Investigation on combustion characteristics of crude rice bran oil methyl ester blend as a heavy duty automotive engine fuel

In the present work, an attempt was made to test the suitability of crude rice bran oil methyl ester (CRBME) blend as a heavy duty automotive engine fuel. A four stroke, six cylinder direct injection 117.6 kW turbo-charged compression ignition (Cl) engine was used for the work. The operation of the engine with CRBME blend showed that the peak pressure increased with lower maximum rate of pressure rise and maximum heat release rate with shorter delay period. Burning rate of the CRBME blend was slower and required a higher crank angle to complete the combustion cycle when compared to diesel. The brake thermal efficiency of the CRBME blend was lower than that of diesel at all speeds except at 2300rpm. As the measured combustion and performance parameters for CRBME blend differs only by a smaller magnitude when compared with diesel, this investigation ensures the suitability of the CRBME blend as fuel for heavy duty automotive engine without any design modifications [Received: August 12, 2010; Accepted: August 29, 2010]