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

Effect of Combustion Chamber Geometry on

Performance and Emission Characteristics of a Diesel
Engine Fueled with Mahua Biodiesel Blends
L.Saravanakumar

B.Ramesh Bapu

Research Scholar,
Dean R&D,
JNTU, Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, India, Chennai Institute of Technology,
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Sri Sairam Engineering College, Chennai, India brrbapu.aero@gmail.com
saravana_kumar70@yahoo.co.in
Abstract The present work investigates the effect of change in
combustion chamber geometry on performance and emission
characteristics of single cylinder diesel engine fuelled with mahua
biodiesel. Since plant oil derived from the mahua tree has high
fatty acids, it undergoes esterification followed by
transesterification process to reduce its viscosity. Experiments
were conducted using a blend of 20% biodiesel (B20) 40%
biodiesel (B40) with diesel and compared with diesel by using
two types of combustion chamber geometry, explicitly
hemispherical and modified hemispherical combustion chamber.
Performance parameters such as Brake Thermal Efficiency
(BTE), Brake Specific Fuel Consumption (BSFC) and emission
parameters like Unburned Hydro Carbon(UBHC), Oxides of
Nitrogen (NOx) were studied from the diesel engine with above
mentioned configurations. It is obvious that there is considerable
improvement in the performance parameter viz, BTE, BSFC and
reduction in UBHC emissions by using the modified geometry
piston. However, the NOx emission was found to be higher than
that of standard configuration. The results obtained from the
blend B20 at modified combustion chamber geometry are on par
with diesel and hence mahua biodiesel can be suggested as an
alternative fuel for Compression Ignition (C.I) engine with
modified combustion chamber geometry.
Keywords biodiesel, combustion chamber geometry, mahua
biodiesel, performance, emissions.

I. INTRODUCTION
The concern for the environment, the increase in import of
oils for commutation purposes and the need to safeguard the
remaining energy in the world are few of the most important
aspects which drive the industrial revolution in the present
scenario. With the fast depleting reserves of fossil fuels such
as diesel, there is an urgent need to look for alternative fuels,
which can replace diesel fuels. Alternate fuels include
biofuels, hydrogen fuel, vehicles powered by electricity and
so on. Biofuels are obtained by subjecting certain edible or
non edible oil to a suitable chemical reaction with the aid of
catalyst at a constant temperature. The advantages of using
biofuel are that the raw materials are readily available, low in
cost and less polluting. The problems involved in biodiesel
usage are low heating value, volatility and high viscosity and
pour point. Also, it has low oxidation stability which may lead
to gumming problems over the injector and may corrode the
engine components. It is observed from the various literatures,
the properties viz, viscosity, heating value, specific gravity of
mahua biodiesel are in close agreement with diesel fuel which

B.Durga Prasad

Associate Professor,
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
JNTU, A.P, India
mukdhad@sify.com

can influence the performance and combustion characteristics

of a diesel engine.
Sukumar Puhan et.al. [1,2] investigated on C.I engine using
Mahua oil Ethyl Ester and reported that there was a close
trend maintained in brake thermal efficiency (26.36%) when
compared with diesel (26.42),and emissions like carbon
monoxide, hydrocarbons, NOx and smoke number were
reduced by 58%, 63%, 12% and 70% respectively for a case of
mahua oil ethy ester compared with diesel. Raheman et.al. [3]
did an investigation on C.I.engine with Mahua biodiesel. They
studied the properties of mahua biodiesel and the performance
and emission characteristics. They found that for a blend of
B20 the brake thermal efficiency had significantly improved
and the NOx at elevated temperature and CO emissions were
reduced. Jinlin Xue et.al. [4] did a review on the effect of
biodiesel on engine performance and emissions. They reported
the effect of engine power output, durability and emissions
from the engine while using biodiesel were in close agreement
with the emission norms. Besides, there was a substantial
reduction in emissions like HC, CO and PM with a tolerable
power loss. They concluded that by adopting the modification
of engine design, new instrumentations and methodology can
further improve the performance and emissions in a
satisfactorily manner.
Ekrem Buyukkaya [5] did investigations on C.I.engine
using rapeseed oil and its blends to evaluate the performance,
combustion and emission characteristics. It was observed that,
the smoke opacity reduced (upto 60%) and brake thermal
efficiency improved (up to 11%) while using rapeseed oil
blends compared with diesel. In addition, CO emissions for
B5 and B100 blends were found to be lower by 9% and
32% respectively when compared to diesel. A study carried
out by Bhupendra Singh Chauhan et.al.[6] on C.I.engine using
Karnaja biodiesel and its blends on the performance, emission
and combustion characteristics of the engine without any
modification with diesel. They investigated with different
blends viz., 5%, 10%, 20%, 30% and 100% of biodiesel with
diesel fuel. They found that Brake Thermal Efficiency was
about 3-5% lower with karanja biodiesel blends compared to
diesel. Also NOx emissions were found to be higher in the case
of karanja blends than the diesel. Jaichandar et.al.[7] did a
study on diesel engine by changing the combustion chamber

ISBN 978-93-80609-17-1
172

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

geometry and perform the combustion and emission analysis

with pongamia biodiesel. They found that the results obtained
from the toroidal combustion chamber gives the significant
improvement on the performance, combustion and emissions
compared with shallow depth and hemispherical combustion
chamber at all loads. Varatharajan et.al. [8] did a survey on
influence of fuel properties and composition on NOx
emissions from biodiesel powered engines. They reported
that biodiesel has proved to be environmentally good, and it
meets the regulated emission norms and it is dependent on
high temperature.
To overcome the problem of incomplete combustion and
to improve the performance characteristics of a C.I.engine, a
change in the combustion chamber design is required. The
complete mixing of fuel with air depends on parameters viz.,
air turbulence, pressure and velocity of inlet air, fuel injection
pressure, combustion chamber temperature, fuel properties
like viscosity and by varying any one of this factors it is
possible to obtain a change in the combustion strategy of a CI
engine. In this study, the combustion chamber design has been
redesigned by introducing a squish movement of air within the
combustion chamber and a significant improvement in
performance and emissions of a C.I.engine have been
obtained. The tests were conducted using the mahua biodiesel
blend of 20% and 40% with diesel and compared it with diesel
fuel. Tests were extended by changing the combustion
chamber geometry and compared with the standard
configuration.
II. MATERIALS AND METHODS
A. Process and Preparation
Mahua (Madhuca indica) is one of the forest based, treeborne, non-edible oils with a large production potential of
about 60 million tons per annum in India. The kernel of the
mahua fruit contains 50% oil. The oil yield is 34-37% from a
small expeller. Fresh oil is yellow in color, while commercial
oil is greenish yellow with disagreeable odour and taste. As
this tree grows mainly in forest areas and also in waste and
fallow lands, its cultivation would not impact food production
but in the long run improve the environmental conditions
through massive forestation. Since mahua oil contains high
fatty acids, it was treated by two stage reactive process
namely esterification followed by transesterification to bring
acid value less than 0.1. The reaction was controlled by
various factors like reaction temperature (60 C 70 C),
catalyst (acid and alkali type), mixing intensity and purity of
reactants. After the extraction of bio-diesel, the properties of
the mahua oil bio-diesel are tested and compared it with diesel
standards and it is given in table 1.
Table 1. Properties of mahua oil biodiesel

Fuel Property
CalorificValue [KJ/Kg]
Kinematic
Viscosity
[Centistokes] @40C
Flash Point [C]
Fire Point [C]
Density [kg/m3]

B20
Blend
42897
3.58

B40
Blend
41174
5.43

84
101
810

91
112
817

Diesel
43210
2.5

III. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP AND PROCEDURE

The experiments were conducted on a single cylinder, four

stroke, water cooled C.I. engine (Kirloskar TV1 model) and its
technical specifications are given in table 2. Adequate
instrumentation facilities were employed to monitor and
control the variables viz., speed, load, coolant water flow, air
flow, lube oil temperatures and emissions. The tests were
conducted by varying the load on the dynamometer from zero
load with an increment of 25% to full load condition at a CR18
using mahua biodiesel blend of 20% and 40% with diesel and
compared with diesel results. At each load the fuel
consumption readings were recorded and performance
parameters were calculated. The emission parameter viz., NOx
and HC were measured with a five gas analyser (NETEL India
private limited- model NPM-MGA-1). The probe was placed
on the exhaust tail pipe when the engine was running and the
exhaust gas emissions were detected by the sensor through the
probe and the readings were recorded on the monitor. The
standard piston is shown in Fig.1 and Fig.2. The tests were
repeated for the modified combustion chamber geometry
piston and the values were compared with diesel performance.
The purpose of this study is to determine the suitability of
mahua biodiesel for C.I.engine application.
Table 2. Engine Specifications

Particulars
Model
No. of cylinder
Bore
Stroke
Swept volume
Compression ratio
Power
Connectng rod length
Arm length
Speed
Loading type

specifications
Kirloskar TV1
1
87.5
Four stroke
661 cc
18 :1
3.5 kW
234 mm
185 mm
1500 rpm
Eddy
current
dynamometer

IV. COMBUSTION CHAMBER MODIFICATION

The in-cylinder flow of air in a compression ignition

engine determines the combustion outcome of the engine.
Turbulence in the combustion chamber is the prime factor to
improve the performance and can be induced either by
changing the design of the combustion chamber by changing
the contour of the piston bowl or by changing the orientation
of inlet air manifold. The present work comprises the
modification of piston crown. The objective of the piston
redesign is to improve the air turbulence inside the combustion
chamber to improve better mixing of the air and fuel and there
is significant improvement in efficiency is attained by
alleviating the combustion characteristics. The modified
piston is shown in Fig.3 and Fig. 4.

56
63
832

ISBN 978-93-80609-17-1
173

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

Fig. 1 Standard Piston

Fig. 4 Modified Piston Geometry Cross Section
V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The performance and emission characteristics of the

C.I.engine fuelled with mahua biodiesel blend and diesel were
analysed in this study and the comparison between modified
and standard piston were discussed in the following section.
A. Performance Analysis

(i)Variation of BSFC with BP

Fig. 2 Standard Piston Cross Section

Fig. 5 illustrates the variationof BSFC with BP using two

different mahua biodiesel blends and compared it with diesel at
standard and modified piston geometries. It is observed that
the values of BSFC increases at low load conditions and
reduces at higher loads. It is clear from the fig.5 that the BSFC
trend of B20 blend with modified combustion chamber
geometry shows a significant improvement. At low loads B40
with modified piston geometry dominates the other but on
cruising and full load conditions B20 with modified piston
geometry consumes lowest fuel compared to all other blends.
The value of BSFC is 0.279 kg/kwh at full load condition
which is 7.9%, 11.4%, 5.7% and 13.3% lesser than diesel, B20,
B40 and B40 Modified piston geometry respectively. This
may be attributed due to the higher turbulence induced within
the modified combustion chamber geometry which in turn,
leads to a better fuel air mixture preparation in the preparatory
phase during combustion.

Fig. 3 Modified Piston Geometry

Fig. 5 Variation of BSFC with BP

ISBN 978-93-80609-17-1
174

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

(ii)Variation of BTE with BP

The variation of BTE with BP is shown in fig.6.
Generally, presence of oxygen in the biodiesel increases the
combustion efficiency.
Hence there is a significant
improvement on BTE by using the modified geometry piston
with B20 and B40. The BTE using B20 with modified piston
geometry is increased by 1.5%, 10.3% and 1.9% while using
B20, B40 and B40 with modified piston geometry
respectively and it is lowered by 2.6% when compared with
diesel. This may be caused due to the deep penetration of fuel
into the air stream and better vaporization of fuel in turn
improves the combustion and power output.
Fig. 7 Variation of Nox with BP

Fig.6 Variation of BTE with BP

Fig.8 Variation of HC with BP

B. Emission Analysis

(i)Variation of NOx with BP

VI. CONCLUSION

Formation of NOx is mainly dependent on temperature

and it is specifically relevant to combustion. For better
combustion, C.I.engine always operates with excess air and
NOx is also dependent on residual gas temperatures. Fig.7
shows the variations of NOx with respect to brake power at
different load percentages viz., 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and
100%. The observations are noted for standard piston and
compared with modified geometry piston for diesel and
biodiesel blends B20 and B40. It is observed from the fig.7
that the biodiesel blends always produced higher amount of
NOx because of larger amount of fuel consumed which
releases more amount of heat and in turn, NOx generated. It
is observed that NOx emission from the blend B20 was in
close agreement with diesel for both modified and standard
piston. The NOx emission in the case of B20 with modified
geometry was recorded as 915 ppm than 857ppm and 834
ppm forB20 at standard piston and diesel. This may be due to
better combustion which release a large amount of heat
energy at elevated temperature levels.

In this investigation, the effects of combustion chamber

geometry on performance and emission characteristics were
studied. The conclusions drawn from the results are as
follows:

ISBN 978-93-80609-17-1
175

The mahua oil biodiesel can be used as an alternative

source of fuel for C.I.engines with and without any
modifications of the engine design.

The properties like heating value, viscosity and

specific gravity are in close variation with the diesel
fuel.

The enhanced design variation of the combustion

chamber geometry improves the turbulence effect
which leads to better fuel air charge preparation.

Since the presence of oxygen atoms in mahua

biodiesel is high, the combustion ability of the engine
is enhanced when used with the modified geometry
piston.

Brake thermal efficiency for the modified piston

geometry with B20 blend is 32.47% which is higher
by 4.62% compared to that of diesel.

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

NOx emission for the blend B20 was found to be

higher (923 ppm) with modified piston geometry
than diesel at standard piston geometry (834 ppm)
due to enhancement in combustion efficiency which
rises the temperature.

UBHC reduced from 179 ppm to 112 ppm at full

load condition for B20 with modified piston
geometry than diesel.
REFERENCES

[1]

Sukumar Puhan, N. Vedaraman, G. Sankaranarayanan, Boppana V.

Bharat Ram, Performance and emission study of Mahua oil (madhuca
indica oil) ethyl ester in a 4-stroke natural aspirated direct injection
diesel engine, Renewable Energy, 30 (2005) 1269-1278.

[2]

Sukumar
Puhan,
N.Vedaraman,
Boppana
V.B.Ram,
G.Sankamarayanan, K.Jeyachandran, Mahua oil (Madhuca Indica seed
oil) methyl ester as biodiesel-preparation and emission
characteristics, Biomass and Bioenergy, Volume 28, Issue 1, Jamnuary
2005, Pages 87-93.
H.Raheman, S.V.Ghadge, Performance of compression ignition engine
with mahua (Mahua indica) biodiesel, Fuel, Volume 86, Issue 16,
November 2007, pages 2568-2573.

[3]

[4]

Jinlin Xue, Tony E.Grift, Alan C.Hansen, Effect of biodiesel on engine

performances and emissions, Renewable and Sustainable Energy
Reviews, Volume 15, Issue 2, February 2011, Pages 1098-1116.

[5]

Ekrem Buyukkaya, Effects of biodiesel on a DI diesel engine

performance, emission and combustion characteristics, Fuel, Volume
89, Issue 19, October 2010, Pages 3099-3105.

[6]

Bhupendra Singh Chauhan, Naveen Kumar, Haeng Muk Cho, Hee

Chang Lim, A study on the performance and emission of a diesel
engine fueled with Karanja biodiesel and its blends, Energy, Volume
56, 1 July 2013, Pages 1-7.

[7]

S.Jaichandar, K.Annamalai, Effects of open combustion geometries on

the performance of pongamia biodiesel in a DI diesel engine, Fuel,
Volume 98, August 2012, Pages 272-279.

[8]

K.Varatharajan, M.Cheralathan, Influence of fuel properties and

composition on NOx emissions
from biodiesel powered diesel
engines: A review, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,
Volume 16, August 2012, Pages 3702-2710.

ISBN 978-93-80609-17-1
176