Comparison and Evaluation of Performance, Emission and Wear Analysis of Diesel, JP-8 and Pure Karanja Biodiesel in a Military 780 hp CIDI Engine

Investigating the impact of JP-8 and pure Karanja oil biodiesel fuel on diesel engine performance, emission and pump wear are very important for military track and wheeled vehicles due to their great potential as alternative fuels. In the present study, a military 780 hp CIDI engine was fuelled and tested with diesel, JP-8 and pure Karanja oil biodiesel respectively. The performances of fuels were evaluated in terms of brake horse power, specific fuel consumption, brake specific energy consumption, brake mean effective pressure, thermal efficiency and heat release rates. The emission of carbon monoxide (CO), unburnt hydrocarbon (UHC), and oxides of nitrogen NOx with the three fuels were also compared. Both Karanja oil, after transesterification and JP-8 exhibit the properties (density, viscosity and calorific value) within acceptable limits of ASTM standard. Performance of both JP-8 and pure Karanja oil biodiesel were slightly lower than diesel. Emissions of CO and UHC were found lower with both JP-8 and Karanja oil biodiesel as compared to diesel fuel. However, only JP-8 fuel had lower NOx emission whereas Karanja oil biodiesel had 10% higher NOx emission. The fuel pump wear was tested after a 100 hours run.