International Journal of Engineering and Technology

This study investigates the use of di-ethyl ether (DEE) as an oxygenated additive with 20% Karanja methyl ester diesel blend (B20). Experiments were conducted to study the effect of adding 5%, 10% and 15% di-ethyl ether (DEE) with Karanja methyl ester (KME) on performance, emission and combustion characteristics of a direct injection diesel engine operated at a constant speed of 1500 rpm at different operating conditions. The results showed that the brake thermal efficiency slightly increased and the exhaust emissions are significantly decreased with DEE with biodiesel at full load conditions. The results revealed that an optimum blend of 10% DEE added with biodiesel resulted in a slight decrease in brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) of 8.6% while the brake thermal efficiency increased by 4.8%. DEE added with 20% biodiesel showed lower nitrogen oxide (NO) emission and slightly higher carbon dioxide (CO2) emission as compared to diesel. Carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbon (HC) and smoke emissions decreased by 40%, 26% and 12% respectively compared to B20 biodiesel. The combustion characteristics like higher cylinder pressure, heat release rate and shorter ignition delay period were observed with DEE added biodiesel at full load conditions.