B. Ravi Sankar

Influence of biodiesel and its blends on CI engine performance and emissions: a review

ABSTRACT The rapidly depleting stock of conventional fuel has provoked an interest in alternative fuels for internal combustion engines. There are numerous varieties of oils which can release their energy on burning. Most of them cannot be used in IC engines because of their higher viscosity and low volatility compared to mineral diesel. However, fuels derived from triglycerides (vegetable oils/animal fats) are promising substitutes for fossil fuels. The present work is aimed to review the performance and emission characteristics of a CI engine fuelled with diesel, biodiesel and their blends like Jatropha, Pongamia, Mahua, animal fat, Cottonseed oil, soybean crude oil, rapeseed oil, tallow methyl esters, palm oil, waste cooking oil, Kopak Methyl Ester, sunflower, neem oil, koroch seed oil etc. The summaries of the observations made from the recent works are reported. NO emission level increases with the advance in the injection timing. For B20 Pongamia, BSFC and BTE are comparable to diesel. BTE of MME B20 was higher than that of diesel.

Experimental analysis on a DI diesel engine with cerium-oxide-added Mahua methyl ester blends

ABSTRACT An investigational research is carried out to found the performance and emission characteristics of a direct injection (DI) diesel engine with cerium oxide nanoparticles additives in diesel and biodiesel blends. Mahua methyl ester was produced by transesterification and blended with diesel. Cerium oxide nanoparticles of 50 and 100 ppm in proportion are subjected to high-speed mechanical agitation followed by ultra-sonication. The experimentations was conducted on a single cylinder DI diesel engine at a constant speed of 1500 rpm using different cerium-oxide (CeO2)-blended biodiesel fuel (B20 + 50 ppm, B20 + 100 ppm, B50 + 50 ppm and B50 + 100 ppm) and the outcomes were compared with those of neat diesel and Mahua biodiesel blend (B20 and B50). The experimental results indicated that brake thermal efficiency of B20 + 100 ppm cerium oxide was increased by 1.8 with 1% betterment in specific fuel consumption. Emissions of hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide were reasonably lower than Diesel fuel.

Investigations on CI engine with nano-sized zinc oxide added Mahua Methyl Ester blends

ABSTRACT An investigational research is done to evaluate the performance and emissions characteristics of a direct injection diesel engine operated with Mahua Methyl Ester (MME) and its blends with zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles as an additive. The MME is produced from raw Mahua oil through the process of transesterification. The fuel is modified by dispersing the nanoparticles catalyst by ultrasonic agitation. Various diesel–biodiesel–ZnO blends were prepared by varying the biodiesel and nano proportions of 20% and 50% by volume and 50 and 100 ppm of ZnO nanoparticles to study its performance and emissions characteristics on a single cylinder, CI engine. The results showed that the suitable nano-additives blend resulting in best engine performance is B20 with 50 ppm ZnO nano additive. At this proportion, thermal efficiency is increased up to 3%, and all NOx, CO and HC emissions have been reduced.

Parametric Investigations on Surface Roughness of Hard Turned AISI 52100 Steel

The present work is aimed to investigate the effect of the turning parameters on the surface roughness produced during hard turning of AISI 52100 bearing steel with PCBN cutting tools. The experiments are devised using Taguchi L27 orthogonal array and analysis is carried out using MINITAB 14 software. The influence of individual parameters is discussed with main effects plot and the combined parametric effect is presented with interaction effects plot. From the results it is observed that speed and nose radius has a great influence on surface roughness. The interaction effect is significant for speed and feed combination.

Study on Machinability of Aluminum Alumina Metal Matrix Composites

This paper presents the influence of machining parameters such as cutting speed, feed and depth of cut on the machinability during turning of AA6061/Al2O3 metal matrix composites with different weight fractions. Machining results have been achieved at different reducing velocity (43, 67 and 103 m/min) and extraordinary depth of cuts (0.4, 0.8 and 1.2 mm) at constant feed rate of 0.04 mm/rev to study the machinability of as cast composites. It is observed that the intensity of cut and the reducing pace at constant feed charge influences the cutting forces at some point of dry turning operation of cast MMCs. It is also observed that higher weight percentage of Al2O3 reinforcement imparts a higher cutting forces. This experimental analysis and test results on the machinability of AA6061/Al2O3—MMC can be used to find the cutting forces.