An experimental investigation on performance and exhaust emissions of compression ignition engine fuelled with palm oil methyl ester blends

Over the past few decades, there has been a considerable effort to find, investigate, and enhance several types of alternative fuels to replace conventional fuels wholly or partially, especially the diesel. This is due to high rate of pollutants emission from many of the conventional fuel sources and energy crises arising out of the fast depletion of primary sources of energy. In this work, performance and exhaust emissions investigation on multi cylinder, 4 stroke, direct injection combustion chamber, 37 hp power and diesel engine type is conducted using palm oil methyl ester-diesel blends. The 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100% palm oil methyl ester - diesel blends by volume are prepared and tested as a fuel for diesel engine. The variation of brake thermal efficiency, brake specific fuel consumption, and exhaust gas temperature are studied. Furthermore, the exhaust emissions are analyzed to find the effect of palm oil methyl ester on CO₂, CO, HC, SO₂, and NO_X ratios.