Study of performance, combustion, and emissions parameters of DI-diesel engine fueled with algae biodiesel/diesel/n-pentane blends

Abstract

Biodiesel extracted from Scenedesmus obliquus algae through transesterification was used in the current study. Due to the disadvantages of using pure biodiesel in engines, it was used as B50 (a blend of 50% diesel and 50% biodiesel). To enhance engine performance, n-pentane was used in different extents of 5, 10, and 15 ml per liter as an enhancer additive. Through performance tests, it was found that 15 ml of n-pentane per liter was the best addition as it caused an increase in the brake thermal efficiency of 7.1% and a decrease in brake specific fuel consumption of 6.4% compared to the elegant B50. Whereas for exhaust gases, there was an increase in nitrogen oxides, which was associated with the significant increase in exhaust temperature and the high oxygen content present in B50. In comparison, hydrocarbons emission decreased by 7.2% compared to B50 in contrast to carbon dioxide which increased by 22.3% over B50. The carbon monoxide and oxygen concentrations of the exhaust gases also decreased by 17.35% and 9.5%, respectively compared to B50. The results obtained indicated that there are a significant improvements in pressure evolution and heat release data, which depend on the role of the mixed fuel addition of n-pentane.