Comparative study on effect of blending, thermal barrier coating (LHR) on UOME biodiesel fuelled engine

Abstract

Growing concern regarding enhancement of engine performance associated with reduced emission levels as per EURO norms and to meet increasing energy requirements for the growing population aninterest has been created to study renewable and alternative fuels for internal combustion engines. Alternative fuels like biodiesels offer a very promising alternative to diesel oil since they are renewable and have similar properties to fossil diesel. Biodiesel derived from Uppage oil provide more suitable diesel substitute for compression ignition (CI) engines. Use of biodiesel in the CI engine lowers the engine’s performance and increases the hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions. But proper deployment of blending the biodiesel with diesel and adopting thermal barrier coatings (TBC) on engine piston, cylinder wall, and inlet and outlet valves to make the engine fully adiabatic will enhance the overall engine performance. In view of this experimental tests on diesel engine using Uppage oil methyl ester (UOME) and its blends in a TBC diesel engine using partially stabilized zirconia (PSZ) and aluminium oxide (Al₂O₃) ceramic coated engine components were undertaken. The brake thermal efficiency, specific fuel consumption, carbon monoxide, unburned hydrocarbon and oxides of nitrogen emissions of both diesel and UOME and its blends were measured before and after coating and the results are compared. B20 fuelled biodiesel and PSZ coated engine provides almost comparable engine performance with acceptable emission norms. However, the longevity of TBC in diesel engines needs to be ensured before it can provide a sustained performance compared to blending option.

Keywords: Uppage oil, biodiesel, thermal barrier coating, low heat rejection