Investigation of the effects of biodiesel and penthanol (Amyl alcohol) utilization on an engine performance, combustion and exhaust emissions

In today's automotive technology, especially in diesel vehicle engines, many alternative fuels have been examined that can be useful both in terms of performance and emissions. In this study, the performance and emission effects on a direct injection engine were investigated by using an alternative fuel, which is generated by mixed of safflower biodiesel and penthanol at certain ratios. The diesel engine that has 4 cylinders, was used to power an electric generator. Achieved combustion test results in diesel, biodiesel and penthanol mixed fuels at specific ratios were compared with obtained test results in pure diesel. According to the test results obtained from the tests performed, it is seen that there is no significant value difference when compared to diesel fuel with mixed fuels in terms of engine performance, specific fuel consumption and cylinder pressures. When the burnout graphs are taken into account, an increase on curves of the cylinder pressure, the heat release rate, the cumulative heat release, the average gas temperature and the mass combustion were observed for all types of fuels.There was also a decrease in NOx emissions, although there was no significant difference in terms of exhaust emissions. According to these combustion tests and obtained test results, it can be seen that the mixtures of safflower biodiesel and penthanol can be used as alternative fuel by mixing them to diesel fuel. In addition, there is no need to make any changes to the diesel engine and the spray system in order to use this fuel.