Performance and emission characteristics of a diesel engine using isobutanol–diesel fuel blends

The aim of this study is to investigate the suitability of isobutanol–diesel fuel blends as an alternative fuel for the diesel engine, and experimentally determine their effects on the engine performance and exhaust emissions, namely break power, break specific fuel consumption (BSFC), break thermal efficiency (BTE) and emissions of CO, HC and NOx. For this purpose, four different isobutanol–diesel fuel blends containing 5, 10, 15 and 20% isobutanol were prepared in volume basis and tested in a naturally aspirated four stroke direct injection diesel engine at full -load conditions at the speeds between 1200 and 2800 rpm with intervals of 200 rpm. The results obtained with the blends were compared to those with the diesel fuel as baseline. The test results indicate that the break power slightly decreases with the blends containing up to 10% isobutanol, whereas it significantly decreases with the blends containing 15 and 20% isobutanol. There is an increase in the BSFC in proportional to the isobutanol content in the blends. Although diesel fuel yields the highest BTE, the blend containing 10% isobutanol results in a slight improvement in BTE at high engine speeds. The results also reveal that, compared to diesel fuel, CO and NOx emissions decrease with the use of the blends, while HC emissions increase considerably.