Investigation of the Combustion, Emissions, and Engine Performance Characteristics of Cottonseed Biodiesel for use in Power Generation

<p>This study investigates the combustion characteristics of cotton seed FAME (C100 and C20), in a direct injection diesel engine. The research compares the combustion and emissions characteristics of cotton seed FAME to ultra-low sulfur diesel #2 (ULSD#2) to investigate possible use in a startup boiler to produce steam for large boiler operation, and for use in diesel engine generators. Fuel properties including viscosity, oxidation stability, lower heating value, thermo-gravimetric and differential thermal analysis, and spray characteristics were analyzed. Fuel property measurements were comparable to ULSD#2 in every aspect except oxidation stability which showed the C100 being stable for a shorter period of time. Mechanical efficiency of ULSD was 83% and presented a 5% decrease for C100; while the overall efficiency was 36% for ULSD and 33% for C100 at 8 bar IMEP. The NOX for C100 was improved and presented an 11% decrease compared with ULSD. Unburned hydrocarbons value (UHC) for ULSD was 2.8 g/kWh at 8 bar IMEP, and were improved by 18% for C100. The carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions for C100 was improved with a 17% reduction compared with ULSD at 3 bar but were relatively constant at 8 bar IMEP, presenting a value of 0.82 g/kWh for both fuels. The soot value for ULSD was 1.5 g/kWh and presented an improved 42% decrease for C100 at 8 bar IMEP. The results suggest a very good performance of cotton seed biodiesel, even at very high content of 100%, especially on the emissions side that showed decreasing values for regulated and non-regulated species.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science in Applied Engineering (M.S.A.E.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation/Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Year dc:date.available

2013

Author dc:creator

• Weaver, Jabeous

Contributors dc:contributor

• Aniruddha Mitra
• Anoop Desai

• ETD
• Direct Injection Diesel Engine
• Cottonseed FAME
• Small Startup Boiler
• Power Generation
• Engineering
• Heat Transfer, Combustion
• Mechanical Engineering

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/848

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu:etd-1852