T.K. Gogoi

Application of artificial bee colony algorithm for maximizing heat transfer in a perforated fin

In this paper, an application of the inverse method based on the artificial bee colony algorithm has been demonstrated for estimating unknown dimensions of a rectangular perforated fin. The analysis has been done to maximize the heat transfer rate for a given volume occupied by the fin. The perforated fin has been assumed to dissipate heat by virtue of natural convection and surface radiation. The least square mismatch between a given volume and an initially guessed one is used to define the objective function that in turn has been minimized using the artificial bee colony algorithm. A comparative study reveals the advantage of the artificial bee colony algorithm against other evolutionary and stochastic optimization methods for the present problem. Since, there exist multiple dimensions satisfying a given volume, so, the most optimal dimension has been identified on the basis of a heat transfer rate maximization criterion. The study reveals that a given amount of heat transfer rate can be achieved with multiple combinations of the fin surface area and even a particular value of surface area can result in different heat transfer rates.

Performance and energy analyses of a diesel engine fuelled with Koroch seed oil methyl ester and its diesel fuel blends

Performance of a single cylinder four-stroke diesel engine is analysed in the light of first law of thermodynamics in this study considering 10% (B10) to 40% (B40) (by volume) blending of Koroch seed oil methyl ester (KSOME) with diesel as fuels. An energy balance study is carried out to quantify the various losses associated with diesel engine processes on the basis of experimental data. Performance parameters such as brake thermal efficiency (BTE), brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC), indicated power (IP), indicated thermal efficiency (ITE), indicated specific fuel consumption (ISFC), exhaust gas temperature (EGT) are determined for each fuel operation at various loads. It was found that KSOME and its diesel blends show slightly higher BSFC, lower BTE, and higher EGT. IP was more for the blends up to B30 compared to diesel fuel operation, but it significantly reduced in case of the blend B40 indicating more energy losses with this fuel blend. ITE was also lower and ISFC was more for B40 at all loads. The energy analysis indicates higher unaccounted heat losses for the blend B40 which mainly accounts for the losses resulting from incomplete fuel combustion.

Characterization of Biodiesel Produced From Terminalia Seed Oil and Engine Performance Evaluation With 10% and 20% Blending

In this article, biodiesel produced from Terminalia seed oil is characterized. Oil content in Terminalia fruit seed was found to be 46.0%. Free fatty acid (FFA) content in Terminalia seed oil was 6.0%; hence a twostep acid base catalyzed transesterification process was used for producing biodiesel from the Terminalia seed oil. Terminalia seed oil contains 23.47% palmitic, 8.04% stearic 37.90% oleic and 20.97% linoleic acid. Calorific value, kinematic viscosity and density of Terminalia fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) were 39.594 MJ/kg, 5.49 mm2/s and 890.6 kg/m3 respectively. Most of the fuel properties of Terminalia FAME meet ASTM D6751 and EN 14214 biodiesel standards. Cetane index, fire point and pour point of Terminalia FAME were found to be 54.92, 172°C and −1°C respectively. Further, an engine performance study with 10% (B10) and 20% (B20) blending of Terminalia FAME with diesel fuel shows higher brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC), lower brake thermal efficiency (BTE), higher peak pressure and early pressure rise in case the blends compared to petroleum based diesel fuel. Terminalia seed thus could be potential feedstock for biodiesel production and its 10% blending with conventional diesel fuel could be used in engine without compromising with the engine performance.Copyright