Improvement of Performance of Dual Fuel Engine Operated at Part Load

Rising petroleum prices, an increasing threat to the environment from exhaust emissions, global warming and the threat of supply instabilities has led to the choice of inedible Mahua oil (MO) as one of the main alternative fuels to diesel oil in India. In the present work, MO was converted into biodiesel by transesterification using methanol and sodium hydroxide. The cost of Mahua oil biodiesel (MOB) is higher than diesel. Hence liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), which is one of the cheapest gaseous fuels available in India, was fumigated along with the air to reduce the operating cost and to reduce emissions. The dual fuel engine resulted in lower efficiency and higher emissions at part load. Hence in the present work, the injection time was varied and the performance of the dual fuel engine was studied. From the engine tests, it is observed that an advanced injection time results in higher efficiency and lower emissions. Hence, advancing the injection timing is one of the ways of increasing the efficiency of LPG+MOB dual fuel engine operated at part load.