Performance of Turbocharged Common-Rail DI Diesel Engine Operated with n-Butanol Biodiesel Blend

Biodiesel fuel is one of a renewable fuel which cancels nearly all carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions it produces in engine combustion based on its CO2 consumptions in the plants growth. Palm biodiesel is extracted from palm tree’s fruit which the tree itself have a very long productive life cycle. Alcohols is also a renewable green fuel with great potential over emissions reduction in combustion. One key problem known for using biodiesels is slight NOX emission increase in engine combustion as compared with regular diesel. This research investigates the combustion and performance effects of operating turbocharged CRDI compression ignition engine with 15% (by volume) of n-butanol with B5 biodiesel (Euro 2M) fuel blend (BU15). Prepared fuel was fed into engine experimental setup at 2500 RPM with varied engine loads to study the effects. The results were compared with the data gathered from running the engine setup with B5 biodiesel alone. It is found that ignition delays increase prior to higher load operation with BU15 fuel. The n-butanol/biodiesel fuel blends present little effect on the in-cylinder pressure of the engine at low engine load conditions. Fuel consumption for n-butanol/biodiesel fuel blends BU15 are lower than running the engine with B5 diesel fuel. Interferences were detected in main combustion with BU15 running at 30% load and persists until ends of combustion. It is concluded that the engine can run with n-butanol biodiesel blends without modification with satisfactory performance compared to normal B5 diesel.

Keywords: Performance, n-butanol, NOx, palm biodiesel, renewable fuel