Effect of Fuel Properties of Cottonseed Oil Biodiesel on the Performance of Diesel Engine

This paper presents a study on the effect of fuel properties of cottonseed oil biodiesel on the performance of a diesel engine. The fuel properties of a biodiesel determine its effect on the performance of a diesel engine and perhaps, the degree at which it could be considered as a good alternative to the conventional diesel (petro-diesel). In this study, three biodiesel samples were produced from cottonseed oil via transesterification process using three different catalysts (NaOH, CaO, and Nano-CaO), i. e. using single catalyst per sample. The biodiesel samples (denoted by B-NaOH, B-CaO and B-Nano-CaO) were characterized and found to have some differences in their fuel properties. The biodiesel samples (100%) and petro-diesel (for comparison) were tested on a single cylinder Viking Super 165F diesel engine to determine the effects of their properties on performance of the engine. The test results showed that the biodiesel samples gave higher brake thermal efficiencies and higher brake specific fuel consumption compared to petro-diesel at virtually all loads. The results also indicate that B-NaOH biodiesel sample has the highest brake thermal efficiency and lowest brake specific fuel consumption among the biodiesel samples tested. Keywords—Biodiesel, Catalysts, Cottonseed oil, Diesel Engine, Fuel properties, Transesterification.