A study of energy and environmental parameters of a diesel engine running on hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) with addition of biobutanol and castor oil

Abstract

The article analyses energy and environmental operating parameters of a compression ignition internal combustion engine running on HVO-biobutanol and castor oil fuel blends, also comparing them with parameters of an engine running on convection diesel. Since biobutanol is known for poor lubrication characteristics, it was mixed with 5% of castor oil. The obtained blend of biobutanol and castor oil was mixed with HVO at 2/95, 10/90, and 20/80 v/v and fed to the compression ignition internal combustion engine. The presented physicochemical indicators justified the use of the said fuel blends. Constant engine crankshaft speed of 2000 rpm and a variable load expressed as BMEP of 0.1–0.9 MPa was selected in the research. When using the biobutanol–castor oil additive (hereafter simply biobutanol additive) in HVO, an increase in the rate of heat release (ROHR) and the convergence of its value to that of to conventional diesel fuel was observed. A decrease in BTE values was also observed with increasing biobutanol concentration in the blend. Increasing concentration of biobutanol in blends led to an increase in BSFC both in terms of volume and mass; HC and NOx emissions grew as well, but smoke emissions declined, and no material changes in CO and CO2 emissions were observed.