Experimental Investigation on Performance and Emission Characteristics of Low Heat Rejection Diesel Engine with Ethanol as Fuel

Problem statement: Depleting petroleum reserves on the earth and increasing concerns about the environment leads to the question for fuels which are eco-friendly safer for human beings. The objective of present work was to investigate the effect of coating on piston, cylinder head and valves of a Diesel engine on the performance and emission characteristics of exhaust gases using wet ethanol (5% water) as a fuel. Approach: In this study the effect of Zirconia coating on the performance and emission characteristics of diesel engine was investigated using ethanol as sole fuel. For this purpose the cylinder head, valve and piston of the test engine were coated with a partially stabilized Zirconia of 0.5 mm thick by the plasma spray coating method. For comparing the performance of the engine with coated components with the base engine, readings were taken before and after coating. To make the diesel engine to work with ethanol a modification was done. Results: The engine’s performance was studied for both wet ethanol and diesel with and without Zirconia coating. Also the emissions values are recorded to study the engine’s behavior on emissions. Satisfactory performance was obtained with Zirconia coating compared with a standard diesel engine. The brake thermal efficiency was increased up to 1.64% for ethanol with coating and there was a significant reduction in the specific fuel consumption. The NOx, CO and HC emissions in the engine exhaust decreases with coating. Conclusion: Using ethanol as sole fuel for a LHR diesel engine causes an improvement in the performance characteristics and significant reduction in exhaust emissions.