Abstract
Methyl esters of vegetable oils derived from long chained vegetable oils by transesterification process, when used as fuel, produce favorable effects on the environment, such as a decrease in acid rain and greenhouse effect. Sunflower oil, which is extracted from sunflower seed, is commonly used for edible purposes. In its pure form its viscosity is relatively higher than that of diesel. By determining the properties of sunflower oil and its methyl ester it was found that both the fuels had properties that were comparable with that of diesel and the latter was superior to the former. In this work, the performance and emission characteristics of sunflower oil and its methyl ester were studied and compared with that of diesel by employing them as a fuel in a single cylinder, direct injection, 4.4 KW, air cooled diesel engine. Emission measurements were carried out using MRU Delta 1600L gas analyzer and the soot concentration was measured with AVL smoke meter. The performance characteristics of Sunflower oil and its methyl esters were comparable with that of diesel. Its effect on reducing emission was significant with minor power losses. Using methyl esters would reduce the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, thus saving earth from global warming. NOX emissions of sunflower oil were lower than that of diesel and were slightly higher than diesel for sunflower methyl ester. From the experimental results it was observed that Sunflower oil methyl ester has an ability to replace diesel fuel.
Keywords: Sunflower oil, Sunflower methyl ester, Performance characteristics, Emission characteristics