Performance Comparison Between Pure Diesel and 5% Butanol Blended Diesel in a Multi-cylinder Engine

In this paper, the combustion characteristics of pure diesel and 5% butanol blended diesel (95% diesel and 5% n-butanol by volume) were compared when used as fuel for a multi-cylinder engine. The IC engine test rig chosen was TATA Turbo Engine 226 having power 52 kW, four-stroke, four-cylinder, water-cooled, variable speed, compression ignition (CI) engine using ICEngineSoft_9.0 software. The combustion reports for both the fuels were obtained under constant pre-defined ambient conditions. The engine was run at a specified steady speed of approximately 1050 revolutions per minute. The comparison graphs were generated at no-load engine conditions. In this study, the curves for the following parameters such as cylinder pressure, net heat release, rate of pressure rise and mean gas temperature were analysed. From the acquired results, it was concluded that the 5% butanol blended diesel advances the combustion process in comparison with pure diesel fuel. It was also inferred that the butanol blended fuel would ensure sustainable and progressive use of biodegradable fuels. This work is an attempt to promote the use of biofuels as an alternative for the conventionally used fossil fuels.