Fuel efficiency

Catalysis

Engineering

Materials science

Heat of combustion

Diesel engine

Diesel fuel

Compression ratio

Biodiesel

Waste management

Flash point

Renewable fuels

Diesel cycle

Organic chemistry

Thermal efficiency

Biofuel

Thrust specific fuel consumption

Combustion

Automotive engineering

Environmental science

Carbureted compression ignition model engine

Chemistry

Brake specific fuel consumption

Pulp and paper industry

Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery

Increased consumption of fossil fuels and growing concerns regarding environmental pollution triggered by burning fossil fuels have directed investigators to search for renewable fuels as an alternative. Among different opportunities explored to replace diesel as sole fuel, biodiesel produced from vegetable oils is ascertained as one of the strong contestants for lowering the exhaust emissions. In this work, experiments are carried out to evaluate the performance behavior of a four-stroke single-cylinder compression ignition diesel engine running on cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) mixed with oxygenated additive diethyl ether (DEE) and diesel. The prepared blends are characterized for their kinematic viscosity, density, flash point, and calorific value. These blends’ effectiveness is optimized for brake thermal efficiency, brake power and specific fuel consumption considering fuel blend, % of additive addition, and injection pressure. Split-plot design in response surface methodology (RSM) is used for performing the experiments, and desirability analysis is used for optimization. The investigation outcomes show that brake thermal efficiency increases for B10 biodiesel blend and for lower injection pressure and for 15% addition of diethyl ether as additive. Similarly, specific fuel consumption is higher for blended fuel and for 10% addition of additive addition and 210 injection pressure. For all the outputs, the most influential parameter is injection pressure and its interaction effect with the type of fuel used. Finally, the optimized condition is obtained for both diesel and CNSL-DEE-diesel blend.

Cashew nut shell liquid as alternate fuel for CI engine—optimization approach for performance improvement