Performance, emission, and heat release analyses of a direct injection dieselengine running on diesel and soybean ester blends

Conventional diesel and soybean-based biodiesel blends were analyzed as the fuel of a direct injection (DI) compression ignition engine in order to investigate their performance and suitability. The tests were conducted on an air-cooled single cylinder DI diesel engine. Engine torque, brake power, and brake-specific fuel consumption results associated with each of these fuel blends were collected under certain operating conditions. The CO2, CO, and NOx emissions were measured and the in-cylinder pressure was collected and analyzed. The performance characteristics of soybean–diesel blends were similar to those of conventional diesel fuel and the blends showed slightly higher torque and power output compared to the conventional diesel fuel. The results indicate that the soybean ester has great potential as an alternative fuel for diesel engines.