Exhaust Emission Characteristics of a Three-Wheeler Auto Diesel Engine Fueled with Pongamia, Mahua and Jatropha Biodiesels
: This paper presents the production of biodiesel from three different non edible oils of Pongamia, Mahua and Jatropha as an alternative fuel for diesel engine. Biodiesel is produced by followed transesterification process, using catalyst sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and methyl alcohol (CH3OH). A single cylinder four stroke three-wheeler auto diesel engine is used to evaluate the exhaust emission characteristics at a constant speed of 1500rpm with varying loads. Diesel as a reference fuel and cent percent of Pongamia Methyl Ester (PME), Mahua Methyl Ester (MME) and Jatropha Methyl Ester (JME) are used as an alternative fuel. The physicochemical properties of biodiesels are within the limits of international standards (ASTM D6751) noticeably. The results of tested biodiesels offer low exhaust emissions compared to diesel fuel, owing to presence of molecular oxygen and high cetane number. At maximum load the NOx emission reduced by 18.41% for JME, 17.46% for MME and 7.61% for PME. Low levels of CO emissions are recorded for JME (66%) followed by MME (33%) and PME (22%). Unburnt hydrocarbon emissions were reduced by 85.75% for JME and MME, for PME 14.28% reduction is observed. Exhaust smoke emissions are also reduced for PME and MME by 18.84%, for JME 14.49%. As a conclusion, it is observed that all the methyl esters exhibit significant reduction in harmful exhaust emissions compared to diesel fuel and JME is noted as a better choice.