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The increased demand of energy in the next millennium will bring two major challenges, namely energy crisis and environmental degradation. The crying need of the day is to have energy which in simple terms means fuel. Bulk of the petroleum fuels are being consumed by agriculture and transport sector for which diesel engines happen to be the prime mover. Though there are wide varieties of alternative fuels available, the research has not yet provided the right renewable fuel to replace diesel. In the present study biodiesel is produced from jatropha by transesterification plant indigenously developed by the authors and their properties were measured to compare with diesel fuel. The blends of varying proportions of this biodiesel with diesel were prepared, analyzed and compared with diesel oil. The engine performance and emission characteristics were evaluated in a single cylinder CI engine and a comparison was made to suggest the better option among the biodiesels under study.

The reduction of particulate emissions from diesel engines is one of the most challenging problems associated with the exhaust air pollution control. Particulate emissions can be controlled by the adjustments of the combustion parameters of a diesel engine but these measures result in increased emissions of oxides of Nitrogen.Diesel particulate Filters (DPF) hold out the prospects of substantially reducing regulated particulate emissions but the question of the reliable regeneration of filters still remains a difficult hurdle. Many of the solutions proposed to date suffer from high engineering complexity, cost, thermal cracking, increased backpressure which in turn deteriorates diesel engine combustion performance. This paper presents an improved computer aided analytical approach for controlling Diesel soot particulate emission by Cyclone separator. Reduction of soot particles in the exhaust in turn reduces the Diesel Particulate Matter formation.

An experimental study of the effect of Magnetic Fluid Conditioner on the performance of Four Stroke Petrol Engine was conducted. A 4 cylinder, 4 stroke automotive petrol engine made by premier automobile was used. Experimental results obtained from the engine fitted with magnetic fluid conditioner were compared with the same engine without using magnetic fluid conditioner. It is observed that the abovementioned engine with magnetic fluid conditioner produces reduced percentage of CO to an extent of 16.87% whereas HC is reduced to an extent of 46.08%, Brake Specific Fuel Consumption (B.S.F.C.) is reduced to an extent of 3%, and the Brake Thermal efficiency increases to an extent of 3.5%. It has been also found that, the magnetic fluid conditioning system has caused an increase of % of CO in the exhaust fumes immediately after the installation of it, and after a period of 40 hrs. running the CO(%) has come down.

Vegetable oils are characterised as diesel engine fuel due to their properties of adiabatic combustion under high pressure and temperature. The semi-adiabatic type of engines can be effectively utilized for achieving the best performance from combustion of vegetable oils. The present study reports the performance and exhaust emissions of such type of engine by using diesel fuel - linseed oil blends and esterified linseed oil and the results as obtained are compared with that of 100% diesel fuel operation. The influence of coating thickness and compression ratio have also been reported. Results show that BSFC, exhaust gas temperature, CO level and smoke density are increased but Br. Th. Effic. and NOx level are decreased both in diesel fuel - linseed oil blends and esterified linseed oil compared to 100% diesel fuel operation. Results with esterified linseed oil are comparatively better than diesel fuel - linseed oil blends with higher degree of insulation.

Vegetable oil as a biomass-based energy, can be considered as possible alternative fuel. Neat Vegetable oil is too viscous, has poor volatility, comparatively low cetane number and having different chemical structures than diesel fuel. In DI diesel engine, these fuels can not be used without further processing. Modified or vegetable oils processed by esterification can mitigate these problems and become more suitable for diesel engine application. The present experimental study reports the performance and exhaust emissions of a DI diesel engine by using methyl esters karanji oil and heated karanji oil in comparison to 100% diesel operation. The influence of injection pressures and injection timings have also been reported. The data brake specific fuel consumption and brake thermal efficiency generated using esterified karanji oil and diesel are comparable. The maximum variation of the emission CO for esterified karanji oil is about 35% higher than that of diesel.

A simple and cost effective vitreous enamelling technique is being adopted in the application of thermal barrier coating for internal combustion (IC) engine components. The raw materials including the process of coating are less costly in comparison to plasma spray technique. The coating using yttria partially stabilized zirconia with this technique is found effective for insulation of the engine components. The results obtained from this process are comparable with the published results using plasma spray [1]*. At the speed of 1500 rpm, brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) decreases upto 9.99% with 200 micron (μ) glass ceramic coating piston whereas with 500 μ coating, it decreases upto 19.67% with advanced injection angle (40° before top dead centre) resulting higher thermal efficiency compared to base line engine.

The experimental investigation was conducted on a CI version Ricardo variable compression single cylinder naturally aspirated engine to examine the effects of ceramic coating on performance and exhaust emissions. Tests were carried out at 1500rpm over a wide range of part loads, varying injection timings and compression ratios (CR). The top of the piston was insulated by using Yttria-partially stabilized zirconia with a bond coat alumino boro silicate. The technology by which the piston head was insulated is much more economical and simpler than the plasma-spray process usually used for coating with ceramics. Results show that at 30% of the rated load, BSFC decreases upto 9.99% at 40° injection bTDC (before top dead centre) for CR-19 resulting higher thermal efficiency than base line engine. Ignition delay is longer in ceramic coated engine than its counter part. For CR-18 and 19 these ranges are 1.3% to 7.94% at different injection timings.