Impact of palm biodiesel blend on injector deposit formation

During short term engine operation, renewable fuels derived from vegetable oils, are capable of providing good engine performance. In more extended operations, some of the same fuels can cause degradation of engine performance, excessive carbon and lacquer deposits and actual damage to the engine. Moreover, temperatures in the area of the injector tip due to advanced diesel injection systems may lead to particularly stubborn deposits at and around the injector tip. In this research, an endurance test was carried out for 250h on 2 fuel samples; DF (diesel fuel) as baseline and PB20 (20% palm biodiesel and 80% DF) in a single cylinder CI engine. The effects of DF and PB20 on injector nozzle deposits, engine lubricating oil, and fuel economy and exhaust emissions were investigated. According to the results of the investigation, visual inspection showed some deposit accumulation on injectors during running on both fuels. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analysis showed greater carbon deposits on and around the injector tip for PB20 compared to the engine running with DF. Similarly, lubricating oil analysis presented excessive wear metal concentrations, decreased viscosity and increased density values when the engine was fuelled with PB20. Finally, fuel economy and emission results during the endurance test showed higher brake specific fuel consumption (bsfc) and NOx emissions, and lower HC and CO emissions, for the PB20 blend compared to DF.