Fuel 115 (2014) 527533

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Fuel
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/fuel

Combustion and performance of a diesel engine with preheated

Jatropha curcas oil using waste heat from exhaust gas
Priyabrata Pradhan, Hifjur Raheman , Debasish Padhee
Agricultural and Food Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur 721302, India

h i g h l i g h t s
 Improvement in fuel properties by preheating.
 Utilization of heat from exhaust gas.
 Performance of preheated Jatropha oil vis--vis diesel.
 Lowered ignition delay for preheated Jatropha oil as compared to diesel.
 Lower emissions with preheated Jatropha oil as compared to diesesl.

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 11 April 2013
Received in revised form 4 June 2013
Accepted 18 July 2013
Available online 1 August 2013
Keywords:
Combustion
Heat exchanger
Performance
Preheated Jatropha Oil
Reduced emissions

a b s t r a c t
The viscosity and density of CJO (crude Jatropha oil) were reduced by heating it using the heat from
exhaust gas of a diesel engine with an appropriately designed helical coil heat exchanger. Experiments
were conducted to evaluate the combustion characteristics of a DI (direct injection) diesel engine using
PJO (preheated Jatropha oil). It exhibited a marginally higher cylinder gas pressure, rate of pressure rise
and heat release rate as compared to HSD (high speed diesel) during the initial stages of combustion for
all engine loadings. Ignition delay was shorter for PJO as compared to HSD. The results also indicated that
BSFC (brake specic fuel consumption) and EGT (exhaust gas temperature) increased while BTE (brake
thermal efciency) decreased with PJO as compared to HSD for all engine loadings. The reductions in
CO2 (carbon dioxide), HC (hydrocarbon) and NOx (nitrous oxide) emissions were observed for PJO along
with increased CO (carbon monoxide) emission as compared to those of HSD.
2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The rapid depletion of conventional fuel and uctuation of diesel price in the global market have promoted research for alternative fuels for diesel engine. Among the different alternative fuels,
vegetable oil having fuel properties similar to diesel has an acceptable engine performance for short-term operation only [1]. However, long term endurance tests with vegetable oil reported some
engine durability issues such as severe engine deposits, piston ring
sticking, injector choking, gum formation and lubricating oil thickening [2]. These problems are primarily attributed to high viscosity
and poor volatility of straight vegetable oils due to large molecular
weight and bulky molecular structure. Higher viscosity of vegetable oil (30200 cSt at 40 C) as compared to mineral diesel (4 cSt
at 40 C) leads to unsuitable pumping and fuel spray characteristics. For long running, straight vegetable oils are not suitable as
fuels for diesel engines, they have to be modied to bring their
Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 322283161; fax: +91 3222282244
E-mail address: hifjur@agfe.iitkgp.ernet.in (H. Raheman).
0016-2361/$ - see front matter 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2013.07.067

combustion related properties closer to diesel. Undoubtedly,

transesterication is well accepted and best suited method of utilizing vegetable oils in CI (compression ignition) engine but this
adds extra cost of processing because of the transesterication
reaction involving chemical and process heat inputs. The other
alternative could be use of heated vegetable oils as petroleum fuel
substitute. Further, heating of oil using exhaust gas from a diesel
engine is an attractive proposition.
The viscosity of Jatropha oil was decreased remarkably with increase in temperature and it became close to diesel at temperature
above 75 C [3]. The density of Jatropha oil was reduced from
900.21 kg/m3 to 883.97 kg/m3 by raising the temperature of oil
from 15 C to 90 C [4]. Heating the Jatropha oil between 90 C
and 100 C was adequate to bring down the viscosity in close range
to diesel [5]. Chauhan et al. [6] reduced the viscosity of oil by heating from exhaust gases before feeding to the engine with an appropriately designed shell and tube heat exchanger with exhaust
bypass arrangement. Further, optimal fuel inlet temperature was
found to be 80 C considering the BTE and BSEC (brake specic
energy consumption). However, combustion characteristics of

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P. Pradhan et al. / Fuel 115 (2014) 527533

decided to choose one such non-edible oil like Jatropha for further
investigation which could provide a suitable substitute for diesel
fuel.
Jatropha oil contains higher percentage of oleic acid (34.345.8)
followed by linoleic acid (29.044.2) and palmitic acid (14.115.3).
The average saturated and unsaturated fatty acids constitute 20.1%
and 79.9% of the oil, respectively. The maturity stage of the fruits at
the time of collection is reported to inuence the fatty acid composition of the oil [9]. Because of the presence of higher percentage of
free fatty acids, it is not desirable to run the diesel engine directly
with Jatropha oil. Therefore an attempt was made to utilize the
heat from exhaust gas of diesel engine to reduce the viscosity of
high viscous oil to improve its engine performance (see Table 1).

Table 1
Fatty acid composition of crude Jatropha curcas oil.
Fatty
acid

Systematic
name

Formula

Structurea

wt.%

Oleic

cis-9Octadecenoic
cis-9, cis-12Octadecadienoic
Hexadecanoic

C18H34O2

18:1

34.345.8

C18H32O2

18:2

29.044.2

C16H32O2

16:0

14.115.3

Linoleic
Palmitic
a

xx: y indicates xx carbons in the fatty acid chain with y double bonds; Source:
[12].

Table 2
Technical specications of diesel engine.

2. Materials and methods

Particulars

Details

Type
Number of cylinders
Bore  stroke (mm)
Cycle
Maximum power (kW)
Rated speed (rpm)
Compression ratio
Injection timing ( before TDC)
Injection type
Nozzle opening pressure IMEP at 1500 rpm (bar)

GF3BMG (TV1)
1
87.5  110
4-stroke
5.5, naturally aspirated
1500
15.5:1
24
Direct injection
5.08

2.1. Experimental setup

A typical engine system widely used in the agricultural sector
was selected for present experimental investigations and its technical specications are given in the Table 2. The experimental setup comprised a constant speed, 5.5 kW, 4-stroke, single cylinder,
water cooled, DI diesel engine. The engine was coupled to a three
phase, 250 V AC generator. The generator was used for loading
the engine through an electrical load bank comprising of four heating coils (1500 W, 925 W, 900 W and 875 W) and six electric bulbs
(two 200 W, three 100 W and one 40 W). The schematic layout of
the experimental setup for the present investigation is shown in
Fig. 1.
The main components of the experimental setup were a diesel
fuel tank, measuring cylinders to supply Jatropha oil before heating
and after heating, a helical coil heat exchanger tted inside the exhaust gas pipe line for heating Jatropha oil, oil supply line, and performance measurement equipments. The exhaust gas owed
through the pipe across the helical coil heat exchanger. Helical coil

Jatropha oil had not been reported. The ignition delay was shorter
for neat rapeseed oil and its blends with diesel as compared to that
of standard diesel. Peak cylinder pressure and maximum heat release rate were decreased with increase in neat rapeseed oil content in blends [7]. Qi et al. [8] reported similar kind of results
using Soybean biodiesel and blends with diesel.
In recent years, several attempts have been made to use the esters of non-edible oils as substitute for diesel. Hence, it was

6
I
13
7

12
8
11
10
9

1.Load bank 2. Air filter 3. Supply cylinder 4. Exhaust gas Analyzer 5. Heat exchanger
6. Measuring cylinder 7. Engine 8. Fuel filter 9. Rotary encoder 10. AC generator
11. Fly wheel 12. Data acquisition system 13. Computer.
Fig. 1. Schematic layout of the experimental setup.

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P. Pradhan et al. / Fuel 115 (2014) 527533

heat exchanger was found to be suitable taking three major factors

into consideration. Firstly, space is limited. Secondly, under the
condition of laminar ow or low ow rates where a shell and tube
heat exchanger would become uneconomical because of the resulting low heat transfer coefcients. Thirdly, to increase the exposure
area and residence time for oil.
During the operation of the engine, the crude Jatropha oil was
allowed to ow from the top inlet by gravity and the oil was allowed to ow through the coil. The oil traveled the helical path
and thereby gained temperature due to exposure to hot gases with
increased retention time. Finally heated oil came out and was collected in a measuring cylinder. The fuel lter was connected to the
measuring cylinder through a valve at the bottom. The engine was
started with diesel and once the engine warmed up, it was
switched over to Jatropha oil. After concluding the tests with Jatropha oil, the engine was again switched back to run with diesel before stopping to remove Jatropha oil from the fuel lter and fuel
ow line. In all cases, temperature increased with increase in engine load. At 80% engine load, exhaust gas temperature before
and after heat recovery was found to be 310 C and 226 C, respectively. The oil inlet and oil out let temperature at same load was
found to be 27 C and 85 C, respectively. The temperature of the
Jatropha oil was maintained within a range of 70 3 C before it
passed to the fuel lter for all engine loads.
A thermocouple and a temperature indicator were used to measure the exhaust gas temperature. The cylinder gas pressure was
measured by a Kistler Model-SN14 piezoelectric pressure transducer mounted on the cylinder head. Crankshaft position and the
engine speed were obtained using a rotary Encoder (ModelE50S8) which was connected to the crankshaft.
3. Theory
From the literature, it was revealed that the helical coil is the
most suitable heat exchanger to limited space and economic constraint [10]. Moreover, it increases the residence time and exposure area for oil. A copper coil was used as heat exchanger for its
higher thermal conductivity. The number of turns of helical coil
and the length of cylinder to accommodate the coil was determined by using theoretical principles for the design of helical coil
[11]. The helical coil was designed using Auto CAD and the technical specications of the heat recovery system are given in Table 3.

P = instantaneous cylinder gas pressure (Pa), V = instantaneous cylinder volume (m3).

3.2. Determination of ignition delay
ID dened as the time interval between start of fuel injection to
the beginning of combustion of injected fuel. Beginning of the fuel
combustion was indicated by the position of the crank in terms of
degree before TDC where the instantaneous heat release rate became positive. The fuel injection timing of the test engine was
24 before TDC. Thus from the calculated instantaneous heat release rate value at every crank angle, ignition delay of a test fuel
at each load was calculated.

4. Results and discussion

4.1. Fuel properties
The various fuel properties namely density, kinematic viscosity,
acid value, ash point of CJO, PJO were determined following the
ASTM (American society for testing and materials) standards and
procedures and are given in the Table 4. It was also observed that
the fuel properties of PJO improved by heating.
4.1.1. Density
It can be seen from Table 2 that densities of CJO and PJO were
found to be about 4.70% and 2.47% higher than that of HSD, respectively. The density of CJO was reduced by about 2.13% on heating to
a temperature of 70 C. The higher densities of CJO and PJO as compared to HSD may be attributed to the higher molecular weights of
triglyceride molecules present in them.
4.1.2. Kinematic viscosity
Kinematic viscosity of CJO was found to be 39.97 cSt which was
15.37 times more than that of HSD (Fig. 2). After heating up to
70 C, the kinematic viscosity of CJO was reduced to 20.48 cSt
which was found to be 7.87 times higher than that of HSD. This
was due to break down of intermolecular forces and adhesion between molecules. Moreover, the kinematic viscosity of HSD did not
vary much with temperature rise. The above results are in conrmation with the results obtained by Agarwal and Agarwal [5].

3.1. Determination of instantaneous heat release rate

Heat release rate calculations are an attempt to get some information about the combustion process inside the combustion
chamber. Heat release rate (Qn) was calculated from the simplied
Eq. (1) which was derived from 1st law of thermodynamics.

Q n 1=c  1cPdV=dh VdP=dh

where Qn = instantaneous heat release rate (J/C A), c = ratio of

specic heats which was taken as 1.35, h = Crank angle (),

4.2. Engine performance

The performance of a DI diesel engine was studied with HSD,
CJO and PJO (at 70 3 C) by varying the engine load by measuring
fuel consumption and brake power at governor control range following the BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) procedures. BSFC
and BTE were calculated from the measured data.

Table 4
Comparison of fuel properties of different fuels.

Table 3
Technical specications of the system.
System parameters

Dimensions(mm)

Exhaust pipe diameter

Helix diameter
Length of helix
Number of turns
Pitch of helix
Coil diameter
Coil wall thickness
Length of coil

55
40
210
9
15
6
0.9
1219

Fuel type

CJO

PJO (70 C)

Biodiesel from
Jatropha oil

HSD

Density (kg/m3)
Kinematic viscosity, (cSt)
Acid value (mg KOH/g)
Flash point (C)
Caloric value (MJ/kg)
Carbon (%, w/w)
Hydrogen (% w/w)
Nitrogen (% w/w)
Oxygen (% w/w)

890
39.97
28.0
212
38.65
76.45
10.45
3.0
13.12

871
20.48
29.23

38.65
76.45
10.25
2.95
13.1

868
4.80
0.4

39.23

850
2.6

54
42
85.95
12.98
5.15
0.35

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P. Pradhan et al. / Fuel 115 (2014) 527533

30

BTE, %

25

HSD

20

CJO
PJO

15

10
25

50

75

100

Engine load, %
Fig. 2. Effect of temperature on kinematic viscosity for Jatropha oil and HSD.

Fig. 4. Variations of BTE for HSD, CJO and PJO at different engine loads.

450

700

HSD
CJO
PJO

400
350

EGT, C

BSFC, g/kWh

600
500
400

300
250

HSD

200

CJO

150

300

PJO

100
0

200
25

50

75

25

Engine load, %

50

75

100

Engine load, %

100

Fig. 5. Variation of EGT for HSD, CJO and PJO at different engine loads.

Fig. 3. Variations of BSFC for HSD, CJO and PJO at different engine loads.

4.2.1. Brake specic fuel consumption (BSFC)

BSFC is the ratio between mass ow of tested fuel and effective
power. It can be seen from Fig. 3 that the BSFC reduced with increase in engine load for all the fuels tested. At full engine load,
the BSFC for HSD, CJO and PJO were found to be 286.88, 319.48
and 328.06 g kW1 h1, respectively as compared to 569.54,
652.15 and 606.74 g kW1 h1at 25% engine loading. This was
due to the higher percentage increase in brake power with increase
in engine load as compared to the increase in fuel consumption
due to relatively less heat losses at higher engine loads.
At 25% engine load, BSFC of CJO and PJO is 14.5% and 6.53%
higher than that of HSD. Higher BSFC for CJO might be due to higher fuel density and viscosity. At full engine load, BSFC of CJO and
PJO is 11.36% and 14.35% higher than that of HSD. Higher BSFC
for PJO might be due to lesser ignition delay. The higher fuel consumption for CJO and PJO as compared to HSD could be primarily
related to the combined effect of higher density and lower energy
content.

4.2.2. Brake thermal efciency (BTE)

Brake thermal efciency is the ratio of the power output to the
energy supplied through fuel injection. BTE increased with increase
in percent load for all the fuels tested as evident from Fig. 4. The
maximum BTE was obtained at full load conditions for all the fuels
tested and was 29.88%, 29.15% and 28.33% respectively for HSD,
CJO and PJO as compared to 15.05%, 14.28% and 15.32% at 25% engine loading. The improved BTE at higher engine load was due to
the reduction in friction loss and increase in brake power with increase in percent load. The results obtained are in accordance with
Chauhan et al. [6] in which the BTE of diesel engine was reported as
28.5% and 27.4% when operated with HSD and PJO, respectively.

Though the presence of inbuilt oxygen improved the combustion of Jatropha oil, the BTE in general decreased as compared to
HSD. This might be due to combine effect of lower caloric value
of fuel and higher fuel consumption. The maximum BTE obtained
for different fuels as well as HSD was around 29%. At full load
BTE for the CJO and PJO was found to be only 2.44% and 5.18% lower than that of HSD. This might be due to combined effect of higher
BSFC and early combustion.
4.2.3. Exhaust gas temperature (EGT)
The temperature of the exhaust gases coming out of the engine
gives an indication of combustion characteristics of the fuel used.
The EGT increased with increase in engine load for all the fuels
tested (Fig. 5). The maximum EGT was obtained at full load condition for all the fuels tested and was 375, 420 and 418 C for HSD,
CJO and PJO, respectively as compared to 137, 134 and 139 C at
no load condition. The increase in EGT with engine load was
mainly due to increase in the amount of energy released at higher
loads because of the burning of increased amount of fuel which
was injected to meet the extra power requirement to take up the
additional loading; hence more heat rejection to the exhaust gases.
Beyond 50% engine load, higher EGT with PJO and CJO compared to
HSD was due to lower BTE of the engine. The above results are in
agreement with Pramanik [3] in which he has reported higher exhaust temperature for Jatropha oil.
The difference in performance parameters among HSD, CJO and
PJO are signicant at 5% level of signicance indicating the inuence of different fuels on BSFC, BTE and EGT.
4.3. Combustion characteristics
The combustion characteristics of the CJO and PJO were compared with that of HSD in terms of CGP (cylinder gas pressure),

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P. Pradhan et al. / Fuel 115 (2014) 527533

ROPR (rate of pressure rise), HRR (heat release rate) and ID (ignition delay). The variations of CGP, ROPR, HRR and ID with respect
to engine loading for the above mentioned fuels are discussed in
the following sections:

4
3

4.3.2. Rate of pressure rise (ROPR)

ROPR indicates the smoothness of combustion in the engine
combustion chamber. The variations of ROPR with respect to crank
angle for HSD, CJO and PJO at no load and full engine load are given

60

HSD
CJO

40

PJO

30

CGP, Bar

50

20
10

CA, degree

0
-30

-20

-10

0
10
(a) No load

20

80

30

HSD

70

PJO

CGP, Bar

50
40
30
20
10

CA, degree

0
-20

-10

1
CA, degree

0
-30

-20

-10

-1

10

20

30

-2
(a) No load
14

HSD
CJO
PJO

12
10
8
6
4
2

CA, degree

0
-30

-20

-10

-2

10

20

30

-4
(b) Full load
Fig. 7. Variations of ROPR with respect to crank angle for HSD, CJO and PJO.

in Fig. 7a and b respectively. It can be observed from these gures

that for all engine loadings and fuels tested, during the compression stroke, ROPR increased initially due to the expansion force
of the cylinder content as a result of increased temperature. Few
degrees after fuel injection (24 before TDC), evaporation of the injected fuel reduced the cylinder temperature. As a result of this,
pressure increased but at a slower rate. After combustion, pressure
rose rapidly and ROPR reached a peak value, then ROPR reduced.
Finally CGP started reducing during expansion stroke as indicated
by the negative values of ROPR. The peak ROPR for HSD, CJO and
PJO occurred at 6 C A, 5 C A, and 7 C A before TDC respectively
at no engine load as compared to 8 C A, 9 C A and 10 C A before
TDC, at full engine load. This early occurrence of peak HRR at higher engine load was due to the decrease in ignition delay with increase in engine load. The ID of fuel decreased with increase in
engine load resulting in early occurrence of peak HRR which led
to early occurrence of peak ROPR.
The peak ROPR obtained at no load conditions was 4.68, 2.30
and 4.84 bar/C A respectively for HSD, CJO and PJO whereas, it
was 13.09, 8.08 and 12.68 bar/C A at 100% engine loading. It was
also observed that the peak ROPR occurred earlier for PJO than
HSD due to early start of combustion for PJO.

CJO

60

-30

ROPR, Bar/ CA

4.3.1. Cylinder gas pressure (CGP)

The CGP characterizes the ability of the fuel to mix well with air
and burn. After starting of combustion, pressure rose rapidly due to
the expansion of the cylinder contents and reached to a peak few
degrees before TDC (top dead center). Then it decreased gradually
during the expansion stroke. The variations of CGP with crank angle rotation for HSD, PJO and CJO at no load and full engine load are
given in Fig. 6a and b, respectively. It can also be seen from these
gures that the peak CGP occurred earlier for PJO at lower engine
loads. At no load condition, the peak CGP occurred at 1, 2 and
0 C A after TDC, respectively for HSD, CJO and PJO as compared
to 1, 1 and 1 C A after TDC, at full engine load. The peak CGP
obtained at no load condition was 52.84, 47.86 and 53.25 bar,
respectively for HSD, CJO and PJO whereas, it was 73.65, 66.75
and 73.57 bar at full engine load. Since, the quantity of fuel burned
increased with increase in engine load, it caused an increase in the
heat energy released which resulted in an increase in peak CGP.
The pressure rise due to combustion started a little earlier for
PJO than HSD. This was mainly attributed to the earlier initiation
of combustion for PJO. The variations of CGP among HSD, CJO
and PJO were found to be insignicant in the later phase of combustion. However, the peak CGP reduced for CJO compared to
HSD and PJO at all loads. This might be due to poor atomization
of fuel inside the engine cylinder.

HSD
CJO
PJO

ROPR, Bar/ CA

10

20

30

(b) Full load

Fig. 6. Variations of CGP with respect to crank angle for HSD, CJO and PJO.

4.3.3. Heat release rate (HRR)

The HRR curve shows the potential availability of heat energy
which can be converted into useful work. The variations of HRR
with respect to crank angle for HSD, CJO and PJO at no load and full
engine load are presented in Fig. 8a and b respectively. It can be
seen from Fig. 8a and b that HRR during the initial stages of combustion increased with engine load for all the fuels tested owing to
the increase in the quantity of fuel injected in the combustion
chamber. It was found that the peak HRR occurred earlier at higher
engine loads for all fuels tested. The peak HRR at no load occurred
at 6 C A, 5 C A and 7 C A before TDC, respectively for HSD, CJO
and PJO whereas, at full engine load it occurred at 8 C A, 9 C A

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P. Pradhan et al. / Fuel 115 (2014) 527533

Table 5
Comparison of emission constituents for different fuels at different loads.

50
HSD
CJO

HRR , J/ CA

40

PJO
30
20

Load (%)

25

50

75

100

CO (%)

HSD
CJO
PJO

0.106
0.221
0.113

0.081
0.132
0.097

0.044
0.116
0.075

0.037
0.182
0.080

0.066
0.226
0.255

CO2 (%)

HSD
CJO
PJO

3.28
2.94
3.17

4.26
4.06
4.17

5.64
5.54
5.04

7.30
7.21
6.72

8.68
8.98
8.52

HC (ppm)

HSD
CJO
PJO

14
31
12

11
17
17

17
11
12

25
19
14

34
65
43

NOx (ppm)

HSD
CJO
PJO

206
43
131

496
222
362

997
887
711

1670
1273
975

1827
1302
1084

10
CA, degree
0
-40

-30

-20

-10

10

20

-10
(a) No load
160

HSD
CJO
PJO

120
100
80
60

HRR , J/ CA

140

40
20

CA, degree

0
-30

-20

-10

-20 0

10

-40
(b) Full load
Fig. 8. Variations of HRR with respect to crank angle for HSD, CJO and PJO.

chemical delay and hence the overall ignition delay period. The
elevated temperature existing in the combustion chamber at higher engine loads enhanced the fuel vaporization process and reduced the chemical delay and hence the overall ignition delay
period. As the engine load decreased, the residual gas temperature
and wall temperature decreased, which resulted in lower charge
temperature at the time of fuel injection and hence lengthening
the ignition delay period.
The early start of combustion for PJO could be due to a complex
and rapid pre-ame chemical reaction taking place at higher temperatures. Therefore, using PJO reduced the ID period as compared
to HSD. But in case of CJO, the ID was higher at initial loads compared to HSD. It might be due to higher viscosity of oil and lower
engine temperature.
4.4. Emissions parameters
Constituents of emissions such as carbon monoxide, carbon
dioxide, unburned hydrocarbon and oxides of nitrogen were recorded with the help of an online exhaust gas analyzer and are presented in Table 5. The detailed discussions are made in the
following sections:

Fig. 9. Variations of ID with respect to crank angle for HSD, CJO and PJO.

and 10 C A before TDC. As the engine load increased, the ignition

delay decreased, resulting in early start of combustion. Hence,
the HRR rose to the peak more quickly. The peak HRR for PJO occurred earlier than that of HSD. Due to longer ignition delay, most
of the injected fuel burned in the later phase of combustion for
HSD and CJO at initial loading.
4.3.4. Ignition delay (ID)
The variations of ID for different fuels are compared at different
engine loadings in Fig. 9. From this gure it can be seen that the
delay period for all the fuels tested decreased with increase in engine load. The ignition delays for HSD, CJO and PJO were calculated
to be 15 C A, 17 C A and 14 C A, respectively at no load condition,
whereas, the delays were 13 C A, 12 C A and 11 C A at 100% engine loading. This was due to elevated temperature at higher load,
which improved the fuel vaporization process and reduced the

4.4.1. Emissions of carbon monoxide (CO)

Carbon monoxide is generated in an engine as a product of
incomplete combustion of the fuel. The values of CO emission decreased from 0.106% at no load conditions down to 0.037% at 75%
load for HSD. The CO emission in general was found to be increased
for CJO and PJO compared to HSD at any engine load tested. These
results are in line with the results obtained by Chauhan et al. [6].
Further PJO showed better combustion results compared to CJO except at 100% load. Among the different fuels tested, CJO gave the
maximum CO emission and it decreased with heating. This was
due to the better atomization of fuel, which led to relatively better
combustion of the fuel resulting in lower CO emission.
4.4.2. Emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2)
The maximum CO2 was obtained at full engine load and was
8.68%, 8.98% and 8.52% respectively for HSD, CJO and PJO whereas,
it was 3.28%, 2.94% and 3.17% at no load. At elevated temperature,
performance of the engine improved with relatively better burning
of the fuel resulting in higher CO2 emission. At full load, CO2 emission for CJO was 3.45% higher than that of HSD and for PJO it was
1.84% lower than that of HSD. The above results are in accordance
with results obtained by Agarwal and Agarwal [5].
4.4.3. Emissions of hydrocarbons (HC)
Hydrocarbon emissions from CI engine are the direct results of
the non-homogeneity of fuelair mixture in the combustion cham-

P. Pradhan et al. / Fuel 115 (2014) 527533

ber. The value of HC emissions for HSD increased from 14 ppm at

no load to 34 ppm at 100% engine load. The increase in HC is due
to decrease in airfuel ratio. HC emissions were found to be lower
for CJO and PJO as compared to HSD at 50 and 75% of engine load.
Further, the HC emission for PJO was lower than that of CJO both at
lower and higher loading conditions. The reduction in HC emissions for PJO might be due to better atomization of fuel molecule,
which led to a more complete and cleaner combustion.
4.4.4. Emissions of nitrogen (NOx)
Availability of oxygen, higher temperature and combustion
duration are the three main factors which facilitate the production
of NOx. The maximum NOx was obtained at full load conditions for
all the fuels tested and was 1827, 1302 and 1084 ppm, respectively
for HSD, CJO and PJO as compared to 206, 43 and 131 ppm at no
load condition. The NOx emission in general was found to be lower
for CJO and PJO than that for HSD. This might be due to the supply
of lean mixture in case of HSD. Among all the fuels tested, PJO produced minimum NOx at 50%, 75% and 100% load. The low airfuel
ratio and instantaneous chemical reaction in case of PJO prompted
lower NOx formation.
5. Conclusion
Based on the experimental results of this study, it can be concluded that
1. Both utilization of heat from the exhaust gas and improvement
of fuel properties were possible by heating the CJO with exhaust
gas using a suitable designed helical tube heat exchanger.
2. The BSFC decreased while BTE increased with increase in engine
load for all fuels tested. The maximum BTE obtained for HSD,
CJO and PJO was around 29%. At full load, BTE for the CJO and
PJO was found to be only 2.44% and 5.18% lower than that of
HSD.
3. PJO exhibited a marginally higher CGP, ROPR and HRR as compared to HSD and CJO during the initial stages of combustion for
all engine loadings. The peak CGP, peak ROPR and peak HRR for
PJO occurred earlier than those with HSD.
4. The ignition delay period for all the fuels tested decreased with
increase in engine load. Using PJO reduces the ID period as compared to HSD, but in case of CJO, the ID was higher at initial
loads compared to HSD.

533

5. The exhaust emissions such as CO2, HC and NOx from the engine
when operated with PJO were reduced on an average by 5.28%,
2.67% and 37.2%, respectively as compared to the emissions
when operated with HSD, whereas CO emissions were
increased on an average by 85.63%.
On the whole it can be concluded that the designed heat exchanger could successfully preheated the crude Jatropha oil using
heat from exhaust gas. The fuel properties were improved by preheating and it can be used in the diesel engines without any modication as a substitute for diesel.
Acknowledgement
The authors acknowledge the nancial support made by
Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India, New Delhi
for carrying out this research work.
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