Assessrnent of Rapeseed Oil As An Alternative Fuel For Diesel Engine

Abstract

It becomes quite possible that the nantral supplies of petroleum will be insufficient in the near future to cover the world needs of petroleum-based fuels such as diesel fuel. Therefore, interest is given recently to explore alternative fuels to diesel fuel from indigenous sources ar1d preferably the renewable ones. Vegetables oils are considered perfect in this respect since they are renewable sources and because they are free from sulfur. Thus, they will not produce corrosive sulfur oxides upon combustion. However, they h<!ve certain i nherent problems when used as fuel in diesel engines, generally attri butable to inefficient combustion. The high viscosity and low volatility of vegetable oils are responsible for most of the combastion problems of neat oils. Viscous fuels are poorly atomized in the engine resulting in inefficient combustion with subsequent formati t•n of carbon deposits on the injector nozzle and other engine parts. Thus, tae engine performance using plant oils can be markedly improved if the oil viscosity is reductd.