Performance evaluation of Moringa Oleifera biodiesel synthesized from cow bone catalyst and its blends in diesel engines

Abstract

Performance evaluation of Moringa oleifera biodiesel synthesized from cow bone catalyst and its blends in diesel engine has been studied. The research work is aimed at comparing the performance of petroleum based diesel fuel and directly cracked triglycerides (biodiesel) produced from moringa oleifera oil obtained from northern Nigeria. The performance evaluation was conducted using BD100, BD80, BD60, BD40 and BD20, this is to evaluate the performance of the diesel engine in terms of brake thermal efficiency (BTE), brake specific fuel consumption efficiency (BSFCE), carbon monoxide (CO), oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and oxides of sulphur (SOx) emissions. BD blends recorded higher brake thermal efficiencies relative to petroleum based diesel fuel. BD100 and all the blends under study recorded 16.67 % BSFCE lower than that of diesel fuel at optimum engine load. For all the sample fuels under study, decrease in the amount of CO is directly proportional to the engine load. The result of study shows that the NOx emissions increase with corresponding increase in engine loads. For all the sample fuels under study, negligible increase in the amount of SOx is directly proportional to the engine load and vice versa.