International Research Journal of Power and Energy Engineering

Vol. 2(1), pp. 012-018, August, 2016. www.premierpublishers.org, ISSN: 2141-5032x

IRJPEE

Review

Experimental investigation of four stroke single

cylinder rope brake dynamometer assisted CI engine
fueled with biodiesel from waste cooking oil
Himansh Kumar*
Chemical Conversion Division, Sardar Swaran Singh National Institute of Renewable Energy, Kapurthala, Punjab144601
Tel.: +91- 9456016503, Email: himansh.rmu@gmail.com
The present work is focused on the effects of waste cooking oil based methyl ester and its
blends with petrodiesel on a single cylinder, 4 stroke, naturally aspirated, direct injection, water
cooled, rope brake dynamometer assisted CI engine at varying loads. The physical and
chemical properties of WCO based methyl ester were determined using standard ASTM
methods. The suitability of WCO based methyl ester and its blends were evaluated through
determining the performance and emission characteristics of CI engine. These results were
compared to petrodiesel for validation. By analyzing these results, it was observed that the
performance and emission characteristics were shown both satisfactory and unsatisfactory
results. This was due to lower calorific value and high viscosity of waste cooking oil methyl
ester resulted delay in combustion. From the critical analysis, it was observed that B20 of WCO
based methyl ester reserved 32.2% brake thermal efficiency slightly greater than petrodiesel i.e.
32% without any engine modifications. It is concluded that B20 of WCO based methyl ester is
suitable with no modification in engine.
Keywords: Transesterification, CI engine, performance analysis, waste cooking oil, rope brake dynamometer

INTRODUCTION
From the last decades it has become clear that the
petroleum products will no longer supply than demand.
So that different techniques for alternative fuels were
being developed which can take petroleum fuels place
(Patil et al 2012). Alternative fuel can be defined as any
liquid substance, other than petroleum, which is used to
provide energy to power in compression ignition engine
and other energy generating equipments (Subramaniam
et al., 2013). So the word biodiesel refers to any
petrodiesel equivalent processed fuel, derived from
biological sources. Therefore, it is a processed fuel,
which is ready to use in common CI engines. Biodiesel
has successful promise to be used as alternative fuels for
CI engines because it derives from renewable sources
and could emit substantially less harmful gases. But due

to its high viscosity and low calorific value it is not

recommended without blending as a fuel for engine
operation (Alamu et al., 2007, Salmani et al., 2015).
Every gallon of biodiesel displaces 0.90 gallons of
petroleum-based diesel over its life cycle. For every
single unit of fossil produced 3.37 units of biodiesel
(Subramaniam et al., 2013, Misra et al., 2010). It creates
less CO and HC than petrodiesel also the crops which
are used to produce biodiesel absorb large amounts of
CO2 while growing. As biodiesel is nontoxic and
recyclable, it is an excellent fuel for use in easily broken
environments such as estuaries, lakes, rivers, and
national parks (Prakash et al., 2013, Buyukkaya et al.
2010).

Experimental investigation of four stroke single cylinder rope brake dynamometer assisted CI engine fueled with biodiesel from waste cooking oil

Kumar H.

012

Table 1. Physicochemical properties of different types of vegetable oil

S No.

Fuel Properties

Palm
oil

Petrodiesel

B10
WCO

B20
WCO

B50
WCO

B100W
CO

Density at 40C
3
(g/cm )

.9101

.8702

.8722

.8822

.8922

.9066

Viscosity
40C / cSt

43

2.7

2.9

3.2

3.9

Flash point C

250

67

70

74

80

112

Cetane number

42

47

48

48

49

55.5

Calorific Value
(MJ/kg)

34

44

43.5

42.2

40

at

In this experimental investigation, waste cooking oil

based biodiesel and its blends were used. It is easily
available from food industries and restaurants and in
some countries also there is a restriction to dump waste
cooking oil directly in land or in a river (Phan et al., 2008,
Misra et al. 2010). A single cylinder, 4 stroke, naturally
aspirated, direct injection, water cooled, rope brake
dynamometer assisted compression ignition engine was
used for testing of waste cooking oil and their blends.
These results were compared to petrodiesel for
comparison.

38.5

temperature range (60C). After reaction the FAME and

glycerol were collected in separate beaker. Scheme 1
shows an appropriate reaction in this regard (Kaplan et
al., 2006; Ulusoy et al., 2004, Prakash et al. 2013).

Experimental
Scheme 1. Transesterification of WCO

Materials
WCO, methanol (<99.9%, Merck), H2SO4 (98%, Merck)
and NaOH (99%, Merck) were used for chemical
reaction. WCO based s methyl ester was prepared
through transesterification process which turns WCO into
FAME and separated the glycerol with the presence of a
methanol, NaOH at 60C with one hour reaction
temperature. The glycerol was sinked to the bottom and
the biodiesel floats on the top can siphon off to the
reactor.
Preparation of WCO based methyl ester
Transesterification process is used for conversion of
triglycerides into esters(C etinkaya et. al., 2005, Dinesha
et al. 2012). Pretreated WCO from H2SO4, 200 ml (v/v) of
aqueous methanol (99+% pure) and 1% NaOH were
blended and stirred for one hour with a controlled

Physicochemical properties of petrodiesel and waste

cooking oil blends
Table 1 was shown the important physical and chemical
properties of biodiesel and its blends, petrodiesel and
palm oil was taken as a reference fuel. However, it was
indicated that WCO
is a potential substitute of
2
petrodiesel, but the viscosity ranging from 32 mm /sec
2
(waste cooking oil) to a maximum of 43 mm /sec (palm
oil) was considerably higher than petrodiesel, which
indicates that there is a need to bring the viscosity of oil
near to the petrodiesel either by physical or chemical
modification to convert it a perfect
substitute of
petrodiesel (Sukumar et. al., 2005; Shashikanth et. al.,
2005). Also the pour point of waste cooking oil was
higher to petrodiesel results difficult at low temperature
due to its solidification as compared to petrodiesel. So

Experimental investigation of four stroke single cylinder rope brake dynamometer assisted CI engine fueled with biodiesel from waste cooking oil

Int. Res. J. Power Energy Engin.

013

Table 2. Compression Ignition Engine test bed Specifications

Parameter

Specification

Make type

Kirloskar Engine

Bore

87.5 mm

Stroke

110 mm

Rated Output

5.2 KW at 1500 RPM

Rated Speed

1500 RPM

Loading Device

Rope Brake Dynamometer

Compression Ratio

17.5:1

Fuel tank capacity

Litre with measuring tube (045) ml

Air box

MS fabricated with orifice meter and manometer

Table 3. Technical Specifications of the gas analyzer used in this work

Measured quality

Measuring range

Resolution

Accuracy

CO:

0-10 % vol

0.01 % vol

<0.6 % vol: 0.03 % vol

0.6 % vol: 5% of ind. Val.

CO2:

0-20 % vol

0.1 % vol

<10 % vol: 0.5 % vol

10 % vol: 5% vol

HC:

0-20000 ppm vol

2000:1 ppm vol

>2000:10 ppm vol

<200 ppm vol: 10 ppm vol

200 ppm vol: 5% of ind.Val.

O2:

0-22 % vol

0.01 % vol

<2 % vol: 0.1 % vol

2 % vol: 5% of vol

NO:

0-5000 ppm vol

1 ppm vol

<500 ppm vol: 50 ppm vol

500 ppm vol: 10% of ind. Val.

Miscellaneous
Power
consumption:
Connector CAL.
Gas:
Connector
Gas
In:
Dimension
(WxDxH):

25 W
60-140 l/h, max. overpressure 450 hPa
180 l/h, max. overpressure 450 hPa
3

270320 x 85 mm

the chemical modification was required to overcome this

type of difficulties (Kiakalaieh et al., 2013).
Experimental set-up (CI engine test rig)
A four stroke, single cylinder, direct injection, naturally
aspirated diesel engine was employed to carry out such
investigation. Table 2 was shown the detailed
specifications of the CI engine test rig. In this test setup

all the data were recorded manually and used the

appropriate relations to calculate performance of CI
enfine. The detailed description is give in section 2.5 for
analysis.
The AVL diGas 444 analyzer exhaust gas analyzer was
used to determine the concentration of CO, HC and NO x.
The technical specifications of the gas analyzer are given
in Table 3. The procedure of gas analyzer is approved by
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of

Experimental investigation of four stroke single cylinder rope brake dynamometer assisted CI engine fueled with biodiesel from waste cooking oil

Kumar H.

014

Figure 1. Compression Ignition Engine test rig. assisted with a rope brake type dynamometer

India, and specified in MoRTH/ CMVR/TAP-115/116,

Issue No. 3, Part-VIII. The AVL diGas 444 analyzer sucks
the exhaust gases and after that the analyzer shows the
different component of the exhaust recorded manually.

If the balance reading exceeds 20kg then the additional

dead weight of 10kg was placed on the hanger. The
balance reading was added with 10kg to find the total
weight.

Experimental procedure for testing

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The following procedure was followed to calculate the
brake specific fuel consumption, brake thermal efficiency
of the CI engine fuelled with WCO based biodiesel and its
blends are given in equation 2 and 3. The experimental
setup for determining the performance and emission
parameters are shown in figure 1. The protocol for
calculating the engine performance and emission
characteristics is listed below.

The rope brake dynamometer was coupled with

the crankshaft of CI engine properly on a suitable bed.

The Rope was fixed with the hanger (with a dead

weight) to the hook. (Once this hanger is fixed, it need
not to be removed, it can stay there permanently.)

A hand wheel is used to adjust the balance, so

that the pointer reads zero on the balance.

After that CI engine was started and bring up to

steady state.

Open the gates slowly by rotating the hand wheel

OPEN direction. There was a lock on the top gear
wheel.

Take reading in the balance.

Measure the speed of the rotation by

speedometer. At last used these values in equation 1,2
and 3 for brake thermal efficiency and brake specific fuel
consumption measurement.

Where S1= spring balance reading (kg), S2= spring

balance reading (kg)
Reff = effective radius of brake drum = (D+d)/2
D= brake drum diameter(mm),
d= rope
diameter(mm)
N= RPM

The tests were conducted at the rated speed of 1500

RPM and varying loads. The experimental data were
documented and presented using appropriate graphs.
These tests were aimed to optimized the concentration of
biodiesel in the petrodiesel blend for long-term engine
operation. In each experiment, engine parameters related
to the performance of CI engine such as BSFC and BTE
on different loads were measured for B10, B20 and B50.
These results were compared to petrodiesel for
comparison. A Notification Bxx represents the percentage
of ester (xx %) used in the mixture and D- Base is used
for petrodiesel (Kumar et al., 2015)
Brake specific fuel consumption
The variation of brake specific fuel consumption with
shaft load for different fuel blends were measured in the
present analysis and shown in the figure 2(a). For
different fuel blends, brake specific fuel consumption was
found to decrease with increase of shaft load. This is due
to increase in brake power with respect to the load. For
B10 and B20, the BSFC was comparable with
petrodiesel for all engine loads. At maximum load
condition, the specific fuel consumption of B50 was 6%
higher than petrodiesel. It was low due to the high
heating value of biodiesel and it was recorded that the
HHV was 14% lower than petrodiesel. With the increase
of biodiesel percentage in blends, the calorific value of
fuel was decreased. Hence the BSFC for higher
percentage of biodiesel blends were increased as
compared to petrodiesel.

Experimental investigation of four stroke single cylinder rope brake dynamometer assisted CI engine fueled with biodiesel from waste cooking oil

Int. Res. J. Power Energy Engin.

015

7
6

BSFC
Kg/KW
h

5
B10

B20

B50

D- Base

1
0
20

40

60

80

100

% Load
Figure 2 (a) Variation in brake specific fuel consumption for different blends with respect to load

45
40
35

% bte

30

B10

25

B20

20

B50

15

D- Base

10
5
0
20

40

60

80

100

% Load
Figure 2 (b). Variation in brake thermal efficiency for different blends with respect to load

Brake thermal efficiency:

EMISSION ANALYSIS

The variation of bte with respect to engine load for

different fuel blends were measured in the present
analysis and shown in the figure 2(b). For every test fuel
the bte was increased for increased engine load. This
was due to better combustion of fuel as per load
increased. The maximum bte was obtained 32.5% for
B10 and 32.2% for B20, quite higher to petrodiesel
(32%). The maximum bte for B50 was 25.7%. It was
concluded that bte was increased up to B20 and after that
it decreased. This was due to the oxygenated quality of
biodiesel. Also the lower bte was obtained for B50 was
due to a reduction in HHV results increases the fuel
consumption as compared to B10.

USA was the first country to start the control of air

pollution to vehicle in 1964. After that, all countries had
started a large number of regulations in forms of
standards to protect the environment. Euro 6 is the latest
emission standard implemented in most of countries
across the world. Keeping this figure in mind, an emission
analysis was carried out (Pugazhvadivu et al., 2005;
Muralidharan et al., 2011) and AVL diGas 444 analyzer
was used to determine the amount of pollutants in the
exhaust gases through CI engine.
During this
investigation, the major pollutants such as carbon mono
oxide (CO), unburnt hydrocarbon (UHC) and oxides of
nitrogen (NOx) were studied. This study was found the

Experimental investigation of four stroke single cylinder rope brake dynamometer assisted CI engine fueled with biodiesel from waste cooking oil

Kumar H.

016

45
40
35

% bte

30

B10

25

B20

20

B50

15

D- Base

10
5
0
20

40

60

80

100

% Load
Figure 2(b) Variation in brake thermal efficiency for different blends with respect to load

12

(a)

10
8

UHC
(ppm)

B10
6

B20

B50

D- Base

0
20

40

60

80

100

% Load
Figure 3 (a) Variation in Unburnt hydrocarbons for different blends with respect to load

most suitable blend for less pollution to CI engine with

respect to petrodiesel (Singh et al., 2015).
Unburnt hydrocarbon emission (UHC)
The deviation in UHC with respect to engine load for
different fuel blends were considered in the present
analysis and shown in the figure 3(a). UHC is produced
due to incomplete combustion during combustion also it
is the unburnt part of fuel exhausted into atmosphere
during exhaust stroke in CI engine. Unburnt hydrocarbon
was also less in case of biodiesel and its blends due to
oxygenated fuel and for B50 emission was higher due to
less calorific value.

Carbon Monoxide emission (CO)

The variation in CO with respect to load for different fuel
blends are considered in the present analysis and shown
in the figure 3(b). Carbon mono oxide was a transitional
combustion product and is generally formed due to the
lack of oxygen and incomplete combustion of fuel. If
combustion completed, CO will convert into CO 2. If the
combustion is incomplete due to shortage of air or due to
lower gas temperature, CO will formed. Usually high CO
emissions formed by rich mixtures of fuel with air, but as
petrodiesel combustion occurs with lean mixture then CO
emission from petrodiesel combustion were low. For all
blending categories CO is increased only with B50

Experimental investigation of four stroke single cylinder rope brake dynamometer assisted CI engine fueled with biodiesel from waste cooking oil

Int. Res. J. Power Energy Engin.

because of low calorific value of the fuel and due to this

the combustion should be incomplete. Because biodiesel
is a high oxygenated fuel, then for low blending like B10
and B20, the combustion should be complete and CO will
convert into CO2.
Oxides of nitrogen emission (NOx)
The variation of NOX with respect to load for different fuel
blends was considered in the present analysis and
shown in the figure 3(c). NOX is formed by chain
reactions involving nitrogen and oxygen in the air. These
reactions are highly temperature dependent. NO x
emissions were mainly as a function of gas temperature.
NOX was always become high in case of biodiesel
because biodiesel is an oxygenated fuel and due to this
the combustion temperature was always become high.
NOX was low in case of B50 because the combustion was
not complete and due to this temperature does not get in
high scale.

CONCLUSION
From the results it is clear that waste cooking oil based
methyl ester has a potential for biodiesel production and
application. Also the kinematic viscosity and density of
waste cooking oil based methyl ester blends were found
very close to petrodiesel. The lower concentrations of
biodiesel blends were found to improve the brake thermal
efficiency and emission of CI engine. B10 blends were
shown improvement in brake thermal efficiency of CI
engine to petrodiesel about 1.8% on full load condition.
Also brake specific fuel consumption was found
comparable for B20 with respect to petrodiesel. CO and
HC were also reduced due to complete combustion and
NOx was increased due to high combustion temperature.
The present experimental results were supported that
B20 methyl esters of waste cooking oil were successfully
used in existing CI engines without any modification. So
the biodiesel as a partial petrodiesel substitute can boost
the farm machinery need, reduce uncertainty of fuel
availability and more self-reliant. Also, this will helpful in
controlling of air pollution to a great extent.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author Himansh Kumar acknowledges Teerthanker
Mahaveer University, UP for giving waste cooking oil and
financial support and Apex Institute of technology, UP for
providing testing facility.

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Experimental investigation of four stroke single cylinder rope brake dynamometer assisted CI engine fueled with biodiesel from waste cooking oil

Kumar H.

018

Technological Research In Engineering, Vol.2, Issue 7.

Singh N, Kumar H, Jha MK, Sarma AK (2015) Complete
heat balance, performance, and emission evaluation of
a CI engine fueled with Mesua ferrea methyl and ethyl
esters blends with petroldiesel. J Therm Anal Calorim
2015. doi:10.1007/s10973-015-4777-8
Accepted 19 June, 2016
Citation: Kumar H (2016). Experimental investigation of
four stroke single cylinder rope brake dynamometer
assisted CI engine fueled with biodiesel from waste

cooking oil. International Research Journal of Power and

Energy Engineering, 2(1): 012-018.

Copyright: 2016. Kumar H. This is an open-access

article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted
use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original author and source are cited.

Experimental investigation of four stroke single cylinder rope brake dynamometer assisted CI engine fueled with biodiesel from waste cooking oil