An Investigation of the Performance, Combustion, and Emission Characteristics of a CI Engine Fueled with Used Vegetable Oil Methyl Ester and Producer Gas

Biomass-derived biodiesel and producer gas are the renovated sources of renewable fuel. In the present study, experiments have been conducted with mixed fuel mode using producer gas as an inducted fuel and near to waste-used vegetable oil biodiesel as an injected fuel in a four-stroke, naturally aspirated, variable compression ratio engine. The results have been compared with single fuel and dual fuel modes of operation with an optimized compression ratio of 18 and fuel injection pressure of 200 bar. Producer gas is collected from the gasifier and stored in gas bags and then supplied to the engine through air surge tank to maintain uniform gas quality, whereas biodiesel is used in the form of B23. The result shows that the maximum brake thermal efficiency of 26.77% is comparable with the dual fuel mode of operation, ignition delay of 13.64 degrees is less than the dual fuel mode, and smoke opacity has been reduced up to 16% compared with the conventional fossil fuel. It has been concluded that the internal combustion engine could run with all fuel modes without any modifications and the performance is found to be comparable with that of fossil diesel.