Energy 35 (2010) 13171323

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Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/energy

A cycle simulation model for predicting the performance of a diesel engine fuelled
by diesel and biodiesel blends
T.K. Gogoi a, *, D.C. Baruah b
a
Mechanical Engineering Department, Tezpur University, Napaam, Tezpur, Assam 784028, India
b
Energy Department, Tezpur University, Napaam, Tezpur, Assam 784028, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Among the alternative fuels, biodiesel and its blends are considered suitable and the most promising fuel
Received 14 May 2009 for diesel engine. The properties of biodiesel are found similar to that of diesel. Many researchers have
Received in revised form experimentally evaluated the performance characteristics of conventional diesel engines fuelled by
1 October 2009
biodiesel and its blends. However, experiments require enormous effort, money and time. Hence, a cycle
Accepted 15 November 2009
Available online 27 January 2010
simulation model incorporating a thermodynamic based single zone combustion model is developed to
predict the performance of diesel engine. The effect of engine speed and compression ratio on brake
power and brake thermal efciency is analysed through the model. The fuel considered for the analysis
Keywords:
Biodiesel are diesel, 20%, 40%, 60% blending of diesel and biodiesel derived from Karanja oil (Pongamia Glabra). The
Diesel engine model predicts similar performance with diesel, 20% and 40% blending. However, with 60% blending, it
Cycle simulation reveals better performance in terms of brake power and brake thermal efciency.
Karanja oil 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
From the point of view of protecting the global environment and
the concern for long-term supplies of conventional diesel fuel, it
becomes necessary to develop alternative fuels that give engine
performance at par with diesel. Among the alternative fuels, bio-
diesel holds good promises as an eco-friendly alternative fuel [1].
Vegetable oil obtained from non edible sources are considered
promising alternate fuel for compression ignition (CI) engine
compared to their edible counterpart due to the food vs. fuel
controversy. Engine performances using various sources of bio-
diesel viz., (a) salmon oil [2]; (b) rapeseed oil [35]; (c) rubber seed
oil [6]; (d) tobacco seed oil [7]; (e) sunower seed oil [8]; and; (f)
soybean oil [9]; (g) jatropha curcus oil [10]; (h) karanja oil [11,12]
were studied.
As stated above, researchers have experimentally evaluated the
performance characteristics of conventional diesel engines fuelled
by biodiesel and its blends. However, experiments require enor-
mous effort, money and time. A realistic numerical simulation
model could reduce such effort. Numerical simulation based on
mathematical modeling of diesel engine processes have long been
used as an aid by design engineers to develop new design concepts.
* Corresponding author. Fax: 91 3712267005.
E-mail address: tapan_g@tezu.ernet.in (T.K. Gogoi).
However, with biodiesel, very few works have been done and it is
still a newer area of research.
The process of diesel combustion is very complex and hetero-
geneous in nature. Diesel engine combustion models are mainly
described as thermodynamic and uid dynamic models. Models
based on Thermodynamics can be further classied as single zone
heat release model, phenomenological jet based model and quasi-
dimensional multi-zone model. Single zone models assume that
the cylinder content is uniform in composition and temperature
and are suitable for prediction of engine performance. Phenome-
nological combustion models are based on each individual
processes occurring in engine cycle such as fuel injection, mixture
formation, heat release, heat transfer and emission formation.
Quasi-dimensional multi-zone models incorporate the develop-
ment of the fuel spray with time and simplied quasi steady
equations are used to describe processes like fuel injection, atom-
ization, air entrainment, droplet formation, evaporation, wall
impingement, ignition, heat release, heat transfer and so on. Fluid
dynamic based models, often called multi-dimensional or compu-
tational uid dynamics (CFD) models are based on solving the
governing equations for conservation of mass, momentum and
energy and species concentration through a denite discretization
procedure [13].
The present study describes a cycle simulation model. This
thermodynamic based model follows the changing thermodynamic
state of the working uid through the engine intake, compression,
combustion, expansion and exhaust processes for predicting the

0360-5442/$ see front matter 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.energy.2009.11.014
1318 T.K. Gogoi, D.C. Baruah / Energy 35 (2010) 13171323

dQc
Nomenclature dq
Heat release rate due to combustion of fuel, kJ/degree
crank angle
dQh
A Area, m2 dq
Rate of heat transfer from in cylinder gases to the wall,
Cv Specic heat at constant volume, kJ/kmol kJ/degree crank angle
dQn
D Cylinder bore, m dq
Net heat release rate, kJ/degree crank angle
Dp Valve port diameter, mm R Universal gas constant, kJ/molK
Ds Valve stem diameter, mm Re Reynoldss Number
Dv valve diameter, mm S stroke length, mm
Dvi Inlet valve diameter, mm T temperature, K
k thermal conductivity, W/mK t time, sec
L Length of connecting rod, mm dU Rate of change of internal energy, kJ/degree crank
dq
Lv Instantaneous valve lift, mm angle
M Mass, kg V Volume, m3
N Engine RPM Vs Stroke volume, m3
n no. of intake valve/cylinder Vp Mean piston speed, m/s
npr no. of piston ring dW Rate of Work transfer, kJ/degree crank angle
dq
p Pressure, bar
Psl Piston skirt length, mm Greek Letters
pe Exhaust back pressure, bar r density, kg/m3
pimf Inlet manifold pressure, bar m dynamic viscosity, kg/m sec
pa atmospheric pressure, bar g Ratio of specic heat, dimensionless
pimep indicated mean effective pressure, bar q Crank angle, degree
f fuel air equivalence ratio, dimensionless

performance of a diesel engine fuelled by diesel and also the from the end of combustion to the exhaust valve opening (EVO) is the
different blends of diesel and biodiesel. The model predicts the expansion phase. The compression and the expansion phases are
performance of a CI engine in terms of brake power and brake considered as polytropic.
thermal efciency for all the fuels considered for the present study.
Fuel properties [11] and the engine design and operating parame- 2.1. Energy conservation
ters are specied as inputs to the model.
The rst law of thermodynamics applied for the closed cycle
2. General description of the model period (from IVC to EVO) can be written as
dQn dU dW
It is assumed that there is spatial uniformity of pressure, temper- (1)
dq dq dq
ature and composition of the cylinder content at each crank angle. The
fuels considered are diesel and 20% (B20), 40% (B40), 60% (B60) (by Where dQ
dq
n
is the net heat release rate and is the difference between
volume) blending of biodiesel from Karanja oil [11,14] with diesel. The dQc
dq
and dQ
dq
h

molecular formula of diesel is approximated as C12H23 [15]. Karanja oil

is mostly oleic and linoleic. The chemical formula of pure biodiesel is dQc
Heat release rate due to combustion of fuel
considered as C17.75H33.43O1.98 and this has been derived from the dq
fatty acid composition of karanja oil as given in Table 1. It is also
assumed that the air fuel mixture is lean and this leads to tempera- dQh
Rate of heat transfer from in cylinder gases to the wall
tures at which dissociation of products does not have much effect on dq
engine performance [16]. Therefore, dissociation of products of
dU
combustion is neglected in order to keep the analysis simple [17,18]. Rate of change of internal energy
However, combustion products should be dened by considering dq
dissociation in order to represent a more realistic cycle [17,19]. Poly-
nomial expressions are used for each species (O2, N2, CO2, H2O) dW
Rate of work transfer
considered in the calculation of specic heats, internal energy and dq
enthalpy as a function of temperature [13,1921]. The compression Equation (1) can be rearranged as
phase begins at the point of closing of the inlet valve (IVC) and
continues up-to crank angle at which combustion begins. The period dQc dQh dT dV
 MCv p (2)
Table 1
dq dq dq dq
Fatty acid composition of karanja oil [14]. M, Cv , p, T and V are the mass, specic heat at constant volume,
Sl. No Fatty acid Molecular formula Composition(wt.%) instantaneous pressure, instantaneous temperature, instantaneous
1 Palmitic C16H32O2 11.30 volume of the cylinder content respectively.
2 Stearic C18H36O2 9.80 Instantaneous cylinder volume V is given by,
3 Oleic C18H34O2 45.25
v
!
4 linoleic C18H32O2 24.75 u
u L D D 2
5 Srachidic C20H40O2 1.75
A 2:94Dv t L2v 
v v
v (3)
6 linolenic C18H30O2 2.90 8 128
7 behenic C22H44O2 3.20
8 Unidentied 1.05
The terms used in equation (3) are as given below.
 T.K. Gogoi, D.C. Baruah / Energy 35 (2010) 13171323 1319

Rc is the compression ratio, L is the length of connecting rod, S is combustion, 0:35  a  0:8 with b 0.7 [13]; c 0 for the
the stroke length, compression period and otherwise c 3.3  108 W/m2K4 is the
Vs is the stroke volume of the cylinder and q is the crank angle. most usual value [5].

2.2. Ignition delay 2.5. Gas exchange process

The ignition delay is the time between start of fuel injection and During intake and exhaust processes, the cylinder pressure is
start of combustion. Many expressions for ignition delay are found not only a function of in-cylinder processes but also of mass ow
in literature as a function of mixture pressure, temperature, fuel rate through the valves. Applying energy equation to these
cetane number and fuel air equivalence ratio. The following processes and treating the gas as ideal [17,20,21,23], one obtains,
empirical correlation is used for calculation of ignition delay For the exhaust process,
[16,21,22].
 
dp 1 dM 1 dV
  gp  (8)
2:64 16550  20CN dt M dt V dt exhaust
sid exp (4)
p0:8 f0:2 RT For the intake process,
 
Where R is universal gas constant, CN is fuel cetane number and f is dp RT dM p dV
fuel air equivalence ratio. However, the constants and exponents in g  (9)
dt V dt V dt intake
the above correlation are to be better calibrated against experi-
mental results. Both these equations require mass ow rate dM dt
, which can be
determined from the equation given below [21].
2.3. Combustion s

   g   g

dM 2g p g1 p g1
Ap0 1 (10)
In the present work, the combustion process is modeled dt RTg  1 p0 p0
using a single zone approach, which is based on a uniformly
distributed heat releasing phenomenon. Spray combustion is not Where A is the instantaneous valve ow area and it depends upon
considered in detail. Detailed phenomenological combustion the valve lift and the geometric features of the valve head, seat and
modeling is undoubtedly useful, particularly in the design of stem. Depending upon the instantaneous valve lift, three different
combustion chamber; however, single zone heat release cases may arise [24],
combustion models are appropriate for use in total diesel system CaseI:0 < DLvv < 0:125: The minimum ow area corresponds to
simulation where the combustion process details are not the the slant surface of a frustum of a right circular cone and perpen-
primary focus [13]. dicular to the valve seat.
The Weibe function is used for calculation of heat release rate  
7 Lv
due to combustion of fuel. A 2:22Lv Dv (11)
8 2
"  #
q  q0 m1 Where Lv and Dv are the instantaneous valve lift and valve head
x 1  exp  a (5)
Dq diameter respectively.
CaseII: 0:125 < DLvv < 0:2735: The minimum ow area is still the
Where x is the mass fraction burned, q0 is the start of combustion slant surface but no longer perpendicular to the valve seat.
and Dq is the combustion duration. a is an adjustable parameter
2 v
#3
that characterizes the completeness of combustion. The parameter u" 2
R c 1  cosq L 1 u L
m represents the rate of combustion. Differentiating x with respect Vq Vs 4   t 2 sin2 q 5 (12)
to q q0 Qav Rc  1 2 S 2 S
Dq and multiplying with Dq , the heat release rate is calculated
as,
CaseIII: DLvv > 0:2735: When valve lift becomes large, then the
   "   #
dQc Qav q  q0 m q  q0 m1 ow area is port ow area minus the sectional area of the valve
am 1 exp  a (6) stem.
dq Dq Dq Dq
" 2  2 #
Where Qav is the heat released per cycle. The value of m for all the p Dv Dv
A  (13)
fuel is taken as 2.0 and the value of a for diesel, B20, B40 and B60 4 2 4
were taken as 5.0 [13], 5.508, 6.008 and 6.508 respectively.
It is assumed that the port diameterDp D2v and the valve stem
diameterDs D4v, with a valve seat angle of 45 .
2.4. Heat transfer

The heat transfer between the trapped gas and the surrounding 2.6. Net work
wall is calculated by using Anands equation.
Net work done in a complete cycle is given by
dQh =dq k  
a Reb Tw  T c Tw
4
 T4 (7) 
Dp

A D Wnet # p DV (14)
2
Where A is the heat transfer area and Tw is the temperature of the
rV D
cylinder wall. Re mp is the Reynolds number with D the Where Dp is the change in pressure inside the cylinder due to
cylinder bore and Vp the mean piston speed. r, m and k are the gas piston motion, combustion, heat transfer and ow into and out of
density, dynamic viscosity and thermal conductivity respectively. the cylinder. The following equation gives the pressure drop due to
The value of a varies with speed and engine design. With normal heat transfer [21].
1320 T.K. Gogoi, D.C. Baruah / Energy 35 (2010) 13171323

Dp dQh (viii) Blow by losses

dt "
Dt (15)
p MCv T p
FMEP8 pa  pimf  0:121R0:4 c  0:0345 0:001055Rc

2.7. Frictional power  1:185 #

N

100
Frictional losses affect the maximum brake torque and the
minimum brake specic fuel consumption directly and are often (23)
a criterion of good engine design. These losses not only reduce the (ix) MEP lost in overcoming combustion chamber and wall
power but also inuence the size of the coolant systems [16]. The pumping losses
mean effective losses of power due to friction in different moving
parts are calculated by using the following empirical relations r  1:7
pimep N
[21]. FMEP9  0:0915  (24)
11:45 1000
(i) Mean effective pressure(FMEP)lost due to friction in the piston Where pimep is the indicated mean effective pressure.
and piston rings Indicated power can be calculated from the net work done
during the cycle and hence the indicated mean effective pressure.
P 100  Vp The brake mean effective pressure is the difference between the
FMEP1 12:85 sl  (16) indicated mean effective pressure and the frictional mean effective
DL 1000
pressure. Thus, it calculates brake power from known values of
Where Psl is the piston skirt length (mm)
brake mean effective pressure, stroke volume and speed.
D is the cylinder bore (m), L is the stroke length (m), Vp is mean
piston speed (m/s)
3. Results and discussion
(i) MEP lost in bearing friction
The developed model was used to investigate the effect of
D N variation of speed and compression ratio (CR) on engine perfor-
FMEP2 0:0564  (17)
L 1000 mance (Brake Power and brake thermal efciency) fuelled by diesel
N is the engine RPM. and blends of diesel and biodiesel. Table 2 shows the engine
conguration and the engine operating conditions. The properties
(iii) MEP lost in friction in the valve gear of the fuels, viz. diesel and the various blends of diesel and biodiesel
(B20, B40 and B60) are shown in Table 3. The speed was varied from
  800 to 1800 rpm and the CR from 12 to 18.5.
4N nD1:75
vi
FMEP3 0:226 30   (18)
1000 D2 L
3.1. Effect of speed on brake power
Where n is the number of intake valve/cylinder, Dvi is the inlet valve
diameter. Figs. 13 show the variations of brake power with speed for CR
14, 15.5 and 17.5. The results show that bake power increases with
(iv) MEP lost in overcoming inlet and throttling losses the increase in speed for all the fuel, the peak power occurs at
a particular speed and further increase in speed results in decrease
pe of brake power. Peak power at a particular speed is a characteristic
FMEP4 pimf (19) of diesel engine. At speeds above the one at which peak power
2:75
occurs, the frictional losses increase very rapidly and hence the
Where pe is the exhaust gas back pressure (bar) and pimf is the inlet
brake power decreases. From the gures, increased brake power is
manifold pressure (bar).
evident in case of the blends B40 and B60. The brake power output
in case of the blend B20 is slightly lower than diesel at all speeds
(v) MEP lost in pumping
and CR. Rehman et al. [12] also on a variable speed TD43F engine,
 1:5 obtained higher performance with karanja methyl ester and its
N blends B40 and B60 and lower brake power in case of B20.
FMEP5 0:0275  (20)
1000 According to their report, the increased power in case of the blends

(vi) MEP lost in friction due to gas pressure behind rings Table 2
  L Engine design and operating parameters.
FMEP6 0:42  pa  pimf  2
D Parameters Value
 
1:330:394Vp =100 Bore, mm 87.5
 0:0888Rc 0:182Rc  10 21 Stroke, mm 110
Connecting rod length, mm 230
Where pa is the atmospheric pressure (bar). Inlet valve diameter, mm 24
Exhaust valve diameter, mm 34
Inlet valve open 13 deg. bTDC
Inlet valve close 30 deg aBDC
(vii) MEP lost in friction due to wall tension in rings Exhaust valve open 20 deg bBDC
Exhaust valve close 14 deg. aTDC
0:377Lnpr
FMEP7 10  (22) Relative air fuel ratio 1.5
D2 Inlet manifold pressure, atm 1.0
Exhaust manifold pressure, atm 1.0
Where npr is the number of piston rings.
 T.K. Gogoi, D.C. Baruah / Energy 35 (2010) 13171323 1321

Table 3 6
Properties of diesel, biodiesel and their blends [11].
5.5
Sl. No. Fuel Specic Gravity Kinematic viscosity Caloric value
(mm2/s) (MJ/kg) 5

1 Diesel 0.846 2.6 42.21

Brake Power(kW)
4.5
2 B20 0.848 3.39 38.28
3 B40 0.856 4.63 37.85 4

4 B60 0.864 5.42 37.25

3.5

B40 and B60 was due to complete combustion of oxygenated fuel,
and the lower power output in case of B20 was due to increased
viscosity and presence of relatively less oxygen. However, they
varied the speed from 1200 rpm to 2400 rpm and the power values
were found at a CR of 18. Moreover, the engine design parameters
were also different from the ones that are considered in the present
article. Fig. 1 presents that at CR 14, the peak power occurs at
1400 rpm for all the fuels. The peak power values for diesel, B20,
B40 and B60 are 4.321, 3.954, 4.366, and 4.961 kW respectively.
Fig. 2 shows that at CR 15.5, the peak power occurs for diesel, B20
and B60 at 1400 rpm and for B40, it occurs at 1500 rpm. At CR 17.5
(Fig. 3.), the peak power values occur at 1500 rpm for diesel
(4.69 kW), B20 (4.517 kW), B40 (4.927) with peak brake power
values within the bracket, except for B60, it occurs at 1400 rpm
(5.512 kW). From analysis of the model results it was found that the
increased power with B40, B60 is due to increase in the combustion
and expansion works and reduction in the compression work. As
a result, the net work done during the cycle increases and hence,
the power increases. The net work done during the cycle is the sum
of the combustion and expansion work minus the compression
work and the loop work (work done during the gas exchange
process). In the model, early injection was considered for the bio-
diesel blends because the injection timing is advanced due to
higher sound velocity and bulk modulus of biodiesel at low pres-
sure [25]. At 1500 rpm and CR of 17.5, the injection timing for diesel,
B20, B40 and B60 were considered 17, 18, 19 and 20- crank angle
before top dead centre (TDC) respectively. Higher cetane number of
the blends led to the decrease of ignition delay and with slightly
more combustion durations [26]; this ultimately resulted in higher
combustion work in case of the blends (B40 and B60). It can also be
seen from Figs. 4 and 5 that the gas temperature is more during
combustion in case of the blends and hence it results in a higher
pressure during the combustion phase except for the blend B20
that shows slightly less pressure in the later stages of combustion.
This is the reason that combustion works were more in case of the
blends. For B40 and B60, the combustion works were 514.829 and
529.244 J at 1500 rpm and at CR 17.5 as against 505.358 J with
respect to diesel. For B20 it was slightly less than diesel. The
3
2.5 diesel B20 B40 B60
2
600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000
Speed (RPM)
Fig. 2. Brake Power vs Speed at CR 15.5.
expansion works predicted for diesel, B20, B40, B60 were 381.381,
380.132, 392.606, 415.718 J respectively. Slightly less brake power
in case of the blend B20 was due to reduced combustion and
expansion work.
3.2. Effect of CR on brake power
Figs. 6 and 7 summarize the predicted effect of CR on engine
brake power at two different speeds, viz. 1400 and 1500 rpm. With
increasing CR, the brake power increases for all the fuels. With the
change in CR, engine processes that inuence its performance and
efciency, namely, combustion rate, heat transfer and friction, also
vary. As the CR is increased, the heat loss to the combustion
chamber wall and frictional losses decrease [13]; hence, there is an
improved performance at higher CR. However, there is a limit at
which further increase in CR would not be benecial as it may lead
to increasing surface to volume ratio and slower combustion;
because at higher CR, the height of the combustion chamber
becomes very small. The brake power results predicted by the
present model also show an increasing trend with CR for all the
fuels. At 1400 rpm as shown in Fig. 6, the brake power values for
diesel fuel varied from a minimum of 3.894 kW (at CR 12) to
a maximum of 4.731 kW (at CR 18.5). The corresponding minimum
and maximum values for B20, B40 and B60 are (3.512 kW,
4.599 kW); (4.138 kW, 4.984 kW)and (4.489 kW,5.651 kW)res-
pectively. Fig. 7 presents the brake power values as a function of CR
at 1500 rpm. The minimum and maximum brake power values at
1500 rpm for these fuels i.e. diesel, B20, B40, B60 are (3.794 kW,
4.779 kW); (3.505 kW, 4.631 kW); (3.899 kW, 5.059 kW) and
(4.429 kW, 5.5 kW), respectively. Higher brake power for B40 and

5.5
6.00

5
5.50

4.5
Brake Power(kW)
Brake Power(kW)

5.00
4

4.50
3.5

3 4.00

2.5 diesel B20 B40 B60 3.50

diesel B20 B40 B60

2
3.00
600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000
600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000
Speed (RPM) Speed (RPM)

Fig. 1. Brake Power vs Speed at CR 14. Fig. 3. Brake Power vs Speed at CR 17.5.
1322 T.K. Gogoi, D.C. Baruah / Energy 35 (2010) 13171323

2100 6.00

1900
5.50
1700

brake power(kW)
Temperature(K)

1500 5.00

1300
4.50
1100

900 4.00

700
diesel B20 B40 B60
3.50
500
150 170 190 210 230 diesel B20 B40 B60
Crank angle (degree) 3.00
10 12 14 16 18 20
Fig. 4. Temperature as a function of crank angle during combustion at 1500 rpm and CR
CR 17.5.
Fig. 6. Brake Power vs CR at 1400 rpm.

B60 and slightly lower brake power for B20 compared to diesel are
also evident from these gures. This is because these two gures
correspond to a particular constant speed and at constant speed
(1400 rpm and 1500 rpm) the brake power for B40 and B60 is more
and it is slightly less for B20 in comparison to the brake power
obtained for diesel. But for all the fuels the brake power increased
with CR.
3.3. Effect of speed on brake thermal efciency
Fig. 8 represents the predicted trend of brake thermal efciency
as a function of speed at CR 17.5. Brake thermal efciency decreases
with speed for all the fuels. The blends B20, B40 and B60 present an
increase in brake thermal efciency compared to diesel. Since brake
thermal efciency is the ratio of brake power to the fuel energy
input, therefore, due to increased brake power and less fuel energy
input with biodiesel blends, the brake thermal efciency is more in
case of the blends. Higher brake thermal efciency with pure bio-
diesel was reported by Murrilo et al. [27], who compared the
performance of a three-cylinder variable speed (20003500 rpm)
diesel engine running on blends of diesel and biodiesel derived
from used cooking oil. However, they observed similar behaviour in
case of the blends B10, B30 and B50, but slightly less efciently in
comparison to diesel, which they attributed to fuel atomization
during injection and its stability during storage, pumping and
injection. Raheman and Phadatare [11] obtained higher brake
thermal efciency with blends B20 and B40, almost similar
performance with B60 and lower brake thermal efciency with B80
and B100. Lower caloric value of the blends B60 B100 together
with increased fuel consumption were reported as reasons for
lower brake thermal efciency. Although these brake thermal
efciency results were obtained for karanja methyl ester, but the
engine that was used for evaluating the performance was different
with rated output of 7.5 kW at a speed of 3000 rpm and CR of 16.
Moreover, the results were obtained as a function of load at an
average speed of 2525 rpm. In the present work, the increased
brake thermal efciency in case of the blends (B40 and B60) is due
to comparatively higher brake power and lower caloric value of
these blends. In case of the blend B20, even if the brake power is
slightly less, increased brake thermal efciency may be due to
caloric value of the blend, which is signicantly lower than that of
diesel.
4. Model prediction- analysis and future scope
The caloric value, density, cetane number and the composition
of the fuels are some of the parameters that were taken into
consideration while dening the characteristics of the fuel.
However, viscosity is also an important property that plays a major
role particularly in the injection and in the engine combustion
process. The effect of viscosity is best understood if the injection
system and the fuel spray combustion characteristics are consid-
ered in details. Further, It was assumed that the fuel mass is
injected instantaneously and calculation of fuel mass that takes
part in chemical reaction during combustion is based on complete
combustion of the fuel. However, an approach that is more realistic
is the incorporation of a fuel injection rate prole in the model with
a nite injection duration period. The relative air fuel ratio was

80
6.00

5.50
60
Pressure(bar)

5.00
Brake Power(kW)

40
4.50

4.00
20

diesel B20 B40 B60 3.50

0 diesel B20 B40 B60

150 160 170 180 190 200 210 220 230 3.00
Crank angle (degree) 10 12 14 16 18 20
CR
Fig. 5. Pressure as a function of crank angle during combustion at 1500 rpm and CR
17.5. Fig. 7. Brake Power vs CR at 1500 rpm.

45
Brake Thermal Efficiency (%)
40
35
30
25
diesel B20 B40 B60
20
600 800 1000 1200
Speed (RPM)
Fig. 8. Brake thermal efciency vs speed at CR 17.5.
considered to be 1.5 for all the fuels at all the speeds under
consideration, although in the real engine situation it will vary with
fuel, speed and other operating parameters. It is observed from the
model results that at CR 17.5 and 1500 rpm, the peak power values
for diesel, B20, B40 and B60 are 4.69 kW, 4.517 kW, 4.927 kW and
5.418 kW respectively. It is generally at this speed, the rated power
of a small conventional diesel engine under consideration is spec-
ied which is of the order of 4.0 kW at CR of 17.5 and at 1500 rpm.
The present model predicts slightly higher brake power in case of
diesel and hence the error is marginal. Considering the fact that the
scope of the present work is to predict the brake power and brake
thermal efciency trend, it was found that the model has been
successful in predicting the trend correctly for brake power and
brake thermal efciency at various speeds and CRs for diesel as well
as the blends of diesel and biodiesel.
5. Conclusions
A diesel engine cycle simulation model is developed for pre-
dicting the performance of a single cylinder four stroke diesel
engine fuelled by diesel and various blends of diesel and biodiesel.
The brake power and brake thermal efciency predicted by the
model under varying speed and CR conditions for different fuels are
analyzed and the following conclusions are made based on the
results obtained.
1. Depending upon the engine design parameters, the brake
power of the engine increases with speed, the peak power
occurs at particular speed and any further increase in speed
results in decrease of power. This has been a characteristic of
diesel engine. At CR of 17.5, the engine peak power occurred at
1500 rpm for diesel, B20 and B40; however, for B60 it occurred
at 1400 rpm.
2. The model predicts a higher rate of pressure and temperature
rise for the blends during combustion as compared to diesel.
3. An Increase in brake power was observed in case of the blends
B40 and B60 compared to diesel. However, the model predicts
slightly lower brake power for the blend B20.
4. The blends B20, B40 and B60 present an increase in brake
thermal efciency compared to diesel. This is due to an increase
in the brake power in case of the blends and their lower calo-
ric values.
T.K. Gogoi, D.C. Baruah / Energy 35 (2010) 13171323 1323
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