Investigations of a Fatty Acid Methyl Ester from Poultry Fat in a Triple Vortex Separate Combustion Chamber Diesel Engine Stage One-Combustion Investigations 2011-01-1188

With the growing prices of fossil fuels and the concerns of global warming, the need to seek alternative fuels in the transportation sector is rapidly gaining momentum. This need of change has lead researchers to look beyond the typical alternative fuels for diesel engines and focus on Fatty Acids Methyl Esters (FAME), due to their high calorific value, widespread availability, and relative low cost. The authors investigated the injection and combustion of poultry fat FAME 20-50% by weight in diesel no. 2 mixtures. The dynamic viscosity of the FAME-diesel mixture has been investigated between 25-45°C and ranged from 3-5cSt increasing in correlation with the amount of FAME and lowered by the temperature increase. The new fuel containing up to 50% poultry fat FAME by weight in diesel fuel (B-50) has been injected by a piston-plunger type pump injection system. The injector had a 1x0.200 mm nozzle with a pintle tip needle and the injection pressure was 147 bar. B-50 had a good ignition in an indirect injection; 77 mm separate three vortex combustion chamber engine, with a high compression ratio (23.5). The ignition delay increased slightly as the percentage of FAME by weight in diesel fuel increased. The heat release for B-50 showed a similar development compared with the reference diesel fuel, the premixed phase being combined with the diffusion combustion. The maximum combustion pressure was 78.8 bar for diesel and decreased by 2.2 bar for B-50, while the bulk gas maximum temperature reached about 2235K for diesel versus 2253K for the B-50 mixture. The exhaust temperatures were relatively the same for all blends. The BSFC increased with combustion of B-50 by about 8.2 percent compared to diesel. Overall efficiency of the engine remained constant at about 29% for all blends taking into account each fuels' corresponding density and lower heating value. The engine investigation demonstrated that up to 50% poultry fat FAME by weight in diesel can be injected and burnt in a small diesel engine, while maintaining the overall efficiency performance. The study showed that the feedstock of poultry fat FAME fuel is a serious contender as an alternative fuel in terms of energy efficiency.