Comparative study of Hemp and Jatropha oil blends used as an alternative fuel in diesel engine

Abstract

Abstract: The methyl esters of vegetable oils, known as biodiesel are becoming increasingly popular because of their low environmental impact and potential as a green alternate fuel for diesel engines. Use of vegetable oils in conventional not adapted diesel engines leads to slightly inferior performance and higher smoke emissions due to their high viscosity. The performance of vegetable oils can be improved by modifying them through the transesterification process. In the present study, a comparison on the basis of the performance and emission characteristics of different blends of transesterified Hemp (B10 and B20)and Jatropha (B10 and B20) biodiesel was done on a 550 cm³ single cylinder four stroke water cooled diesel engine and the results were compared to that of diesel. Results indicated that in comparison to pure diesel and Jatropha, B20 blend of Hemp biodiesel provides better thermal efficiency, lower specific fuel consumption, reduced CO and CO₂ emissions but a considerable increase was found in NO_x emission and smoke density was decreased with increase in biodiesel concentration i.e. at 20%.

Keywords: Bio-diesel, hemp oil, Jatropha oil, transesterification, engine performance, exhaust emissions, India