The biodiesel is the most promising fuel for IC engines as they have the higher calorific value and lower emission quantities. The use of biodiesel in the existing and new engines will increase the performance and reliability of the engine. Once the biodiesel is synthesised and produced in a bulk, it will minimize the cost of biodiesel and it will be lesser than the cost of regular diesel. The use of biofuel with diesel will be prominent as they can produce good performance when combined. In this research work, biodiesel from cotton seed is extracted and transestrified into usable and combustible fuel (COME). To test and improve performance of the COME it has been combined with the diesel in different proportions and prepared as biodiesel (COME-Diesel blends). The blends are tested and compared for various properties to identify the combustion characteristics. The blends are used and tested on the VCR engine to determine the performance and emission characteristics. To develop an empirical model for the emission characteristics, response surface methodology (RSM) design matrix is developed such that the blend, compression ratio, load and speed are the variables and NO and HC are the response functions. The RSM design matrix is experimented and to determine the empirical models, results are verified through the experimental results.
Biodiesel production from waste cotton seed oil using low cost catalyst: Engine performance and emission characteristics