Combustion, performance and emission analysis of propanol addition on safflower oil biodiesel in a diesel engine

Studies on alternative and renewable fuels are maintaining due to the ever-decreasing of petroleum usage and also the environmental pollution that it has created. Alternative fuels, especially renewable fuels are one of the most emphasized issues because renewable energy sources are environmentally friendly, unconsumable and easily degradable in the environment. In this study, biodiesel was obtained from safflower. The biodiesel of safflower oil was mixed with propanol at different ratios and tested as a diesel engine fuel. The effects of both biodiesel and propanol addition on engine performance, combustion parameters and pollutant exhaust emissions have been experimentally tested. The main important point of the presented study is to detect the effects of higher ratios of pure diesel fuel in diesel engines by utilizing the positive sides of a light alcohol, the propanol. The engine performance, specific fuel consumption and emission values of the biodiesel and propanol blended fuels did not show a significant difference compared to the diesel. In the loaded cases, the combustion parameters for all test fuels were obtained in a similar manner. Peak values of HRR in higher engine loads of blend fuels with high propanol were a bit higher. It is seen that there is a decrease in NOx emissions. Safflower biodiesel and propanol mixtures can be used as alternative fuels by adding to diesel fuel in certain amounts.