spray angle, and atomization of biodiesel. This model is likely to be useful for biodiesel combustion modeling.