Statistical analysis of diesel engine performance for castor and jatropha biodiesel-blended fuel

Vegetable oils and their methyl/ethyl esters are alternative renewable fuels for compression ignition engines. Asian countries are not self-sufficient in edible oil and are exploring non-edible seed oils, like jatropha and castor as biodiesel raw materials. In the present study jatropha and castor oil were used for the preparation of biodiesel by the transesterification process. Diesel and jatropha oil methyl ester (JOME) blends were used to conduct short-term engine performance tests at varying loads. Similar tests were conducted with castor oil methyl ester (COME). The engine parameters were recorded and compared for the prepared blends. The best engine operating condition based on lower brake specific fuel consumption and higher brake thermal efficiency were identified and compared. The maximum thermal efficiency was observed at 13% substitution of COME in diesel and 18% for JOME in diesel. An analysis of variance test was applied to the observed data for both the fuels. Results indicated for COME, F = 2.397, that there is no significant effect on fuel consumption with the fuel type. There is a significant effect on fuel consumption and thermal efficiency with % of load. For F = 5.69 there is a significant effect on thermal efficiency with the fuel type. Similar trends were observed with JOME blends. These trends indicated that blends in the ratio of 0–20% by volume of biodiesel can be added to neat diesel without any change in the hardware of the engine.