International Journal of Ambient Energy

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Influence of injection timing on engine

performance, emission characteristics of
Mimusops Elangi methyl ester

R. L. Krupakaran, T. Hariprasasd & A. Gopalakrishna

To cite this article: R. L. Krupakaran, T. Hariprasasd & A. Gopalakrishna (2018): Influence of

injection timing on engine performance, emission characteristics of Mimusops Elangi methyl ester,
International Journal of Ambient Energy, DOI: 10.1080/01430750.2018.1472639

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/01430750.2018.1472639

Accepted author version posted online: 04

May 2018.
Published online: 15 May 2018.

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMBIENT ENERGY
https://doi.org/10.1080/01430750.2018.1472639

Influence of injection timing on engine performance, emission characteristics of

Mimusops Elangi methyl ester
R. L. Krupakarana , T. Hariprasasda and A. Gopalakrishnab
a Mechanical Engineering Department, Sree Vidyanikethan Engineering College, Tirupati, India; b Mechanical Engineering Department, JNTUK,
Kakinada, India

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

The improvement in engine performance and exhaust emissions reduction are the major important issues Received 23 October 2017
in developing a more efficient engine. The injection timing is one the major parameters that affect the Accepted 5 April 2018
engine performance and emissions for a diesel engine. The present work focused on characterising the KEYWORDS
influence of injection timing on engine performance and exhaust emissions. This has been critically investi- Biodiesel; TiO2 nanoparticle
gated for B20 + 25 ppm (20% Mimusops Elangi methyl ester-80% diesel fuel + 25 ppm of TiO2 nanoparticle) additives; varying injection
additive as alternative fuel. The B20 +25 ppm TiO2 nanoparticle additive produces more HC and CO emis- timing; engine performance
sion, but reduce NOX emission when injection timing is retarded. Advancement in injection timing for
B20 +25 ppm TiO2 nanoparticle additive results in an increase of brake thermal efficiency, decreases brake
specific fuel consumption and giving out less HC, CO, smoke emissions but the marginal increase in the
NOX emission.

Nomenclature acid alkyl esters (biodiesel) (Ghadge and Raheman 2006). The
B20 20% Mimusops Elangi methyl ester-80% diesel unburnt hydrocarbons (UBHC), CO, smoke were reduced and
fuel slightly increase in NO emission by using biodiesel in diesel
HC hydro carbon engines. Increase in NO emissions serves as the major obstruc-
CO carbon monoxide tion in the usage of biodiesel. In order to reduce these emis-
NOx oxides of nitrogen sions, diesel engine performance parameters like brake ther-
bTDC before top dead centre mal efficiency (BTE), brake specific fuel consumption, exhaust
SEM scanning electron microscopy gas temperature etc. needs to be improved (Lauperta, Armas,
XRD X-ray diffractometer and Jose 2008). Injection system plays a vital role in improving
EDAX energy dispersive X-ray analysis fuel economy and reducing engine emissions. The engine per-
TEM transmission electron microscopy formance can be predicted based on the injection characteris-
TiO2 titanium dioxide tics. The engine performance and emissions are greatly affected
CA crank angle by injection duration, injection pressure, injection timing and
EGR exhaust gas recirculation fuelling (Yamane, Ueta, and Shimamoto 2001; Kegl 2006). The
BTE brake thermal efficiency authors conducted the experiment on Calophyllum Inophyl-
BSFC brake specific fuel consumption lum biodiesel blends with TiO2 nano additives and exhaust gas
recirculation (EGR). It is concluded that Calophyllum Inophyl-
lum biodiesel blend (B20) with the addition of TiO2 nano par-
1. Introduction
ticles and EGR technique exhibits better engine performance
The petroleum fuel engine is one of the major sources for an and reduced emissions compared to the other fuels (Praveen,
increase in environmental pollution. The emissions generated Lakshminaran Rao, and Balakarishna 2017).
by the diesel engine fuelled with diesel are highly responsible Many researchers have investigated and indicated the need
for several critical problems. Strict measurements and regula- for research in engine modification to suit the superior blends
tions are being imposed to lower these emissions and improve without any drastic change in performance, combustion and
air quality. Biodiesel has received a good response throughout emission characteristics. Biodiesel is a non-toxic, oxygenated,
the world as an alternative fuel to diesel due to the losing ground biodegradable, sulfur-free and renewable fuel source (Jindal
reserves of petroleum fuels and increasing awareness for pro- et al. 2009). Another advantage of biodiesel is that with a lit-
tecting our environment. The biodiesel is produced, by involving tle or without any engine modification it can be used either in
a chemical reaction between an alcohol and triglyceride of fatty pure form or blended with diesel fuel (Carraretto et al. 2004;
acid through the transesterification process in the existence of Sharma, Singh, and Upadhyay 2008). Ignition delay and combus-
proper catalyst that leads to the formation glycerol and fatty tion characteristics of the engine depend on the fuel injection

CONTACT R. L. Krupakaran krupakaran1305@gmail.com

© 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
2 R. L. KRUPAKARAN ET AL.
pressure and fuel injection timing, as the pressure and temper-
ature change outwardly close to TDC (Taylor 1985; Heywood
1988). As there is a difference in chemical composition and
combustion characteristics between diesel and biodiesel blends,
medication of the engine parameters is mandatory to optimise
the overall efficiency of the engine. The effect of three advanced
injection timings (24.9°, 26.6° and 28.5° bTDC) on the CO, NO
and HC emission of a diesel engine fuelled with biodiesel. They
observed that, when the injection timing was advanced to 26.6°
bTDC, lesser CO and HC emission, but there was an insignificant
increase in NO emission (Aktas and Sekmen 2008). Analysis of
the combustion characteristics of a diesel engine working on
biodiesel–diesel–ethanol mixtures without any engine medica-
tion. The heat release rate was reduced by 7.5%. And for the
mixture showed decrease in NO and smoke emission by 12.1%
and 3.9%, respectively, when compared to diesel fuel (Kannan
and Anand 2011). An experimental investigation was carried
out on methyl esters of linseed oil and its blends of B10, B20
at various injection timings at 20°, 23°, 26° bTDC. The results
reveal for both blends the performance and the emissions were
increased when injection timing increases (Park, Youn, and Lee
2011; Agarval et al. 2013; Karthikeyan, Lokesh, and Suneel 2017).
The flexible single cylinder engine has been investigated to
evaluate the effect of injection pressure and injection timing
on performance, combustion and emission fuelled with mineral
diesel fuel. Numerous studies suggest that, retarding injection
timing reduces NOx emissions (Bosch 2000; Sayin, Uslu, and
Canakci 2008). The authors conducted the experiment on rubber
seed oil with diesel at a proportion of 20% by volume (RSO20) at
a constant speed 1500 rpm and an injection pressure of 200 bar
on four stroke, air cooled single cylinder diesel engine at dif-
ferent injection timing 24°, 27°, 30°, 33° bTDC. As a result of
investigations the BTE of RSO20 at 30° bTDC, is high compared
with other injection timings and BFEC is increased when advanc-
ing the injection timing. The emissions HC and CO were reduced
and NOx was marginally increased When advance injection tim-
ing at full load condition (Karthik et al. 2017). In the case of
Jatropha biodiesel operation, BSFC increases when injection tim-
ing is varied from advanced to retarded. But, in case of diesel oil,
BSFC increases, whether injection timing is advanced or retarded
(Ganapathy, Gakkhar, and Murugesan 2011). The low heat rejec-
tion (LHR) turbocharged direct injection diesel engine based on
effects of injection timing on NOx emissions. The LHR engine was
tested at 181 and 161 crank angle (CA) before top dead centre
by keeping the load and Speeds at constant. The results showed
a reduction of Brake specific fuel consumption and NOx emis-
sions when the injection timing was retarded (Buyukkaya and
Cerit 2008).
After a careful assessment of the current as well as the recent
scenarios, the researcher selected for nano additive to simulta-
neously improve the engine performance and reduce the harm-
ful emission. Experimental investigations studied on four stroke,
single cylinder diesel engine fuelled with the addition of cerium
oxide nanoparticle in jetropha biodiesel at various dosing levels.
The results of performance and emissions were compared with
and without the additives to biodiesel. The author reported that
flash point and the viscosity of modified biodiesel were found
to be increased with the addition of the cerium oxide nanopar-
ticles and the emission magnitude of hydrocarbon and NOx are
significantly reduced with the addition of cerium oxide nanopar-
ticles (Sajith, Sobhan, and Peterson 2010). The authors investi-
gated the influence of aluminium oxide and copper oxide nano,
diesel on single cylinder diesel engine. The research led to the
conclusion that the addition of nanofluid marginally increased
the flash point and cetane number and subsequently increased
the torque and power output for the dosage of 50 ppm CuO
and Al2 O3 . They also reported that BSFC got reduced for CuO
and Al2 O3 for moderate engine speed (Gumus et al. 2016). The
authors reviewed the influence of TiO2 and SiO2 nano addi-
tive on CI engine using micro algae methyl ester. They reported
that better results of BTE and BSFC for B20 blend with TiO2 and
SiO2 nano additive, compared with that of diesel fuel; they also
reported that combustion characteristics were improved and
the engine emission results showed lower values for the addi-
tion of TiO2 and SiO2 nano additive than for diesel fuel (Dhinesh
et al. 2016; Karthikeyan and Prathima 2017).
In this paper, the effects of changing the fuel injection timing
on engine performance and emission parameters of modified
fuel (B20 + 25 ppm of TiO2 nanoparticle) have been reported.
2. Materials and method
2.1. Biodiesel preparation
In this study, Mimusops Elangi oil (MEO) was produced from
Mimusops Elangi seeds and has been selected as an alterna-
tive fuel because of its abundant availability at free of cost.
The Mimusops Elangi tree was grown in many places viz. side-
walks, roadways gardening at parks and mostly found in the
forest areas. Sapotaceae is the family of Mimusops Elangi tree. It
grows at a maximum height of 1.5 m. India and Srilanka are the
places of the Asian continent. This tree has various vernaculars
or local names which are tabulated in the Table 1. The seed con-
tains an average of 18–22% of oil and it was extracted through
the mechanical crushing process (Dutta and Deka 2014). The
past research of Dutta and Deka (2014), stated that there are
many fatty substances present in the Mimusops Elangi seed oil
and few high content acids, namely Palmitic acid (53.55%) and
Oleic acid (28.52%) (Dutta and Deka 2014). The analysis made
by Researchers reiterates the achievements of 74% of methyl
ester of MEO through a transeterification process (Deepanraj
et al. 2015). The presence of hydrocarbon groups C–H in the
raw oil is identified from the Fourier Transform Infrared Spec-
troscopy (FTIR) result as shown in Figure 1(a), thus giving the
oil a potential to be used as fuel. It is measured by Agilent Cary
630 IR, having a range of 4000–400 cm−1 . The absorbance peaks
of 1452.66 cm−1 represented the C–H bonding which indicates
the presence of alkanes.
Potassium hydroxide (KOH) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH)
are the most commonly used alkali catalysts but higher yield
has been reported with KOH (Sharma and Singh 2009). Methanol
Table 1. Various vernacular name of Mimusops Elengi plant.
S. No Language Name
1 Telugu pagoda
2 English Bullet wood
3 Tamil Magadam and Muhunain
4 Spanish cherry

(a)
(b)
Figure 1. (a) The FTIR result of the raw Mimusops Elengi biofuel, (b) charactarisation of nanopartical images.
and ethanol are the alcohols employed frequently in the trans-
esterification process; but in this work, methanol was preferred
owing to its low cost and higher reactivity (Demibas 2005;
Prommes, Apanee, and Samai 2007). Mimusops Elangi biodiesel
is prepared by transesterification process which reacting with
methyl alcohol at 65°C with catalyst namely potassium hydrox-
ide (KOH) forms biodiesel and the by-product obtained is glyc-
erol. In the preparation of Mimusops Elangi biodiesel involves
stirring up of major components like oil, methyl alcohol and
catalyst by using a magnetic stirrer for 30 min at the constant
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMBIENT ENERGY 3
temperature of 65°C. In order to remove the water content
present in the Mimusops Elangi biodiesel, it is heated beyond
the boiling point of water.
The separated biodiesel was mixed with diesel fuel. The B20
fuel with 25 ppm of TiO2 nanoparticle is selected as additive
for this test. The TiO2 nanoparticle was prepared by sol–gel
method. The crystal structure anatase phase, 99.9% purity and
white in colour. The crystalline phase of nanoparticles is deter-
mined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), and elemental compositions
of the nanoparticle are determined by (EDAX). The morphology
4 R. L. KRUPAKARAN ET AL.

Table 2. Properties of tested fuel.

Properties ASTM standards Diesel MEO (raw oil) B20 + 80D B20 + 80D 25 ppm B100
Density (kg/m3 ) @ 15°C ASTM D1298 831 905 843 845.7 873
Kinematic viscosity (cSt) @ 40°C ASTM D445 2.14 28.12 2.76 2.84 4.646
Cetane number ASTM D613 55 41 53 52 55
Flash point (°C) ASTM D92 52 286 76 78 185
Calorific value (MJ/Kg) ASTM D6751 44.5 39.42 43.574 43.67 41.89

Table 3. Test engine specification. of the nanoparticles is determined by scanning electron micro-
Engine make TAF1 Kirloskar scope (SEM) and TEM. The character studies of nanoparticles are
Type Vertical diesel engine, 4-stroke shown in Figure 1(b). The particle size was analysed by XRD and
Cooling system Air cooled obtained less than 25 nm size. By using ultrasonication both B20
No. of cylinders, fuel One, Diesel
Rated brake power 4.4 kW @ 1500 rpm and nanoparticle was mixed. The collection of seeds, preparation
Ignition system Compression ignition of biodiesel and properties of fuel was tested in the labora-
Bore and stroke 87.5 mm and 110 mm tory at Sree Vidyanikethan Engineering College, Tirupati, Andhra
Displacement 661 cm3
Injection timing 23° bTDC (rated) Pradesh, India. The properties of raw oil and prepared fuel are
Compression ratio 17.5:1 listed in Table 2. The prepared fuel is tested in single cylinder
Injection pressure 200 bar air cooled direct injection compression ignition engine at a con-
Nozzle hole diameter and number 0.3 mm and 3
Fuel spray angle 120° stant speed for different load conditions. The specifications of
the engine are listed in Table 3.

Figure 2. (a) Schematic diagram of engine set-up, (b) photographic view of test engine set-up.
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMBIENT ENERGY 5

2.2. Engine set-up and measurements 1500 rpm and various load outputs. The variable load was done
by a swing field electrical dynamometer, from the Power Star
The test was conducted on single cylinder, four-stroke diesel
make. The shape of the combustion chamber is a hemispheri-
(Kirloskar TAF-1) air cooled engine. The details of fuel injection
cal combustion bowl which is operated at a compression ratio
are 23° bTDC and 200 bar pressure with a constant speed of
of 17.5:1. The cylinder pressure was measured by pressure trans-
ducer AVL GH14D/AH01 with regard to crank position encoder
Table 4. Specification of exhaust gas analyser. AVL 365C. The data from the pressure transducer required to
Make AVL Digas 444 be converted into clear formatter busing AVL INDIMICRA 602-
Measuring parameter CO, HC, CO2 , NOX , O2 , λ TI0602A and AVL INDICOM MOBILE software. The emission
Measuring method CO, HC, CO2 – NDIR method parameters, like CO, HC and oxides of nitrogen were assessed by
NOX , O2 – Electrochemical method
Measuring range and resolution CO – 0 . . . 10% vol and 0.01% five gas analyser (AVL DI GAS 444). The smoke opacity was deter-
HC – 0 . . . 20000 ppm and 1 ppm vol mined by AVL 415 SMOKE METER. The complete engine specifi-
CO2 – 0 . . . 20% vol and 0.1% cations are given in Table 3 and set-up is shown in Figure 2(a,b).
NOX – 0 . . . 5000 ppm vol and 1 ppm vol
λ – 0 . . . 9.999 and 0.001% The specification of smoke metre is given in Tables 4 and 5.
Response time Within 15 s The experimental investigations were carried out in three
Warming up time About 7 min phases. In the first phase, the various physicochemical properties
Connector gas in About 180 L/h
Operating temperature 5–50°C of diesel–biodiesel blends were determined and conducted the
Realtive humidity ≤ 95%, non-condencing engine performance on the blending of M.Elangi methyl ester
Power consumption About 25 W with diesel fuel at various percentages like 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%
Voltage 22 V DC
Interfaces RS 232 communication cable, printer and 100%. In the second phase, the fuel properties and exper-
imental investigation of fuel born additive to B20 at various of
dosage levels like 25, 50, 75 and 100 ppm. In third phase, the
Table 5. Specification of Bosch smoke metre.
test was performed for B20 + 25 ppm nanoparticle blends with
Type and make T1 diesel tune, 114 – smoke density tester T1 transervice varying load conditions at an invariant speed of 1500 rpm. The
Piston displacement 330 cc
timing was varied by varying the shim thickness at the connec-
Stabilisation time 2 min
Range 0–10 Bosch smoke number tion point between the pump and the engine and is shown in
Minimum time period 30 cc Figure 3(a–d). Reducing the shim thickness by 0.3 mm advances
Caliberated reading 5.0 ± 0.2 the injection timing by 2° CA. The engine operating conditions

Figure 3. (a–d) Changing of crank angle by varying shim thickness.

6 R. L. KRUPAKARAN ET AL.
such as injection pressure and timing were optimised to 200 bar
and 25° bTDC for the biodiesel produced from MEO. The results
obtained with B20 + 25 ppm fuel were compared with that of
biodiesel at the optimised condition and diesel at standard oper-
ating condition (200 bar and 23° bTDC). Initially the engine was
made to run in an idle state for 20 min to achieve the steady-state
condition by maintaining its temperature level.
2.3. Analysis of uncertainty
The uncertainties in the experiments may occur due to the selec-
tion of instruments, working conditions, environment, calibra-
tion, observation and method of conduct of the tests (Devan
and Mahalakshmi 2009; Mani and Nagarajan 2009). The accu-
racy of the instrument is depending on uncertainty analysis. The
percentage uncertainties of various performance parameters
like brake power, BTE, and brake specific fuel consumption was
determined using the root-sum-square method (Doebelin and
Manik 2007). The percentage uncertainty of the experiment was
carried out and found to be 2.06% using the analytical method
(Vedharaj et al. 2013) which is shown in Table 6.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Performance characteristics
3.1.1. Influence of injection timing on BTE of B20 + 25 ppm
The comparison of brake thermal efficiencies of B20 + 25 ppm
fuel for different injection timings is shown in Figure 4. For all
Table 6. Percentage uncertainties of various instruments.
Parameter % uncertainties
Brake power
Brake thermal efficiency
Brake specific fuel consumption
Pressure
Load
Speed
Carbon monoxide
Oxides of nitrogen
Hydro carbon
Smoke opacity
Figure 4. Effect of injection timing on brake thermal efficiency of B20 + 25 ppm.
the injection timings, the BTE of diesel, B20 and B20 + 25 ppm
fuel increases with increasing load. Maximum BTE of 30.05% was
observed at an injection timing of 25° bTDC at 100% load condi-
tion, which is 4.37% higher than that of B20 and 5.69% higher
than that of diesel fuel at injection timing 23° bTDC. The BTE of
B20 + 25 ppm was increased when injection timing is advanced
(Karthikeyan, Lokesh, and Suneel 2017). The reason may be due
to the early start of combustion, which compensates the effect
of slow burning which in turn gives better combustion. Combus-
tion was found to be slow with biodiesel (B20 + 25 ppm) due to
its high viscosity which leads to a poor spray and mixture forma-
tion (Jindal et al. 2009; Venkanna, Wadawadagi, and Venkatara-
mana Reddy 2009; Krupakaran, Hariprasad, and Gopalakrishna
2016).
3.1.2. Influence of injection timing on BSFC of
B20 + 25 ppm
The variation of brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) of
B20 + 25 ppm fuel at different injection timings is shown in
Figure 5. The BSFC of all test fuels decreases with increas-
ing load, irrespective of injection timing. The lowest BSFC of
0.2463 kg/kW h was noted for B20 + 25 ppm fuel at an injection
timing of 25° bTDC at 100% load condition, which is 17.03%
and 12.01% lower than that of diesel fuel and B20, respec-
tively, at injection timing 23° bTDC. The reduction in BSFC of
B20 + 25 ppm fuel is due to the increase in injection timing
(Karthikeyan, Lokesh, and Suneel 2017) which leads to proper
mixing of fuel and air. Slight increase in BSFC was observed with
injection timings due to improper fuel distribution in the air.
Advancing the injection timing from 27° bTDC resulted in fuel
injection at low-temperature environment inside the cylinder
that leads to poor combustion.
0.5
0.4
0.3 3.2. Emission characteristics
1.1
0.6 3.2.1. Influence of injection timing on carbon monoxide
1.2 emission of B20 + 25 ppm
0.6
0.5 The variation of carbon monoxide (CO) emission for B20 + 25
0.2 ppm fuel at different injection timings with respect to a
0.3
Figure 5. Effect of injection timing on BSFC of B20 + 25 ppm.
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMBIENT ENERGY 7

Figure 6. Effect of injection timing on carbon monoxide emission of

B20 + 25 ppm. Figure 7. Effect of injection timing on carbon dioxide emission of B20 + 25 ppm.

load is given in Figure 6. CO emission of all the test fuels

increases with increasing load. The reduction in CO emis-
sion of B20 + 25 ppm is mainly due to the oxygen content
of B20 + 25 ppm which results in complete combustion in the
cylinder (Venkanna, Wadawadagi, and Venkataramana Reddy
2009; Krupakaran, Hariprasad, and Gopalakrishna 2016). From
Figure 6, it can be stated that CO emission for B20 + 25 ppm
fuel was lower than that of diesel. B20 + 25 ppm fuel emitted
0.074% CO at 25° bTDC injection timing at 100% load con-
dition, where as with B20 and diesel was 0.1% and 0.12%,
respectively. This is 38% lower than that of diesel fuel and 26%
lower than B20 at injection timing of 23° bTDC. This is due to
the presence of B20 + 25 ppm fuel, which has higher oxygen
content that results in better combustion when compared to
diesel.

3.2.2. Influence of injection timing on carbon dioxide
emission of B20 + 25 ppm
The variation of carbon dioxide (CO2 ) emission of B20 + 25 ppm
fuel for different injection timings is illustrated in Figure 7.
The emission of CO2 was expected to increase with increas-
ing load for all the tested fuels. It is observed that for
B20 + 25 ppm, the CO2 emission increased by 5.15% and
1.194% when compared with diesel and B20, respectively, at
25° bTDC injection timing for full load condition. This could be
due to the high carbon content present in the B20 + 25 ppm
fuel.
3.2.3. Influence of injection timing on unburnt hydrocarbon
of B20 + 25 ppm
The comparison of unburnt hydrocarbon (UHC) emission of
B20 + 25 ppm fuel for different injection timings is presented
in Figure 8. The lowest UHC emission was observed with
B20 + 25 ppm. The minimum HC emission of 16 ppm was
observed with B20 + 25 ppm fuel at 25° bTDC injection tim-
ing at 100% load condition, which is 15.58% and 11.11% lower
than that of diesel and B20, respectively. The lower cetane value
reduces the auto ignition characteristics of B20 + 25 ppm and
Figure 8. Effect of injection timing on un burnt hydrocarbon (UHC) of
B20 + 25 ppm.
increases the cooling effect in the lean fuel–air mixture zone of
the engine cylinder.
3.2.4. Influence of injection timing on Oxides of nitrogen
(NOx ) emission of B20 + 25 ppm
The comparison of oxides of nitrogen (NOx ) emission for dif-
ferent injection timings of the B20 + 25 ppm fuel is given in
Figure 9. The NOx formation depends on the in-cylinder tem-
perature, oxygen concentration and residence time for the reac-
tion (Challen and Baranescu 1992; Ajay, Singh, and Bhattacharya
1998; Andrea, Henshaw, and Ting 2004). The NOx emission level
increases with increasing injection timing; this is due to faster
combustion and higher cylinder gas temperature occurring as
a result of peak pressure in earlier CAs (Narayana Reddy and
Ramesh 2006). Maximum NOx emission with B20 + 25 ppm fuel
was 1260 ppm at 25° bTDC injection timing for full load condi-
tion, whereas for diesel fuel and B20 NOx emission is 998 and
1046 ppm, respectively.
8 R. L. KRUPAKARAN ET AL.

3.3. Combustion characteristics

3.3.1. Influence of injection timing on cylinder gas pressure
of B20 + 25 ppm
The comparison of cylinder gas pressure of the B20 + 25 ppm
fuels for different injection timings at 100% load condition is
shown in Figure 11. Among all the tested injection timings, 25°
bTDC injection timing B20 + 25 ppm exhibited the maximum
cylinder pressure of 72.91 bar at 365° CA, which was 27% and
23.71% higher than that of diesel and B20, respectively. This is
because of the higher premixed burning rate due to the longer
ignition delay period and more combustible mixture being pre-
pared within the ignition delay period (Venkanna, Wadawadagi,
and Venkataramana Reddy 2009; Krupakaran, Hariprasad, and
Gopalakrishna 2016).

3.3.2. Influence of injection timing on heat release rate of

Figure 9. Effect of injection timing on nitric oxide (NOX ) emission of B20 + 25 ppm
B20 + 25 ppm. Figures 12 and 13 through light up on the comparison of heat
release rate and cumulative heat release rate for B20 + 25 ppm

3.2.5. Influence of injection timing on smoke opacity of

B20 + 25 ppm
The variation of smoke opacity of the B20 + 25 ppm fuel at differ-
ent injection timings is shown in Figure 10. The results showed
that the smoke opacity level decreased with increase injection
timing when compared to all loads. This is mainly because of
the higher oxygen content and lower carbon to hydrogen ratio
and the absence of aromatics in B20 + 25 ppm (Bari, Yu, and
Lim 2003; Lauperta, Rodriguez-Fernandez, and Agudelo 2008;
Venkanna, Wadawadagi, and Venkataramana Reddy 2009). At
100% load condition, the smoke emission of B20 + 25 ppm fuel
was lower than that of diesel, regardless of injection timing. The
smoke emission was found to be 29.2% at 25° bTDC injection
timing for B20 + 25 ppm fuel, which is19.11% and 16.8% lower
than that of diesel and B20, respectively. This is due to the com-
bustion being assisted by the presence of the fuel bound oxygen
in the B20 + 25 ppm fuel. Additionally, advanced injection tim-
ing leads to longer duration and fine fuel droplets during the
expansion stroke in which oxidation of the soot particles occurs. Figure 11. Effect of injection timing on cylinder gas pressure of B20 + 25 ppm.

Figure 12. Effect of injection pressure and timing on heat release rate of
Figure 10. Effect of injection timing on smoke opacity of B20 + 25 ppm. B20 + 25 ppm.

Figure 13. Effect of injection pressure and timing on cumulative heat release rate
of B20 + 25 ppm.
fuels at 100% load condition. Maximum heat release rate of
166.2 J/° CA was observed with B20 + 25 ppm fuel at 25° bTDC
injection timing, which was higher than that of diesel fuel and
B20, respectively. This is due to the increase in ignition delay
by advancing the injection timing, more fuel–air mixture is
formed in an ignition delay period,which resulted in strong pre-
mixed combustion phase, leading to a higher heat release rate
(Venkanna, Wadawadagi, and Venkataramana Reddy 2009; Kru-
pakaran, Hariprasad, and Gopalakrishna 2016). Advancing the
injection timing from 25° bTDC to 27° bTDC leads to increase
in ignition delay and resulted in lowering the temperature and
reduce the heat release rate.
4. Conclusion
The principle objective of this work is to determine the opti-
mum conditions of injection timing for B20 + 25 ppm. The addi-
tion of nanoparticle to B20 has a great effect on fuel properties
such as flash point, fire point, viscosity, calorific value etc., which
in-turns influence the performance combustion and emission
parameters. Most of the oxygeneted nanoparticle as additive in
biodiesel showed improvement in combustion process.
Fuel injection timing greatly affects the performance of CI
engines and emissions as well. The performance and exhaust
emissions of CI engine at the different injection timings for
B20 + 25 ppm at retard injection timings of CA 19° bTDC, CA 21°
bTDC and advanced injection timings of CA 25° bTDC, CA 27°
bTDC with reference to standard injection timing of CA 23° bTDC
has been reported:
(1) Retarding the injection timing decreases the maximum
cylinder pressure, which results in decreasing the peak tem-
peratures, which reduces the NOx emissions.
(2) When injection timing is retarded, fuel injection starts later.
As a result, the combustion duration decreases, which
results in lowering the maximum cylinder pressure. There-
fore, incomplete combustion occurs and BTE decreases and
BSFC increases.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMBIENT ENERGY 9
(3) When injection timing is advanced, it ensures complete
combustion and results in an increase in BTE and decrease
in BSFC.
(4) Advanced injection timing produces a higher cylinder tem-
perature, pressure and increases the oxidation process
between carbon and oxygen molecules.Thus HC, CO and
smoke emission decreases.
(5) As cylinder temperature increases with increase in ignition
timing, it significantly increases NOx emission.
Acknowledgment
The author would like to convey his deep sense of thanks to his wife Dr
P. Ratnakamala and the faculty of Mechanical Engineering Department,
Sree Vidyanikethan Engineering College, Tirupati, Andhrapradesh, for their
support in carrying out this research work.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
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