STUDY ON PERFORMANCE OF DIESEL ENGINE USING PALM OIL BIOFUEL DIESEL BLENDS

Abstract Biodiesel fuel is one of the alternative energy sources that can be renewable and environmentally friendly. Processing biodiesel from crude palm oil can be carried out through esterification and transesterification. The performance and exhaust gas emission testing was performed on a Daihatsu Taft 2.5 L diesel engine without any modifications. The fuel blend ratios between diesel and biodiesel were varied to include 90 %, 75 %, 50 % and 25 % biodiesel. The engine speeds examined were 1000, 1200, 1400, 1600, 1800, 2000, 2200 and 2400 rpm. The test results showed that brake specific fuel consumption with biodiesel was higher than with regular diesel, ranging roughly from 2.37 % to 8.43 %. Increasing the biodiesel proportion in the mixture tended to lower exhaust emissions such as HC, CO, and CO₂. The exhaust gases produced by biodiesel were generally lower than those from diesel fuel. Keywords Diesel Engine, Biodiesel, Palm Oil Biodiesel, Engine Performance, Emissions