International Conference on Recent Advances in Mechanical Engineering and Interdisciplinary Developments [ICRAMID - 2014]

Performance Characteristics of Variable

Compression Ratio Engine using COME
Biodiesel
M.Santhosh

K.P.Padmanaban
Principal,
SBM College of Engineering & Technology,
Dindigul 624622, India

Department of Mechanical Engineering,

PSNA College of Engineering & Technology,
Dindigul 624622, India

padmarubhan@yahoo.co.in

pareenkarthi@yahoo.in

[5] inferred the engine performance characteristics of diesel

engine by varying compression ratio (CR 17, 18 and 19).
Enhanced BTE was attained by increasing CR and blend
proportions of biodiesel with standard diesel. BSFC
decreases with increase in CR and increases with increase
in blend proportions of biodiesel. However, the above
literature reveals that the effect of different CRs (18:1 to
22:1) on the engine performance characteristics of VCR
engine using COME blended with diesel at 50% load has
not been intensively studied. The analysis is carried out to
investigate the effects of different CRs on the VCR engine
using different proportions of COME blends and compare
with standard diesel.

Abstract - This research work investigates the effects of

compression ratio on engine performance characteristics of
variable compression ratio engine fuelled with biodiesel. The
cottonseed oil methyl ester is blended with standard diesel
and used as fuel at 1500 rpm with different compression
ratios i.e., 18:1, 19:1, 20:1, 21:1 and 22:1. The analyses of
engine performances characteristics were carried out for
different proportions of cottonseed oil methyl ester blends
(b25%, b50%, b75% and b100%). The investigation reveals
that at higher brake thermal efficiency and lower brake
specific fuel consumption is obtained at higher compression
ratios. The higher brake thermal efficiency was found for
blend b50 at CR 21:1. Also the exhaust gas temperature was
found reduced with the increment of CR.
Keywords: VCR engine, COME, BTE, EGT

II. MATERIALS AND METHODS

A. Production of biodiesel

I. INTRODUCTION

Transesterification is a most common and well

recognized chemical reaction in which alcohol reacts with
triglycerides of fatty acids in existence of catalyst to form
glycerol and esters. The new cotton seed oil is taken in the
beaker and heated to 110oC to eliminate the water content
present in the oil to vapour. Separately, Sodium Hydroxide
(NaOH) and methanol was taken in glassware mixed well
by continuous stirring process. Sodium Hydroxide is used
as the catalyst and methanol as solvent. Now add the above
prepared solution to the oil at 40-50oC and stirrer them
well. Pour the stirred mixture in a one litre beaker and
allow them to settle down. After that glycerin settles down
and oil at the top. Bio-fuel was separated and allows the
final end product to reach room temperature. The various
properties of cottonseed oil methyl ester (COME), standard
diesel and COME blend with diesel at different proportions
are shown in Table 1.

The use of alternative fuels such as vegetable oils

like sunflower oil, palm oil, corn oil, cottonseed oil, canola
oil, rapeseed oil, alcohols and petroleum gases, etc is
comparatively higher than recent years. These renewable
vegetable oils are found as best alternative even though
their usage leads to higher carbon deposits, piston ring
sticking and poor combustion [1]. The process like
transesterification is used to derive biodiesel by converting
triglycerides into alkyl esters and glycerol in the presence
of alcohol. The presence of more amount of oxygen in
biodiesel leads to higher brake thermal efficiency
(BTE).The brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) is
higher for palm oil diesel blends than diesel [2]. In
vegetable oils, cottonseed oil has characteristics similar to
diesel. Biodiesel derived from the cottonseed oil is used in
diesel engine without any modification in engine and
produces better engine performance characteristics than
conventional fuels. Murat Karabektas et al. [3] and Ali
Keskin et al. [4] studied the performance characteristics of
diesel engine fuelled with cottonseed oil methyl ester
(COME) as fuel at full load conditions. Cenk Sayin et al.

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International Conference on Recent Advances in Mechanical Engineering and Interdisciplinary Developments [ICRAMID - 2014]

Table 1 Properties of diesel and COME blend with diesel

Properties

Test Method
(ASTM)

Diesel

b25

b50

b75

b100

Density (kg/l)

D4052

0.850

0.855

0.855

0.860

0.870

Kinematic viscosity at 40oC (mm2/s)

D445

4.0

1.174

1.236

1.383

3.039

Calculated Cetane Number (CCN)

D4737

47

49

51

52

54

Calorific Value (KJ/kg)

D240

42500

42364

42190

40905

38523

Flash point (oC)

D93

60

64

66

70

185

Fire point (oC)

69

72

74

78

205

Fig.1 Variable Compression Ratio engine setup with data acquisition system

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International Conference on Recent Advances in Mechanical Engineering and Interdisciplinary Developments [ICRAMID - 2014]

Table: 2 Variable Compression Ratio engine specifications

MAKE
BHP
Speed
Number of cylinders
Compression ratio
Bore
Stroke
Type of ignition
Method of loading
Method of starting
Method of cooling

b50 at compression ratio 21:1 is 28.82%. It is also

observed that the BTE is the maximum for the standard
diesel at compression ratio 22:1. That is by increasing
the CR the BTE increases. The increase in BTE for
blend b75 at CR 19:1, 20:1, 21:1 and 22:1are 5.35%,
9.55%, 6.42% and 7.49% respectively. This is due to the
better combustion and higher lubricity of the biodiesel
[6]. At CR 20:1 the increase in percentage of BTEs are
3.22%, 3.30%, 6.27% and 3.61% for b25, b50, b75 and
b100 respectively when compared to diesel. The BTE
increased with increase in biodiesel percentage with
diesel except b100. This is due to the additional lubricity
present in the COME. At CR 18:1 the decrement in BTE
obtained by increasing the concentration of blends. This
is due to the insufficient air which leads to incomplete
combustion [7].

LEGION BROTHERS
3 to 5 Hp
1400 to 1600 rpm
1
5:l to 22:1
80mm
110mm
Compression ignition
Eddy Current
Dynamometer
Manual Crank Start
Water Cooled

B. Experimental apparatus and procedure

The experiments are conducted on a variable
compression ratio (VCR) multi fuel engine. Details of
the engine specifications are shown in Table 2. The
details of VCR engine with data acquisition system is
shown in Fig.1.
An air cooled eddy current
dynamometer has been directly coupled to the engine
output shaft using a tyre coupling. The experiments
were conducted at four different CRs i.e. 18:1, 19:1,
20:1 and 22:1 at 50% load. The initial tests were
conducted with standard diesel for different CRs to
obtain the basic data of the engine. Then, by using
different proportions of COME with standard diesel
(b25%, b50%, b75% and b100%), engine performance
characteristics are experimentally obtained and the
results are compared with that of standard diesel.

2) Brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC): The BSFC

of the VCR engine was taken with COME blends as
fuels and results are compared with diesel and shown in
Fig.3. The decrement in BSFC was obtained by
increasing the CRs (18:1 to 22:1) for all blend
proportions. For blend b75 the decrement in BSFC at
CR 19:1, 20:1, 21:1 and 22:1 are 5.15%, 6.30%, 7.16%
and 8.88% respectively when compared to CR18:1. This
is due to the lower volatility and improved combustion
as CR increases [8]. The BSFC is found to be higher at
all CRs with increasing blend proportions of biodiesel
due to the higher viscosity and lower heating value of
the biodiesel [9]. That is, BSFC values at CR 21:1 for
diesel, b25, b50, b75 and b100 are 0.290 kg/kwh, 0.298
kg/kwh, 0.304 kg/kwh, 0.324 kg/kwh and 0.351 kg/kwh
respectively [10].

III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

1) Brake thermal Efficiency (BTE): The BTE of the
VCR engine was taken with COME blends as fuels and
results are compared with diesel and shown in Fig.2.
The maximum BTE obtained for the blend proportion

Fig.3 The variation of BSFC with CR for different blend proportions

and diesel.

3) Exhaust Gas Temperature (EGT): The EGT for

different proportions of blends were taken and the
results are compared to standard diesel. The readings are
taken at CR from 18:1 to 22:1.The result is shown in
Fig. 4. The figure reveals that the EGT was reduced by
increasing the CR from 18:1 to 22:1.The decrement in

Fig.2 The variation of BTE with CR for different blend proportions

and diesel.

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International Conference on Recent Advances in Mechanical Engineering and Interdisciplinary Developments [ICRAMID - 2014]

EGT for b50 at CR 19:1, 20:1, 21:1 and 22:1 are 1.29%,
2.05%, 2.54%

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work was supported by Department of
Mechanical Engineering, PSNA college of Engineering
and Technology Dindigul.
REFERENCES.
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[2] Pascal Ndayishimiye, Mohand Tazerout, Use of palm oil-based
biofuel in the internal combustion engines: Performance and
emissions characteristics. Energy 36 (2011)1790-1796.
[3] Murat Karabektas , Gokhan Ergen , Murat Hosoz, The effects
of preheated cottonseed oil methyl ester on the performance
and exhaust emissions of a diesel engine. Applied Thermal
Engineering 28 (2008) 21362143.
[4] Ali Keskin, Metin Guru, Duran Altiparmak, Kadir Aydin,
Using of cotton oil soap-stock biodieseldiesel fuel blends as
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557.
[5] Cenk Sayin, Metin Gumus, Impact of compression ratio and
injection parameters on the performance and emissions of a DI
diesel engine fuelled with biodiesel-blended diesel fuel.
Applied Thermal Engineering 31 (2011) 3182-3188.
[6] P.K. Sahoo, L.M. Das, M.K.G. Babu, S.N. Naik, Biodiesel
development from high acid value polanga seed oil and
performance evaluation in a CI engine. Fuel 86 (2007) 448
454.
[7] Ekrem Buyukkaya, Effects of biodiesel on a DI diesel engine
performance, emission and combustion characteristics. Fuel 89
(2010) 30993105.
[8] Andre Valente Bueno , Jose Antonio Velasquez , Luiz
Fernando Milanez, Heat release and engine performance
effects of soybean oil ethyl ester blending into diesel fuel.
Energy 36 (2011) 3907-3916.
[9] Paulo Roberto Wander , Carlos Roberto Altafini , Augusto
Leandro Moresco , Adelair Lino Colombo, Diogo Lusa,
Performance analysis of a mono-cylinder diesel engine using
soy straight vegetable oil as fuel with varying temperature and
injection angle. Biomass and bioenergy 35 (2011) 3995-4000.
[10] Gogoi T.K, Baruah D.C, The use of Koroch seed oil methyl
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[11]M.Shahabuddinn, A.M.Liaquat, H.H.Masjuki, M.A.Kalam,
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[12] Arul Mozhi Selvan V, Anand RB, Udayakumar M.
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Fig.4 The variation of EGT with CR for different blend proportions

and diesel.

and 1.40% respectively. The reduction in EGT is due to

the lower calorific value of the fuel and lower
temperature at the end of compression [12]. The EGT
was found to be increased when the concentration of
biodiesel increases. This is due to the longer ignition
delay which leads to higher EGT during combustion
process. That is biodiesel not effectively burn in the
main combustion process and continue to burn in
delayed combustion phase [11]. The percentage increase
in EGTs of b25, b50, b75 and b100 at CR22:1 was
2.43%, 4.30%, 4.62% and 5.98% respectively when
compared to diesel. This is due to the increased heat
losses of higher blend proportions, which is also seen
from the lower BTE as compared to diesel [12].
IV. CONCLUSIONS
The BTE is found to be increased with an
increase in CR. The maximum BTE obtained for the
blend b50 at compression ratio 21:1 is 28.82%. The
BSFC is found to be decreased with an increase in CR.
The BTE and BSFC are found to have increased with
higher blend proportions as the lower heating value of
COME blends results in the consumption of more fuel.
The decrement in EGT was obtained as CR increased
from 18:1 to 22:1. The EGT was found to be increased
when the concentration of biodiesel increases.

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