Investigation of preheated Dhupa seed oil biodiesel as an alternative fuel on the performance, emission and combustion in a CI engine

Highlights: • Preheating of VIME biodiesel for better atomization is introduced for CI engine. • Various diesel-biodiesel blends (B0, B30, B50 and B100) are considered for study. • Drastic drop in viscosity is observed by heating the biodiesel up to 95 °C. • Engine performance, combustion and emission characteristics are investigated. The present study investigates the suitability of preheated Vateria indica methyl ester (VIME) as an alternative fuel for a diesel engine. VIME is a renewable, non-toxic and sustainable alternative biodiesel obtained from Dhupa fat by transesterification. This study aims to evaluate the combustion, performance, and emission characteristics of four different blends such as B0 (0% VIME and 100% mineral diesel), B30, B50 and B100 at elevated fuel inlet temperatures ranging from 35 °C to 95 °C. The tests are carried out in a single cylinder diesel engine at optimum loading condition and fixed speed. Results are obtained in terms of brake thermal efficiency (BTE), brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC), in-cylinder pressure, heat release rate and exhaust emissions (CO, HC, NO_X, CO₂ and soot). It is observed that the preheating of blends decreases the viscosity which enhances fuel spray characteristics, leading to higher engine performance, lower CO and HC emissions with a slight increase in NO_X and CO₂ emissions. BTE and peak in-cylinder pressure for B100 at 95 °C and 75% load are increased by 7.44%, 2.97% respectively compared to unheated B100 biodiesel. BSFC, CO, HC emissions at 75% load for B100 at 95 °C are reduced by 26.73%, 28.08%, 42.7% respectively compared to unheated B100.