Experimental investigation effects of blend hazelnut oil on compression ignition engine performance characteristics and emission

Studies on alternative fuels are important due to the worldwide depletion and accelerated exploitation of oil reserves. In this study, experiments were conducted to study the performance, emission, and specific fuel consumption of a compression ignition (CI) engine using hazelnut oil-based fuels. The main problems posed when using vegetable oil in a compression ignition engine are poor atomization, carbon deposits, ring sticking, etc. This is because of the high viscosity and low volatility of vegetable oil. The blending of hazelnut oil with diesel fuel has been shown to be an effective method to reduce engine problems associated with the high viscosity of hazelnut oil. A number of tests are conducted in a CI engine using different fuel mix ratios. To validate the result, the trials are repeated three times. The engine works at a fixed full load, but at different speeds, i.e., 1000 rpm, 1500 rpm, 2000 rpm, 2500 rpm, 3000 rpm, and 3500 rpm. The performance, specific fuel consumption, and the emission characteristics of exhaust gases of the engine are analyzed and compared. Measurements have indicated a negligible loss of engine power, a slight increase in specific fuel consumption, and a reduction in engine nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, and soot emission using blends of hazelnut oil with diesel fuel as compared to diesel fuel. The reduction in engine soot emission has been observed to increase with the increase of hazelnut oil percentage in the fuel blend. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4737921]