Experimental Investigation on Use of Honge(Pongamia) Biodiesel on Multi-cylinder Diesel Engine at Part Load

Biodiesel is a fatty acid alkyl ester which is renewable, biodegradable and non toxic fuel which can be derived from any vegetable oil by transesterifiaction process. Biodiesel has become a key source as a substitution fuel and is making its place as a key future renewable energy source. Biodiesel derived from vegetable oils are quite promising alternative fuels for diesel engines. Use of vegetable oils in 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 work, the performance of single cylinder direct injection diesel engine using honge as fuel was evaluated for its performance, emission and combustion characteristics. The properties of honge thus obtained are comparable with ASTM biodiesel standards. The produced honge biodiesel was tested for their use as a substitute fuel for diesel engine. Tests have been conducted at different varying load of biodiesel, at 60% throttle. The performance parameters elucidated includes brake thermal efficiency, specific fuel consumption, torque, also emission characteristics against varying Brake Power (BP) and combustion characteristics against crank angle.