EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS ON THE USE OF BUTANOL, ETHANOL & DIESEL IN A COMPRESSION IGNITION ENGINE

Abstract

In recent years, the growing concerns about climate change and the depletion of fossil fuel reserves have led to a significant focus on exploring alternative and sustainable fuels. One promising candidate is ethanol, a biofuel obtained from renewable sources such as corn, sugarcane, and cellulosic materials. While traditionally used as a gasoline additive, ethanol has also shown great potential as an additive or substitute for diesel fuel in compression ignition (Diesel) engines. However, ethanol exhibits certain limitations, including its lower energy density and compatibility issues with diesel engines due to differences in physiochemical properties. To overcome these challenges, Butanol, another alcohol-based fuel, has been proposed as an additive to ethanol. Butanol possesses properties that enhance its compatibility with diesel engines, like energy density, cetane number to diesel fuel and improved lubricity. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of ethanol-blended fuel on a diesel engine by examining a range of factors. In the initial phase, the researchers assessed the suitability of ethanol and diesel fuels, both with and without the incorporation of n-butanol as an additional constituent. Subsequently, a set of experimental tests were conducted to evaluate the combustion efficiency, performance, and emissions characteristics of the engine when using ethanol-diesel blends in comparison to pure diesel fuel. The test results indicate that incorporating blends containing ethanol as a replacement for pure diesel in diesel engines is both feasible and practical. In contrast to diesel fuel, the engine operating on these blends exhibited iv increased peak cylinder pressure and heat release rate (HRR), also the brake thermal efficiency (BTE) is as comparable to diesel fuel. This improvement can be attributed to the higher oxygen content present in the blends, which enhances the combustion process within the engine cylinder. However, the incorporation of ethanol in the blends resulted in a rise in brake-specific fuel consumption (BSFC) attributable to the reduced calorific value of ethanol. The due to the better combustion Moreover, the study investigated the emissions properties and found that the engine operating on ethanol diesel blends showcased reduced levels of smoke, carbon monoxide (CO), and hydrocarbon (HC) emissions in contrast to conventional diesel fuel. However, it was noticed that nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions was higher than diesel. Through the analysis, it was determined that the optimal blend ratio of ethanol was D65E25B10, as this particular blend yielded the most favourable results in respect of combustion, performance, and emissions characteristics when in comparison to other blended fuels and pure diesel.