Effect of Compression Ratio on the Performance, Combustion and Emission from a Diesel Engine Using Palm Biodiesel

The authors have simulated a single cylinder diesel engine using Diesel-RK software to investigate the performance, emission and combustion characteristics of the engine using palm biodiesel and petro-diesel. The simulation has been carried out for three compression ratios of 16, 17 and 18 at constant speed of 1500 rpm. The analysis of simulation results show that brake thermal efficiency decreases and brake specific fuel consumption increases with the use of palm biodiesel instead of diesel. The thermal efficiency increases and the brake specific fuel consumption decreases with the increase of compression ratio. The higher compression ratio results in higher in-cylinder pressure and higher heat release rate as well as lower ignition delay. The NOx and CO2 emissions increase at higher compression ratio due to the higher pressure and temperature. On the other hand, the specific PM emission and smoke opacity are less at higher compression ratio.