Utilization of sunflower methyl ester as a diesel engine fuel

Abstract

In this study, utilization of methyl ester obtained from raw sunflower oil as a diesel engine fuel is investigated. In order to determine performance and emissions characteristics of methyl ester fuel in comparison to those of pure diesel fuel, a series of tests were performed on a 4 stroke, 4 cylinder, 55 kW direct injection diesel engine. The diesel engine was run at full load and at various speeds with both pure diesel fuel and sunflower oil methyl ester. Torque, power, specific fuel consumption, soot, HC and CO emissions were measured for each fuel. The results show that sunflower methyl ester could be used as an alternate fuel in diesel engines. Copyright © 2001 Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.