Satoshi Tsunematsu

Single Droplet Combustion of Sunflower Oil

When sunflower oil (or plant oil, in general) was used as diesel engine fuel, the ignitability at low temperatures was much poorer than for No. 2 diesel oil. In addition, unburned carbon accumulated in the combustion chamber when the engine was idling. The research reported in this paper was conducted to investigate the causes of these problems. A single fuel droplet set at the tip of a combustion thread was inserted into an electric furnace and ignited. The behavior of the combustion was observed and analyzed by a high speed rotary video camera. The fuels studied were sunflower oil, No. 2 diesel oil, sunflower oil methyl ester and fish oil methyl ester. As a result, even if the droplet size of sunflower oil was the same as that of No. 2 diesel oil, its ignition delay was much longer than No. 2 diesel oil. This may be the main cause of poor ignitability of sunflower oil at low temperatures.

A Powered Rotary Subsoiler with Pressurized Sewage Sludge Injection

ABSTRACT THREE factors favor the use of the powered rotary subsoiler concept. They are: (a) Power can be transmitted directly more efficiently than through drawbar pull, (b) Reduction in draft requirements by tillage tools reduces the need for heavy tractive vehicles, thereby reducing the soil compaction, and (c) Reduction in draft requirements allows tillage operations to be performed in more difficult traction conditions. This report deals with the power requirements of a rotary subsoiler which injects the sewage sludge into the soil from the tips of rotor tines. The power requirements for the system was reduced by as much as 50% in the range of a large velocity ratio while injecting liquid sludge under pressure into the soil. With sludge injection, the power required for forward rotation (down cutting) was less than that required for reverse rotation (up cutting)..