Performance and Exhaust Emissions of a Diesel Engine Fuelled with Croton Megalocarpus (Musine) Methyl Ester

B. Aliyu (1) , D. Shitanda (2) , S. Walker (2) , B. Agnew (3) , S. Masheiti (4) , R. Atan (5)

1 Department of Agricultural Engineering
2 Biomechanical and Environmental Engineering Department
3 University of Northumbria at Newcastle [United Kingdom]
4 Epidemiology of Ageing
5 Faculty of Mechanical Engineering

The performance of a 4 stroke 3 cylinder direct injection naturally aspirated, Perkins D3.142 engine was measured in order to determine the suitability of a bio-fuel produced from the seeds of Croton Megalocarpus for engine use. The raw oil from the seeds was subjected to a transesterfication process and supplied to the engine as a croton methyl ester (CME) in various blends with diesel fuel. The engine performance (brake thermal efficiency, brake specific fuel consumption and exhaust temperature) were measured and evaluated. A Horiba PG-250 portable analyser was used to measure the CO, HC, CO, NO, and O, concentrations. The tests indicated a lower brake thermal efficiency for CME compared with the pure diesel fuel. The exhaust gas temperature increased with increase in load for all tested fuels. It was found that the performance of the CME was comparable to pure diesel fuel but the bio-diesel produced lower smoke and NO emissions. Emissions of CO were reduced at higher loads with the bio-fuel. The performance of the engine indicated that CME has properties and characteristics that make it a viable additive or alternative to conventional fossil diesel fuel.

Mots clés: Croton Megalocarpus; Musine; Bio-fuel; Methyl Ester; Engine test

Domaines: Thermique [physics.class-ph]; Thermique [physics.class-ph]

B. Aliyu, D. Shitanda, S. Walker, B. Agnew, S. Masheiti, et al.. Performance and Exhaust Emissions of a Diesel Engine Fuelled with Croton Megalocarpus (Musine) Methyl Ester. Applied Thermal Engineering, 2010, 31 (1), pp.36. ⟨10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2010.07.034⟩. ⟨hal-00685794⟩