Effect of injection timing on the performance and emission characteristics of a CI engine using diesel and methyl soyate

Many experimental works have been carried out to check the influence of biodiesels on CI engines during the era of energy crisis and greenhouse gas emission by fossil fuels throughout the world. However, experimental works are not always feasible from the prospect of time and money. An attempt has been made in this work to numerically investigate the effect of injection timing on performance and emission characteristics of a CI engine fuelled with diesel and methyl soyate and make a comparison between the two. The simulations have been carried out for three different injection timings of 17 degrees, 20 degrees and 23 degrees bTDC. The predicted results indicate a decrease in the brake thermal efficiency and an increase in the brake specific fuel consumption with the advancement in injection timing for both the fuels, the performance of diesel being better than the biodiesel. Exhaust gas temperature increases along with the NOx and CO2 emissions, while the particulate matter and smoke emissions decrease with the advancement in injection timing. NOx, CO2 emissions and exhaust temperature are found to be more, while PM and smoke emissions are less for methyl soyate when compared to diesel.