Analysis of Combustion and Emission Characteristics of a Diesel Engine Fueled With Ethanol as an Alternate Fuel

Abstract

With the depletion of conventional fuel source at a very high rate and increasing environmental pollution has motivated extensive research in alternative fuel and in engine design. This project is an attempt towards finding the effect of alternate fuels (particularly ethanol) as a substitute over diesel in diesel engines to reduce diesel consumption. Thus ethanol, which can be manufactured naturally also, is introduced into the diesel engine with the purpose to replace some amount of diesel (conventional fuel) while performing the same amount of work. The effect of addition of ethanol into air intake manifold i.e. ethanol fumigation and diesel-ethanol blends on the emissions and the performance of a diesel engine (single cylinder) are experimentally investigated and compared. Also determination of an optimum percentage of ethanol which gives better performance and lower emissions was attempted. Experiments were carried out in a single cylinder, four strokes, and direct injection Kirloskar diesel engine. The test fuel used was Ethanol blended with diesel. The blending was carried out in volume percentages of ethanol and diesel. It was concluded that E20D80 is the best blending ratio and it showed the best results.