Dual fuel operation of used transformer oil with acetylene in a DI diesel engine

•Utilisation of Used transformer oil (UTO) as a fuel in a diesel engine.•UTO with acetylene in a diesel engine, on a dual fuel mode technique.•Analysis of combustion characteristics of the diesel engine.•Analysis of performance and emission characteristics of the diesel engine.

Used transformer oil (UTO) is a waste oil obtained from power transformers and welding transformers. It possesses considerable heating value and properties similar to diesel fuel. A preliminary investigation on the utilization of the UTO in a single cylinder, four stroke small powered direct injection (DI) diesel engine revealed that at an optimum injection timing of 20°CA the engine exhibited lower nitric oxide (NO) and higher smoke emissions, compared to that of diesel operation. In order to improve the performance and reduce the smoke emission, a dual fuel operation was attempted in the present investigation. Acetylene was inducted as a primary fuel at four different flow rates viz 132 g/h, 198 g/h, 264 g/h and 330 g/h along with the air, to study the combustion, performance and emission behavior of a four-stroke, 4.4 kW diesel engine, while the UTO was injected as pilot fuel with the optimized injection timing. The experimental results were compared with diesel-acetylene dual fuel operation in the same engine. Acetylene aspiration reduced the ignition delay and maximum cylinder pressure by about 3°CA, and 25% respectively at full load in comparison with the sole UTO operation. Higher thermal efficiency and lower exhaust gas were also observed at full load. Smoke was reduced by about 13.7%, in comparison with the UTO operation at full load.