How do microalgae biodiesel blends affect the acoustic and vibration characteristics of the direct injection engine: An experimental examination

The noise and vibration characteristics play a vital role in the effectiveness of engine operations and performance of internal combustion engines. Accumulation of the higher amplitude of both noise and vibration affects the comfort of the engine. So far most of the research done on the performance, combustion and emission characteristics only. The less importance is shown in the form engine vibration and sounds created by the engine operation. This paper presents and explores the importance and experimental results of noise and vibration by the compression ignition diesel engine with the fuels of diesel and microalgae biodiesel. The produced microalgae biodiesel blends were SMB10%, SMB20% and SMB30%. The experimental results were conducted at different engine loads varying across 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%. The inline, 4 cylinders, water cooled and naturally aspirated DI diesel engine was used as an experimental setup. From the comparative results between the diesel and microalgae biodiesel, it is found that the use of microalgae blended biodiesel reduced the noise and vibration. The higher the percentage of blends, the greater the reduction in sound and vibration will be. Apart from possessing the performance and emission qualities, the microalgae biodiesel blends proved to be the efficient fuel in reduced vibration and noise qualities too. In three directions, the vibrations were measured as lateral, longitudinal and vertical vibrations. The vibration in lateral direction was significantly reduced. Compelling the results, it is understood that use of the microalgae blends can be sustainable in the perspective of the engine wear and tear.