Performance, emission and combustion characteristics of a DI diesel engine using waste plastic oil

• Published in: Applied thermal engineering 2009-09, Vol.29 (13), p.2738-2744
• Main Authors: Mani, M., Subash, C., Nagarajan, G.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Combustion; Diesel; Diesel engine; Emission; Energy; Energy. Thermal use of fuels; Engines and turbines; Equipments for energy generation and conversion: thermal, electrical, mechanical energy, etc; Exact sciences and technology; Heat transfer; Theoretical studies. Data and constants. Metering; Waste plastic oil
• ISSN: 1359-4311
• DOI: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2009.01.007

Increase in energy demand, stringent emission norms and depletion of oil resources have led the researchers to find alternative fuels for internal combustion engines. On the other hand waste plastic pose a very serious environment challenge because of their disposal problems all over the world. Plastics have now become indispensable materials in the modern world and application in the industrial field is continually increasing. In this context, waste plastic solid is currently receiving renewed interest. The properties of the oil derived from waste plastics were analyzed and compared with the petroleum products and found that it has properties similar to that of diesel. In the present work, waste plastic oil was used as an alternate fuel in a DI diesel engine without any modification. The present investigation was to study the performance, emission and combustion characteristics of a single cylinder, four-stroke, air-cooled DI diesel engine run with waste plastic oil. The experimental results have showed a stable performance with brake thermal efficiency similar to that of diesel. Carbon dioxide and unburned hydrocarbon were marginally higher than that of the diesel baseline. The toxic gas carbon monoxide emission of waste plastic oil was higher than diesel. Smoke reduced by about 40% to 50% in waste plastic oil at all loads.