Experimental investigation of ethanol blended diesel fuel in single cylinder CI engine

Abstract

Abstract Ethanol is one among the many available bio-fuel, which is made off natural fermentation of sugar or by products of petrochemicals is widely used as blend with fossil fuels in automotive and power generator engines. Ethanol is having energy of 21.2\u202fMJ/L when compared to diesel and petrol 38.6\u202fMJ/L and 45\u202fMJ/L respectively. Ethanol contains 34% higher oxygen by weight and makes it as a low-cost oxygenator which in turn makes it as valuable player in fuel combustion and emission reduction. The present research work investigates durability and corrosion of a single cylinder compression ignition engine which uses ethanol blend with diesel in 20–80 ratio respectively and named as B20. It is mechanically durable for longer term when compare to the existing Diesel alone model. The present work also explored lubricant quality along with engine performance. A total of eight tests at 12.5\u202fh of running per test at normal speed were carried out and the results showed engine performance remained at the same level for both blended and diesel only fuels, but lubricant was consequently diluted and contaminated due to the blending of Ethanol, these effects are measured in the form of components wear and carbon deposition after the end of experiment (100 Hrs. of test run). Viscosity and contamination tests are used for identifying the presence of carbon and other elements. The wear rate and presence of contamination were increased after each test run, Iron (Fe) presence in wear test showed an increase of 7% per test and sulphate (SO4-2) increased 8.7% per test in contamination. The investigation showed the effectiveness of B20 as a substitute for diesel and provides an interesting research space for refining itself.