Performance and emission of multi-cylinder diesel engine using biodiesel blends obtained from mixed inedible feedstocks

Biodiesel production from non-edible feedstock is now being taken into careful consideration to avoid the negative impact of using edible oils as biodiesel feedstock. This is a study on the combustion, engine performance and emission of a multi cylinder diesel engine fueled with mixed biodiesel blends prepared from two non-edible feedstock kapok and moringa. The kapok-moringa mixed biodiesel blends showed 6-9% higher brake specific fuel consumption and 5-7% lower brake power compared to diesel fuel (B0). However, engine performance of kapok-moringa mixed biodiesel was found comparable with kapok and moringa biodiesel as the performance parameters varied slightly among all tested biodiesels. Average NO and CO₂ emissions for kapok-moringa mixed biodiesels were found 14-17% and 1-3% higher than B0 respectively. On the contrary average HC and CO emissions of kapok-moringa mixed biodiesels were 23-38% and 16-31% lower than B0 respectively. As a conclusion, 10% and 20% kapok-moringa mixed biodiesel blends can be used in diesel engines without any modifications.