Abstract

In the present work, a widely available cottonseed oil has been considered and converted to Cottonseed Methyl Ester (CsME). 100% CsME used as fuel on DI Diesel Engine with minor modifications like changing of compression ratio of the engine and preheating of CsME. Performance evaluation of single cylinder vertical water-cooled diesel engine is done with diesel, 100% preheated CsME. Various compression ratios such as 16.5:1, 17.5:1, 18.5:1 and 19:1 have been adopted for experimentation. CsME preheated to 520C is used at various compression ratios for the analysis of engine performance. The combination of increasing of compression ratio and preheating not only enhances the homogenization and vaporization but also enhances the rate of release of inbuilt oxygen of CsME. With CsME operation at 18.5:1 C.R and preheating (520C), the brake thermal efficiency is found to be 32.32 % at full load condition. It is found that the exhaust emissions are also low in these operating conditions. It is concluded from the present work, for better performance and low emissions with vegetable oils, the oil should first be converted to methy/ethyl esters and operated in a slightly increased compression ratio diesel engine with preheated biodiesel. After observing the performance and emission parameters, it is concluded that a compression ratio of 18.5:1 for the chosen engine is the best compression ratio with 520C preheated CsME.