DefinePK

Abstract

This paper investigates numerically the performance and emission characteristics of Soy Methyl Esther (SME) in a diesel engine. A single-cylinder, four strokes, naturally aspirated and direct injection compression ignition engine was fueled by a mixture of SME and pure diesel fuel, forming 4 blends: pure Diesel (D100), 20%SME+80%, diesel(B20), 40%SME+60%diesel(B40) and 100%SME(B100). The computation was made via the full-cycle engine simulation software Diesel-KR. The model set was first validated against experimental results from literature with pure Diesel. Performance and emission characteristics at different loads and constant speed were then compared to conclude which percentage is more suitable for the engine, in term of efficiency and pollution emissions. In this study, it is found that B20 offers similar results in term of consumption and pollutants emission. Thus, the engine could run with the B20 blend, giving similar performance than pure diesel. The investigation goes on to see the effect of an engine modification, namely retarding the start of injection on the engine performance when the B20 is used. It was found that retarding the start of injection leads to lower fuel consumption, ignition delay and combustion duration, which improves the thermal efficiency of the engine. For the NOx emissions, the retarded start of injection lowers the NOx emissions, yet increases the PM emissions by as much as 62%.