Experimental investigations of ignition delay period and performance of a diesel engine operated with Jatropha oil biodiesel

Jatropha-curcas as a non-edible methyl ester biodiesel fuel source is used to run single cylinder, variable compression ratio, and four-stroke diesel engine. Combustion characteristics as well as engine performance are measured for different biodiesel – diesel blends. It has been shown that B50 (50% of biodiesel in a mixture of biodiesel and diesel fuel) gives the highest peak pressure at 1750 rpm, while B10 gives the highest peak pressure at low speed, 1000 rpm. B50 shows upper brake torque, while B0 shows the highest volumetric efficiency. B50 shows also, the highest BSFC by about (12.5–25%) compared with diesel fuel. B10 gives the highest brake thermal efficiency. B50 to B30 show nearly the lowest CO concentration, besides CO concentration is the highest at both idle and high running speeds. Exhaust temperature and NOx are maximum for B50. Delay period is measured and correlated for different blends. Modified empirical formulae are obtained for each blend. The delay period is found to be decreased with the increase of cylinder pressure, temperature and equivalence ratio.