Direct injection diesel engines are more popular in the automotive sector than spark ignition (SI) engines due to its fuel lean operation However, the demand of fossil fuel is rising day by day and hence the major fuel source of diesel engine, the petroleum based fuel, is depleting rapidly Many countries depend mainly on imported fossil fuels due to lack of fuel reserves and it has great impact on the economy In addition to this, the major concerns of diesel engine are its oxides of nitrogen and smoke emissions Therefore, for the past several decades extensive efforts are being made to search for alternate fuels to overcome the dependence on fossil fuel and environment pollution In this regard, several alternate fuels namely hydrogen, oxygenated fuels like alcohol fuels, dimethyl ether and biodiesel fuels etc, have been extensively analysed Recent studies show that biodiesel is one of the most promising alternate fuels for diesel engines because of its biodegradable, oxygenated, sulphur free and renewable characteristics Hence, it is getting the attention of researchers all over the world The blends of biodiesel with fossil diesel have many benefits like reduction in emissions, lower engine wear, lesser engine oil consumption and comparable thermal efficiency vis-a-vis diesel fuel Exhaustive experimental works have been carried out to analyse the suitability of biodiesel fuel as alternate fuel and to explore their advantages in diesel engines Hence, this paper is attempted to present a comprehensive review on the performance, combustion and emission characteristics of some important biodiesel fuels on diesel engines This comprehensive review on the published literature will be helpful to the researchers to understand the state-of-the-art technology of the biodiesel fuelled compression ignition engine

A comprehensive review on performance, combustion and emission characteristics of biodiesel fuelled diesel engines

Transportation and shipping activities are major contributor to air pollution at sea where most of it occurs as a result of exhaust emissions from ships. Stringent emission limitations enforced by the International Maritime Organization have hastened the need to find a new alternative fuel for marine diesel engines. Thus, biodiesel fuel was chosen as one of the environmentally friendly alternative energy that can reduce ship toxic gas emissions and at the same time reduces dependence on petroleum-based fuels. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of biodiesel as an alternative fuel for marine diesel engine applications. This review covers the biodiesel fuel background, engine performance, history, recent progress, engine warranty, issues, challenges, and possible solutions on using biodiesel for marine applications. A significant number of literatures from indexed journals were cited accordingly. The results of previous studies had shown that the use of biodiesel would mostly increase the amount of brake specific fuel consumption and nitrogen oxide gas while conversely reducing other toxic gas emissions. Although a number of issues and challenges arise, most marine engine manufacturers give conditional warranty against the use of biodiesel in the engines. The study concluded that biodiesel and its blends have a bright future in the marine sector, provided some of the highlighted issues can be solved.

Biodiesel as alternative fuel for marine diesel engine applications: a review.

Effect of biodiesel fuels on diesel engine emissions

Biodiesel, which comprises fatty acid esters, is derived from different sources, such as vegetable oils from palm, sunflower, soybean, canola, Jatropha, and cottonseed sources, animal fats, and waste cooking oil. Biodiesel is considered as an alternative fuel for diesel engines. However, biodiesel has poor cold flow behavior (i.e., high cloud point & pour point) and oxidation stability compared with petroleum diesel because of the presence of saturated and unsaturated fatty acid esters. Consequently, the performance of biodiesel during cold weather is affected. When biodiesel is oxidized, the subsequent dregs can adversely affect the performance of the fuel system as well as clog the fuel filter, fuel lines, and injector. This phenomenon results in start-up and operability problems. Cold flow behavior is usually assessed through the pour point (PP), cloud point (CP), and cold filter plugging point (CFPP). Earlier studies on cold flow focused on reducing the devastating effect of poor cold flow problems, such as lowering the PP, CP, and CFPP of biodiesel. This present paper provides an overview of the cold flow behavior and oxidation stability of biodiesel, as well as their effect on the engine operation system. The improvements on the behavior of cold flow of biodiesel are also discussed.

A comprehensive review on biodiesel cold flow properties and oxidation stability along with their improvement processes

A comprehensive study on prospects of economy, environment, and efficiency of palm oil biodiesel as a renewable fuel

Biodiesel is receiving increasing attention each passing day because of its same diesel-like fuel properties and compatibility with petroleum-based diesel fueled engines. Therefore, in this paper the prospects and opportunities of using various blends of methyl esters of palm oil as fuel in an engine with and without the effect of multi-functional fuel additive (MFA), Multi DM 32 are studied to arrive at an optimum blend of bio-diesel best suited for low emissions and minimal power drop. Experimental tests were conducted on a four stroke, three cylinder and naturally aspirated D.I. Diesel engine with diesel and various blend percentages of 20%, 40%, 45%, and 50% under the 8 mode testing cycle. The effect of fuel additive was tested out on the optimum blend ratio of the bio-diesel so as to achieve further reduced emissions. Comparison of results shows that, 73% reduction in hydrocarbon emission, 46% reduction in carbon monoxide emission, and around 1% reduction in carbon dioxide emission characteristics. So it is observed that the blend ratio of 40% bio-diesel with MFA fuel additive creates reduced emission and minimal power drop due to effective combustion even when the calorific value is comparatively lower due to its higher cetane number.

Investigation of palm methyl-ester bio-diesel with additive on performance and emission characteristics of a diesel engine under 8-mode testing cycle

This paper presents a study on the effect of re-entrant piston bowl configuration on the emissions characteristics and engine performances of a direct injection (DI) diesel engine. In order to meet the emission norms, modern-day diesel engines rely on methods of in-cylinder emission reduction and expensive after treatment device. By using an effective piston bowl shape, one can reduce the in-cylinder emission and the cost increased for the after-treatment device with considerable increase in the engine lifetime. Six piston bowl shapes with various geometric configurations were selected for numerical simulations. Three-dimensional models of the piston bowl shapes and the combustion chamber were created using Pro-E and mesh was generated by using preprocessor ANSYS ICEM CFD. The flow characteristics inside the cylinder with these piston bowls were investigated under steady condition with the RNG k-e turbulent model using ANSYS Fluent. Numerical simulations under isothermal condition were carried out to select an optimum bowl shape. The mass flow boundary condition was used for inlet manifold and the value of this was measured from the experimental test. The CFD results of mean swirl velocity of the engine at different locations inside the combustion chamber were calculated. From the computational results, it was found that the average swirl number is increased from 0.87 (base shape) to 1.74 (modified bowl shape). It is well known that the swirl number is very important to enhance the homogeneity of air/fuel mixture inside the combustion chamber, which in turn improves the combustion efficiency. The experimental results shows that, as compared to the baseline engine 20 % reduced in hydrocarbons (HC) emissions and 24 % reduced in carbon monoxide (CO) for the engine with modified piston bowl shape. However, there is a small amount of reduction in engine performance. It is observed that the brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) reduced significantly for all load conditions.

A Study on Effect of Piston Bowl Shape on Engine Performance and Emission Characteristics of a Diesel Engine

Rice is the major staple food of Asia. Non-judicious and imbalanced application of chemical fertilizers not only depletes the native soil nutrient reserve but also causes severe environmental damages viz. greenhouse gas emission, acidification, eutrophication, etc., posing a serious threat to sustainability of rice production. Integrated application of organic manures and chemical fertilizer could be the best option to overcome the adverse impacts associated with the use of chemical fertilizer alone. Hence, the complimentary role of organics as supplements to chemical fertilizers is important for keeping the soil health in order to harness the potential yield in rice. Therefore, field experiment was conducted at Experimental Farm, Department of Agronomy, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar during the cropping year of 2020-21 to find out the effect of integrated nutrient management involving inorganic manures along with organic manures viz., vermicompost, pressmud compost, poultry manure compost, goat manure compost, coirpith compost, bone sludge compost and sewage sludge compost on the growth and yield of rice. The results of the experiment revealed that among the integrated nutrient management practices, application of vermicompost @ 5 t/ha along with 100% recommended dose of fertilizers (T2) excelled all treatments and gave significantly higher grain yield of 5792 kg/ha when compared to other treatments. Considering the results of the present investigation, it can be concluded that integrated application of vermicompost @ 5 t/ha along with 100% recommended dose of NPK registered highest values in growth parameters, yield attributes and yield of rice.


Impact of integrated nutrient management in increasing the yield of rice (Oryza sativa L.)

The complimentary role of organics as supplements to chemical fertilizers is important for keeping the soil healthy in order to harness the potential yield in rice. Therefore, a field experiment was carried out during the cropping year of 2020-2021 to ascertain the impact of inorganic and organic source fertilizers integration on rice production's yield and its economics in Cauvery deltaic region of Tamil Nadu. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with three replications. The experiment comprised of eight treatments viz.,  T1 - RDF + 12.5 t FYM ( Farmer's practice), T2 - Vermicompost @ 5 t/ha + RDF, T3 - Coirpith compost @ 5 t/ha + RDF, T4  - Pressmud compost @ 5 t/ha + RDF, T5  - Poultry manure compost @ 5 t/ha + RDF, T6  - Goat manure compost @ 5 t/ha + RDF, T7 - Bone sludge compost @ 5 t/ha + RDF and T8 - Sewage sludge compost @ 5 t/ha + RDF was applied to see the effect of integration of both organic and inorganic sources of fertilizers on the yield and economics of rice (CR1009) cultivation. The present study's findings showed that the integrative application of vermicompost @ 5t ha-1 along with 100 per cent recommended dose of fertilizers (T2)  excelled all treatments and gave significantly increased grain yield of 5792 kg ha-¹  with a value of 37 per cent over control and benefit-cost ratio of 3.45. The integrated application of Vermicompost @ 5tha-1 along with 100 per cent recommended dose of NPK registered the highest values in yield attributes, yield and economic returns in rice.

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Effect of integration of inorganic and organic sources of fertilizers on the yield and economics of rice cultivation var. CR1009

The present study was undertaken to study the correlation between body weight and different morphometric traits in Kanni goats. Data was collected from forty (40) Kanni goats of both sexes on different age groups. The goats were classified into three groups based on the permanent incisor’s teeth viz ., one year (first permanent incisor), two years (two permanent incisors), and three-years age groups (three permanent incisors). Scientific management practices like feeding, vaccination, deworming and other practices were followed. The different morphometric traits such as body length, chest girth, paunch girth, height at withers, rump height, tail length, neck circumference, head length, and rump length were recorded. During one year of age group, only bodyweight had a highly positive correlation with body length (r=0.777). In the two-year age group, body weight had a high correlation with chest girth (r=0.776). Correspondingly, at three years of age group, the body weight had a highly significant correlation with body length was (r=0.811), chest girth (0.920), height at withers (0.890), rump height (0.910), tail length (0.850), neck circumference (0.815). This indicates that there is exists a strong linear correlation between body weight with body length, chest girth, height at withers, rump height, tail length. This study will help the farmers to know the relationship between body weight with other body morphometric traits in Kanni goats and these traits were used to improve the body weight so that they can select the elite animals for a future breeding program.

G. Sivakumar

Papers

Investigation of palm methyl-ester bio-diesel with additive on performance and emission characteristics of a diesel engine under 8-mode testing cycle

A Study on Effect of Piston Bowl Shape on Engine Performance and Emission Characteristics of a Diesel Engine

Impact of integrated nutrient management in increasing the yield of rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Effect of integration of inorganic and organic sources of fertilizers on the yield and economics of rice cultivation var. CR1009

Study of correlation between different morphometric traits in Kanni goats