EFFECT OF OXYGENATED ADDITIVES ON EXHAUST EMISSIONS REDUCTION IN DI DIESEL ENGINE USING BIODIESEL AND ITS BLENDS

Nerium methyl ester, an esterified biofuel, has an excellent cetane number and a reasonable calorific value. It closely resembles the properties of diesel. This work presents effects of diethyl ether (DEE), dimethyl ether (DME) and ethanol (E) as additives to biodiesel (Nerium methyl ester) on the performance and emission characteristics of a diesel engine at different loads and constant engine speed. Compared with biodiesel, increased in brake thermal efficiency (BTE) for diethyl ether, dimethyl ether and ethanol blended biodiesel was observed. At high engine loads, HC, CO and smoke emissions found significantly lower with all blends (BDEE-1 (5% diethyl ether, 95% biodiesel), BDEE-2 (10% diethyl ether, 90% biodiesel), BDME-1 (5% dimethyl ether, 95% biodiesel), BDME-2 (10% dimethyl ether, 90% biodiesel), BE-1 (5% ethanol, 95% biodiesel) and BE-2 (10% diethyl ether, 90% biodiesel)) compared to neat Nerium methyl ester (NME), but NO emission was found slightly higher. This experiment reveals the potential improvement of Nerium biodiesel blends with the addition of oxygenative additives.