Energy 139 (2017) 883e894

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Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/energy

Comparative assessment of performance and emission characteristics

of castor, coconut and waste cooking based biodiesel as fuel in a diesel
engine
Parvaneh Zareh a, Ali Asghar Zare b, *, Barat Ghobadian c
a
Mechanical, Automotive and Material Engineering Department, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, P.O. Box: N9B 3P4, Canada
b
Automotive Engineering Department, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Mail Box: 16765-163, Iran
c
Mechanical Engineering Department, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, P.O.Box: 197-14115, Iran

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Biodiesel is an alternative and renewable diesel fuel, can be produced from diverse kinds of vegetable
Received 30 April 2016 oils. The biodiesel effects on engine performance and emissions vary as the source of oil changes. In this
Received in revised form study, castor oil biodiesel (CAB), coconut oil biodiesel (COB) and waste cooking oil biodiesel (WCB) were
8 August 2017
produced by transesterfication approach and blended with conventional diesel fuel (CDF). The volu-
Accepted 9 August 2017
Available online 9 August 2017
metric blending ratios of biodiesels with CDF were set at 5, 10, 20, and 30. Tests were carried out under
different loads and speeds which simultaneously change. Change in engine performance and emission
characteristics against speed or load were investigated on a turbocharged DI compression ignition en-
Keywords:
Castor oil biodiesel
gine. Viscosity, oxygen amount in fuel, length of hydrocarbon chain, cetane number, biodiesel amount in
Coconut oil biodiesel fuel, engine speed, load have been considered separately, for better consideration of the effects of each
Waste cooking oil biodiesel parameters, in this study they were considered and compared in similar laboratorial condition. Based on
Performance the main effects of load and engine speed on emissions and engine performance, it this study both of
Emissions them were considered simultaneously. Totally, the experimental results indicated that the best perfor-
mance and emission characteristics belong to WCB and COB blends respectively fueled in the diesel
engine.
© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Recently, concerns over the environment, increasing fuel prices
and scarcity of its supply have stimulated the interest in develop-
ment of the alternative sources for petroleum based diesel fuels
(PBDF) with particular emphasis on those of renewable nature
[1e4]. An alternative fuel to PBDF must be technically feasible,
economically competitive, environmentally acceptable, and easily
available [5].
Biodiesel; the mono-alkyl ester of long chain fatty acids; has
been considered as a viable renewable, clean alternative fuel for
diesel engines among other sources [6]. It can be produced from
vegetable oils or animal fats with alcohol as the catalyst by the
transesterification method [7e9]. A biodiesel blend is pure bio-
diesel blended with PBDF. Biodiesel blends are referred to as BXX.
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: zare.aliasghar@gmail.com (A.A. Zare).
The XX indicates the amount of biodiesel in the blend (i.e. a B20
blend is 20% biodiesel and 80% PBDF). Biodiesel is better than diesel
fuel in terms of sulfur content, flash point, reproducible, biode-
gradable, domestic, non-toxic, and environmentally friendly
[10,11]. The use of biodiesel will allow for a balance between agri-
culture, economic development, and the environment [12e15].
Accordingly, considerable investigations have conducted in
dissimilar types of engines with biodiesel prepared from different
oils. The effect of parameters on the performance of the engine with
emission characteristics and combustion characteristics of the
biodiesel has been studied in these works. For example, Roy et al.
[16] produced pure and used canola biodiesels and investigated the
biodiesels characteristics and their emissions of a DI diesel engine.
They found that pure and used canola biodiesel blends show very
similar fuel properties, engine performance and emissions. Hasssan
et al. [17] evaluated the performance and emission characteristics
of biodiesel produced from Australian Beauty Leaf Tree. They
analyzed change in exhaust emissions for determining the opti-
mum test fuel at various operating conditions. Habibullah et al. [18]

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2017.08.040
0360-5442/© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
884 P. Zareh et al. / Energy 139 (2017) 883e894
Nomenclature
B5 5% biodiesel þ 95% diesel by volume
B10 10% biodiesel þ 90% diesel by volume
B20 20% biodiesel þ 80% diesel by volume
B30 30% biodiesel þ 70% diesel by volume
BSFC Brake Specific Fuel Consumption
CAB5 5% caster biodiesel þ 95% diesel by volume
CAB10 10% caster biodiesel þ 90% diesel by volume
CAB20 20% caster biodiesel þ 80% diesel by volume
CAB30 30% caster biodiesel þ 70% diesel by volume
CDF conventional diesel fuel
CO Carbon monoxide
CO2 Carbon dioxide
COB5 5% coconut biodiesel þ 95% diesel by volume
studied on emission characteristics of coconut, palm and their
combined blend with diesel in a single-cylinder diesel and found
that, CO and HC emissions were reduced to a great extent at
13.75e17.97%, compared with those of diesel fuel operation and the
average NOx emissions were 3.13e5.67% higher for all the tested
biodiesel blends compared with that of diesel fuel and, Chauhan
et al. [19] investigated the performance and emissions of a diesel
engine fueled with Karanja biodiesel and its blends. Brake thermal
efficiency was about 3e5% lower with the biodiesel blends with
respect to diesel, and NOx emission of Karanja biodiesel blends
against other emissions were higher than that of diesel. Lin et al.
[20] examined the emissions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
(PAHs), carcinogenic potencies and regulated matters, and brake
specific fuel consumption from a heavy-duty diesel engine using
waste cooking oil biodiesel blends. They concluded that the bio-
diesel blends can increase combustion efficiency and reduce
emissions but have higher BSFC as compared to using CDF. Mofijur
et al. [21] evaluated engine performance and emission character-
istics of Jatropha biodiesel blends. They observed the use of B10 and
B20 as a partial diesel fuel substitute produced lower HC and CO
emissions but slightly higher NOx emission compared to B0. Tesfa
et al. [22] studied combustion and performance characteristics of a
diesel engine using biodiesel of waste oil, rapeseed oil and corn oil
and CDF. The results obtained through their experimental studies
highlighted the biodiesel type does not result in any considerable
differences in peak cylinder pressure and BSFC. Shehata et al. [23]
investigated emissions, performance and cylinder pressure of
diesel engine fueled by cotton seed oil, palm oil and flax oil bio-
diesel fuel. It was reported that as EGR increases, CO increases
while NOx decreases [24]. They also found out that palm oil bio-
diesel gives the highest fluctuation in exhaust temperature while
cotton oil biodiesel gives the lowest fluctuation. A great deal of
other valuable research can be found in the literature [25e33]
dealing with different types of biodiesels as well. The effects of
biodiesel feedstock on engine performance and exhaust emission
characteristics have not been noteworthy considered.
The aim of this work is to produce biodiesel from castor oil,
coconut oil and waste cooking oil. This was followed by charac-
terizing the biodiesels properties and comparatively assessing the
effects of diesel and biodiesel blends on diesel engine performance
and emissions under various concurrently varying load and speed.
For considering the speed effects on engine performance and
emissions, in each speed, they were measured under 25%, 50%, 75%
and 100% loads, then, average amounts for that specific speed were
assessed. This approach was used for considering the effects of load
on them. For example in Fig. 2 BSFC change percentage, for each
COB10 10% coconut biodiesel þ 90% diesel by volume
COB20 20% coconut biodiesel þ 80% diesel by volume
COB30 30% coconut biodiesel þ 70% diesel by volume
DI Direct injection
EGR exhaust gas recirculation
FAO food and agriculture organization
KOH potassium hydroxide
NOx Nitrogen oxides
PAHs polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
PBDF petroleum based diesel fuels
PM particle matter
WCB5 5% waste cooking biodiesel þ 95% diesel by volume
WCB10 10% waste cooking biodiesel þ 90% diesel by volume
WCB20 20% waste cooking biodiesel þ 80% diesel by volume
WCB30 30% waste cooking biodiesel þ 70% diesel by volume
specific speed under loads of 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% was measured
and finally ultimate percentage was an average between those
measured percentages. The obtained test results were analyzed
compared with the reference values which were determined by
using CDF.
2. Materials and experimental procedure
2.1. Oils specifications and composition
2.1.1. Castor oil
Castor oil is an appropriate choice for changing to biodiesel,
because it is non-edible, low cost and its plant can grow in marginal
land and in arid and semi-arid climate of various countries that
make it so accessible [34]. Castor seeds are poisonous to humans
and animals since they contain the toxic protein ricin, although this
protein is absent from the oil itself [35]. Worldwide, castor is
cultivated on 12600 km2 with an annual seed production of 1140 Gg
and an average seed yield of 0.0902 kg m
2 [36].
2.1.2. Coconut oil
Coconut oil is extracted simply by removing the husks and
shells, then grating, drying and pressing the remaining coconut
meat (copra). Copra has an oil content of between 65% and 72%.
Coconuts are produced in 92 countries worldwide on about
11.8 Gm2 land. According to food and agriculture organization of
the United Nations (FAO) report in 2009, world production has
been estimated at 61.7 Tg with an average yield of 0.52 kg m
2. In
addition, coconut oil is clean, relatively cheap, easy to extract, non-
toxic and aromatic. All these features make coconut an attractive
alternative biodiesel feedstock [2,11,14].
2.1.3. Waste cooking oil
Waste cooking oil (WCO) offers significant potential as an
alternative biodiesel feedstock. Out of reducing the raw material
cost and solving the problem of waste oil disposal, using WCO is an
effective strategy for economical source of biodiesel. So, there are
increasing worldwide interests in applying biodiesel converted
from WCO [20,37]. It constitutes a major waste generated in hotels
and other public eateries [9]. Since WCO which was provided in this
study was gained from sunflower oil, its attributes are partly similar
to its origin oil but because of high heating value, some of these
properties changed during frying food.
The fatty acid composition of castor, coconut and waste cooking
oils are summarized in Table 1. As shown in Table 1, castor oil has a
high percentage of ricinoleic acid (12-hydroxy-cis -9-octadecenoic
 P. Zareh et al. / Energy 139 (2017) 883e894 885

Table 1 kinematic viscosity, are outside the standard range, but according
Fatty acid composition of castor, coconut and waste cooking oils. to some researchers’ studies, the engine can be supplied in lower
Fatty acid Structure Formula Castor Coconut Waste Cooking blend of castor oil biodiesel [35,38]. CAB has very good cold flow
(xx:y) Oil Oil Oil properties because of its very low cloud and pour points (252 K and
Palmitic 16:0 C16H32O2 1.01 13.13 13.62 234 K respectively). It shows that this fuel is very suitable for using
Stearic 18:0 C18H36O2 1.10 3.6 5.72 in extreme winter temperatures.
Oleic 18:1 C18H34O2 3.30 12.88 43.36
Linoleic 18:2 C18H32O2 4.61 4.35 33.63
Linolenic 18:3 C18H30O2 0.48 e 0.58 2.3. Test bed configuration & test procedure
Eicosenoic 20:1 C20H38O2 0.34 e e
Ricinoleic 18:1-OH C18H34O3 89.1 e e
Myristic 14:0 C14H28O2 e 18.38 e Fig. 1 illustrates the schematic diagram of experimental set up
Caprilic 8:0 C8H16O2 e 3.35 e and the measurement instrumentations used to test the engine
Capric 10:0 C10H20O2 e 3.31 e performance and emission characteristics of mentioned biodiesels.
Lauric 12:0 C12H24O2 e 32.72 e A direct injection, 4-cylinder, 4-stroke, turbocharged diesel engine
Arachidic 20:0 C20H40O2 e e 0.34
accompanied by an eddy-current dynamometer with digital data
Others e e 0.05 8.28 2.75
acquisition system which has a water-cooled system that is isolated
xx indicates number of carbons.
from the surrounding environment was used as the test engine in
y number of double bonds in the fatty aci ds chain.
this investigation which is widely used in agriculture sector. The
main technical specifications of the engine are given in Table 3. In
acid) which is an unsaturated 18 carbon fatty acid. As regards ex- the cell after combining fuels and pouring them into fuel tanks, was
istence of a hydroxyl group at 12th carbon, it shows some unique controlled to regulate engine speed and load. To reach the above
properties such as high viscosity with respect to the oil and bio- goal, first of all, for data mining the test in 2000 rpm engine speed
diesel produced from it. and 100% load was done. To access reliable data the engine was
heated for 15 min to reach the equilibrium condition, and after that
the outputs were fixed and data mining was done. And it was about
2.2. Biodiesels production & their properties data mining. After taking the data for 100% load, the for the same
engine speed, data mining was done for 75%, 50%, and 25% loads,
In present research, three biodiesel fuels, namely CAB, COB and respectively. Finally, other engine speeds and loads were tested in
WCB were obtained from castor, coconut and waste cooking oil the same way.
respectively. These biodiesels were produced from the trans-
esterification approach. In this method, the oils were chemically
reacted with methanol (CH3OH) in the presence of potassium hy-
droxide (KOH) as catalyst (1% of oil by weight) to produce the
biodiesels. Methanol concentration is being triple than the stoi-
chiometric one in all cases [10]. Glycerol is produced as a by-
product of the reactions. The reactions were held at a tempera-
ture slightly above the methanol boiling point (70  C) and at
ambient pressure. The mixture is stirred continuously for an hour
and then allowed to settle under gravity in a separating funnel. Two
distinct layers form after gravity settling for 24 h. The upper layer
was biodiesel (ester) and lower layer was of glycerol. After sepa-
ration of lower layer and washing with distilled water thrice,
alcohol and water were both eliminated by heating to 110  C. The
physico-chemical properties of the castor, coconut and waste
cooking based biodiesel were evaluated as per the ASTM standards
and are listed in Table 2.
As it can be seen in Table 2, several CAB properties, especially Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of test setup.

Table 2
Physico-chemical properties of the castor, coconut and waste cooking based biodiesel.

Parameter Unit Test method CAB COB WCB ASTM limit

Acid number Mg KOH/gr ASTM D664 0.25 0.49 1.17 Max 0.8 (ASTM D664)
Oxidation stability min ASTM D525 >480 >480 >480 Min 3 h (EN 14112)
Copper corrosion @373 K for 3 h e ASTM D130 1a 1a 1a Max 3a
IBP@760 mmHg K ASTM 602 471 576 No Limit
Distillation temperature (90%) K ASTM D6352 682 625 639 Max 360 (ASTM D1160)
Cloud point K ASTM D2500 252 279 285 No Limit
Pour point K ASTM D97 234 264 273 No Limit
Heat of combustion MJ/kg ASTM D240 37.195 37.785 39.705 No Limit
Density @303 K mg/m3 ASTM D7042 0.9278 0.8721 0.8742 No Limit
Kinematic viscosity @ 313 K mm2/s ASTM D7042 19.268 2.8038 4.6573 1.9e6 @313 K (A ASTM D445)
Sulfated ash Mass% ASTM D874 0.01 <0.005 <0.005 Max0.02 (ASTM D874)
Flash point K ASTM D92 466 391 453 Min 93 (ASTM D93)
Carbon residue Mass% ASTM D524 0.039 <0.01 0.01 Max 0.05 (ASTM D4530)
Relative molecular mass g/mol Osmomat 334 217 268 No Limit
Water content Mass% ASTM D7042 0.32 0.14 0.08 Max 0.05%Vol (ASTM D2709)
Cetane Number e ASTM D613 49.1 60 53 Min 47 (ASTM D613)
886 P. Zareh et al. / Energy 139 (2017) 883e894

Table 3 the biodiesel blends is their lower heating value with regard to
Engine technical specifications. diesel. Heating value of fuels is an important measure of its
Make Motorsazan releasing energy for producing work, so the lower heating value of
Model MT4.244
biodiesels is attributed to the decrease in engine power. Engine
Bore  Stroke (mm) 100  127 power will decrease with the increase of biodiesel content. By
Number of Cylinders 4 increasing biodiesel content in blends, heating value of them de-
Volume Capacity 3.99  10
3 m
3 creases and viscosity increases. Heating value of CAB, COB and WCB
Cycle 4 stroke
is 12.48%, 11.11% and 6.57% lower than that of conventional diesel
Aspiration Wastegated Turbocharger
Combustion System Fast ram direct injection respectively, so lowest power reduction is related to WCB blends in
Compression Ration 17.25:1 the range of 0.1e4.26% and maximum reduction is relevant to CAB
Max. power 61.14 Kw in 2000 rpm blends in the range of 1.38e8.05%. The higher viscosity results in
Fuel Pump Bosch Rotary with Boost control
the power losses, because the CAB, COB and WCB viscosities are
Governing Mechanical
Cooling Water, Belt Driven water pump
800%, 14.5% and 90% higher than that of conventional diesel
Weight (kg) 265 respectively. High lubricity of biodiesel might result in the reduced
Length  Width  Height (mm) 678.7  655  748.5 friction loss and thus improve the brake effective power.
As you can see, the brake power for the engine while running
with CAB, COB and WCB blends, decreases with the increase of
Table 4 biodiesel content. For example, by using CAB20, COB20 and WCB20
The accuracies and uncertainties in the results. caused a decrease in brake power in the range of 6.74%, 5.17% and
Parameters Accuracies 3.38% with respect to diesel at full load, respectively. Engine power
will decrease with the increase of content of biodiesel. For instance,
Load ±2 N m
Speed ±5 rpm reduction in brake power for COB5, COB10, COB20 and COB30 are
Time ±0.5% 1.06%, 2.57%, 4.8% and 4.98% with respect to diesel at load of 25%
CO ±0.01 %Vol respectively. Due to the lowest heating value and highest viscosity
CO2 ±0.01 %Vol of CAB regarding to the other two biodiesels, the blends of this
NOx ±11.5 g/kWh
PM ±11.5 g/kWh
biodiesel demonstrate the lowest power value. Higher heating
Calculated Results Uncertainty value of WCB with regard to COB (about 6%) results in lower power
Power ± % 0.2 losses during operation of the fuel, while its viscosity is higher than
BSFC ± % 0.22 COB.

3.1.2. Brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC)

The exhaust gases were sampled from exhaust line through a
specially designed arrangement for diverting the exhaust gases for
sampling line without increasing the back pressure and then were
analyzed by using an online and accurately calibrated exhaust gas
analyzer AVL DiCOM and were recorded. The accuracies of the
measured parameters and the uncertainties in the calculated pa-
rameters are given in Table 4.
The experiments were conducted by using pure diesel, B5 (5%
biodiesel þ 95% diesel by volume), B10, B20 and B30 at different
loads (25%, 50%, 75% and 100%) and various engine speeds (1,200,
1,400, 1,700, 2000 rpm) which were simultaneously varying. Per-
formance and emission characteristics of the engine fueled with
CAB, COB and WCB blends were evaluated and compared with the
baseline data of diesel fuel.
All tests were completed without any modifications on the en-
gine. The tests were carried out under steady-state condition.
Before taking all readings, the engine was warmed up with the new
fuel for at least 15 min to purge any remains of the previously tested
fuel from the engine fuel system.
Each experiment was replicated three times and the values
given in this study are the average of these three results.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Performance analysis
3.1.1. Brake power
The brake power is defined as the rate at which work is done by
the engine. The average percentage in engine brake power values
changes with respect to engine load and speed for all the blends of
biodiesels and were compared to that of diesel which are presented
in Figs. 2 and 3 respectively. Properties of biodiesel, especially in
heating value, viscosity and lubricity, have an important effect on
brake power of the engine. The main reason of power reduction of
The BSFC is defined as the ratio of mass fuel flow rate to the
brake power. The percent variation in the BSFC with the bio-
dieselediesel fuel blends compared to diesel fuel is shown in Figs. 4
and 5. Fig. 4 shows the average changes of brake specific fuel
consumption under different speeds for fuel compounds of three
samples of biodiesels against different loads. BSFC has increased
upon feeding the engine with WCB, COB and CAB compounds.
Increased fuel consumption in castor biodiesel in all loads and
compounds of fuel is more than the two other biodiesels. After
castor biodiesel, coconut biodiesel and eventually waste cooking
biodiesel have higher specific fuel consumption in comparison to
diesel. Specific consumption value for COB30, WCB30, CAB30 with
respect to diesel under the load of 100% have increased for 6.9%,
6.7% and 9.7%, respectively.
Through increasing the biodiesel percentage, specific con-
sumption of all the fuels increases [39]. The Specific consumption of
WCB5, WCB10, WCB20, WCB30 fuels under 75% load has increased
for 0.77%, 1.96%, 4.07%, and 7.04%, respectively. Upon feeding engine
with 30% compounds of coconut and waste cooking biodiesels and
above to 20% castor biodiesel, the specific consumption growth rate
significantly increases.
The most important factors affecting fuel consumption increase
upon using biodiesel include their lower heating value and higher
viscosity and density of these fuels [22,38]. By considering Fig. 4,
the most important factor of increasing BSCF is the decreased
biodiesel fuels heating value because although density and vis-
cosity of WCB is bigger than COB, its specific consumption is less
than coconut biodiesel. After heating value, fuel viscosity and
density play major roles in increasing BSCF as castor and coconut
biodiesels have almost equal heating values, while castor biodiesel
viscosity is around 8 times the viscosity of COB and density of castor
oil biodiesel is almost double the density of coconut biodiesel.
Density of WCB, COB and CAB has increased with respect to diesel
for 7.26%, 7% and 13.84%, respectively. All the said factors have
 P. Zareh et al. / Energy 139 (2017) 883e894 887

a
0

Change Percent Due to Diesel

-1
-2
-3
-4
-5
-6
-7
25 50 75 100
Load (%)

COB5 COB10 COB20 COB30

b
0
Change Percent Due to Diesel

-1

-2

-3

-4

-5
25 50 75 100
Load (%)

WCB5 WCB10 WCB20 WCB30

c
0
Change Percent Due to Diesel

-2

-4

-6

-8

-10
25 50 75 100
Load (%)

CAB5 CAB10 CAB20 CAB30

Fig. 2. Average changes of three biodiesel samples compounds power in comparison to diesel against load. (a) coconut oil biodiesel, (b) Waste cooking oil biodiesel, (c) caster oil
biodiesel.
888
Fig. 3. Average changes of three biodiesel samples compounds power in comparison
to diesel against speed. (a) coconut oil biodiesel, (b) Waste cooking oil biodiesel, (c)
caster oil biodiesel.
caused that the brake specific consumption for waste cooking
biodiesel becomes less than the consumption of the same for co-
conut oil and castor oil biodiesels.
For biodiesels compounds, through increasing the load, the
specific consumption changes have decreased. For instance, WCB30
under loads of 25, 50, 75 and 100% have a fuel consumption of
14.23, 10.14, 7.04 and 6.69%, respectively, with respect to diesel.
Fig. 5 shows the average changes of brake specific fuel con-
sumption for WCB, COB and CAB compounds under different loads
against speed. By increasing the speed up to the maximum mo-
mentum, i.e. 1400 rpm, increasing fuel consumption with respect to
diesel almost remains fixed, and then by increasing the speed to-
wards the maximum power speed, fuel growth rate with respect to
diesel increases. For instance, WCB20 for 1,200, 1,400, 1700 and
2000 rpm with respect to diesel has fuel consumption increase
equal to 5.72%, 5.39%, 5.65% and 8.17%, respectively. The cause of
P. Zareh et al. / Energy 139 (2017) 883e894
Fig. 4. Changes of brake specific fuel consumption of three biodiesel samples with
respect to diesel against load. (a) coconut oil biodiesel, (b) Waste cooking oil biodiesel,
(c) caster oil biodiesel.
this phenomenon may be decreased volume performance and
injector pump weight regulator.
3.2. Emission characteristics
3.2.1. PM emission
The use of biodiesel and its compounds along with diesel results
in a decrease in PM in the engine exhaust gases [4]. Existence of
oxygen in biodiesel molecular structure results in better oxidation
of PM in combustion chamber and in turn a decrease in PM
contaminant of the engine fed with biodiesel fuel.
Fig. 6 shows the average PM changes percentage at different
speeds for three tested biodiesel samples with respect to diesel
under four loads of 25, 50, 75 and 100%.
The highest PM decrease is related to coconut biodiesel fuel
 P. Zareh et al. / Energy 139 (2017) 883e894
Fig. 5. Average changes of brake specific fuel consumption of three biodiesel samples
with respect to diesel against speed. (a) coconut oil biodiesel, (b) Waste cooking oil
biodiesel, (c) caster oil biodiesel.
compounds, followed by castor oil biodiesel and eventually waste
cooking biodiesel. For COB20, WCB20, CAB20 fuels under 100%
load, the PM content decreases with respect to diesel for 43.03%,
40.06% and 45.77%, respectively. WCB, COB, CAB fuels have oxygen
weight ratios of 11.94, 14.74 and 14.3%, respectively. Waste cooking
biodiesel has the least decrease of PM content due to less oxygen
content in its molecular structure. Coconut and castor biodiesels
have almost equal oxygen weight ratios, while due to the higher
density and viscosity of CAB and decreased efficiency of spray and
combustion, more PM is generated during combustion [30]. The
only exception is for 30% castor compound, which generates more
PM than 30% waste cooking biodiesel compound due to quite high
viscosity and density.
As it may be seen, by increasing the biodiesel percentage con-
tent, the PM content further decreases. For COB5, COB10, COB20,
COB30 fuels, under 75% load the PM content with respect to diesel
decreases for 22.44, 35.05, 43.03 and 48.83%, respectively, due to
889
Fig. 6. Changes of PM of three samples of biodiesel with respect to diesel against load.
(a) coconut oil biodiesel, (b) Waste cooking oil biodiesel, (c) caster oil biodiesel.
increased oxygen content in the fuel. These results have also been
expressed by other scholars [34].
The PM content increases with load increase for biodiesel
compounds, while its changes with respect to diesel for most of the
fuels do not significantly change under 25, 50% loads and by
increasing the load the changes rate with respect to diesel de-
creases. The PM content for COB20 fuel under 25, 50, 75 and 100%
loads decreases for 56.33, 55, 43.03 and 35%, respectively, in com-
parison to diesel. These results have also been expressed by other
scholars [36], and the reason is further fuel sprayed in combustion
chamber and decreased air to fuel ratio, so that the biodiesels act
better than diesel due to having oxygen under such loads [34].
Fig. 7 indicates average PM changes at different loads for three
890 P. Zareh et al. / Energy 139 (2017) 883e894

maximum combustion temperature inside the combustion cham-

ber and in turn results in an increase in NOx exhausting the engine.
Therefore, by increasing biodiesel percentage in fuel compounds,
the exiting NOx increases and such issue may well be seen in Figs. 8
and 9. For instance, CAB5, CAB10, CAB20, CAB30 under 75% load the
NOx value with respect to diesel increases for 5.82, 11.61, 20.45 and
26.17%, respectively.
Although due to the increased fuel sprayed in the engine and
increased combustion temperature by increased load, the
exhausting NOx of engine increases [11,37], the increased NOx value
with respect to diesel remains almost fixed due to the increased
sent fuel and further effect of viscosity by increased load in low
compound percentages and low loads. In other conditions it further
decreases. For instance, WCB10 fuel for 25, 50, 75 and 100% loads
produces 2562.5, 2846, 3287.3 and 3295.5 g/kWh of NOx, respec-
tively, while for the same loads, they have 5.1, 7.8, 7.5 and 4.5%

Fig. 7. Changes of PM of three samples of biodiesel with respect to diesel against

speed. (a) coconut oil biodiesel, (b) Waste cooking oil biodiesel, (c) caster oil biodiesel.

biodiesel samples against speed. By increasing speed, due to

increased turbulence of the combustion chamber and further effect
of oxygen in the fuel, PM decrease rate with respect to diesel shows
higher descending trend [34]. This phenomenon continues until
1700 rpm and then by reaching 2000 rpm (maximum power
speed), due to the engine exiting optimized conditions, the changes
content with respect to diesel decreases. However, after all, by
increasing speed, the generated PM value decreases. For instance,
for WCB30 fuel under 1,200, 1,400, 1700 and 2000 rpm PM de-
creases with respect to diesel for 39.7, 43.2, 42.7 and 26.45%,
respectively.

3.2.2. NOx emission

Value of combustion temperature increase and time of such
temperature increase inside the cylinder results in broken N2 Fig. 8. Changes of NOx of three biodiesel samples compounds with respect to diesel
molecules and generation of NOx, whereas, biodiesels are oxy- against load. (a) coconut oil biodiesel, (b) Waste cooking oil biodiesel, (c) caster oil
genized fuel compounds, it improves the combustion and increased biodiesel.
 P. Zareh et al. / Energy 139 (2017) 883e894
Fig. 9. Changes of NOx of three biodiesel samples compounds with respect to diesel
against speed. (a) coconut oil biodiesel, (b) Waste cooking oil biodiesel, (c) caster oil
biodiesel.
increased NOx with respect to diesel. The NOx increase for COB10
under the previous conditions is 8.7, 10.3, 9.7 and 5%, respectively,
while the figures for CAB10 are 10.3, 12.8, 11.6 and 9%. As it may be
seen, NOx increased percentage with respect to diesel decreases by
increased load; however, for the three biodiesel samples, such
percentage decrease differs from diesel. Coconut biodiesel with
load increase has maximum rate of generated NOx percentage
decrease with respect to diesel. The cause of this phenomenon is
the higher cetane number and eventually decreased combustion
time and less viscosity and density and eventually, less advance of
fuel spraying time of this fuel with respect to the two other bio-
diesels. Due to waste cooking biodiesel cetane number closeness to
regular diesel, it lies in the second place about previous issue, and
eventually due to less cetane number related to caster biodiesel,
higher viscosity and density, it has the highest generated NOx
changes rate with respect to diesel with load increase, and merely
891
30% compound of this fuel generates less NOX than waste cooking
biodiesel, the cause of that is exceeding viscosity of this fuel which
results in a decrease in combustion efficiency and eventually,
decreased combustion products temperature.
Through increasing biodiesel percentage in fuel compound, the
NOx increase with respect to diesel enhances. For instance, WCB5,
WCB10, WCB20, WCB30 fuels under 100% loads have NOx increase
with respect to diesel for 2.5, 4.55, 10.4 and 14.6%, respectively.
By increasing engine speed and decreased sprayed fuel as well
as shorter time of formation of NOx inside combustion chamber, the
engine exhaust NOx decreases, while the NOx increase with respect
to diesel enhances, except for 1200 rpm, due to the increased speed
and improved combustion due to increased air flow turbulence
increase inside combustion chamber through increased speed.
WCB20 in 1,200, 1,400, 1700 and 2000 rpm generates NOx
contaminant for 3725.2, 3459.1, 3137.2, 2838.7 g/kWh, which has
an increased NOx with respect to diesel for 9.6, 13.6, 12.4, 21.9%,
respectively.
3.2.3. CO emission
Fig. 10 shows carbon monoxide average changes with respect to
diesel for the compounds for here biodiesel samples at different
speeds against the engine load. The carbon monoxide value upon
using biodiesel compounds decreases and the more increased fuel
compound percentage, the more carbon monoxide decreases. For
instance, CO value for COB5, COB10, COB20, COB30 fuels under
100% load with respect to diesel has decreased for 5.7, 15.76, 29.4,
and 35.7%, respectively. These results have also been expressed by
other scholars and the cause of the same is the increase of oxygen
content in fuel [4,10].
In addition to the oxygen in the fuel structure, there are other
factors affecting CO generation such as cetane number and viscosity
of fuel. Through comparing the three samples of biodiesels, highest
CO decrease is related to COB compounds in comparison to similar
compounds of two other biodiesels. After coconut biodiesel, waste
cooking biodiesel has the highest CO decrease and eventually the
least changes with respect to diesel are associated to caster bio-
diesel. The main factor in comparison of the biodiesels includes
their cetane number and viscosity. By increasing cetane number,
less fuel-rich areas are formed in combustion chamber which re-
sults in better oxidation of fuel particles. CO decrease value with
respect to diesel for COB10, WCB10, CAB10 fuels under 75% loads
are equal to 23.11, 19.3 and 14.35%, respectively. Although castor oil
biodiesel has high oxygen weight ratio, it has the least cetane
number among the tested biodiesels. Therefore, it has the least CO
decrease among the said biodiesels. Coconut biodiesel has high
oxygen weight ratio and cetane number. Therefore, it has the
highest CO decrease, while waste cooking biodiesel had oxygen
ratio, cetane number and viscosity between those two other
biodiesels.
CO contaminant for the three biodiesel samples increases along
with load increase due to increased fuel sent to the engine, while its
changes decreases with respect to diesel by increasing load, except
for 25%. The reason of this phenomenon is that by increasing load
and fuel sent to the engine, the effect of viscosity of fuel enhances,
and therefore, combustion with respect to less loads suffers from
loss of efficiency. WCB30 fuel for 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% loads
generates less CO than diesel for 59.7, 66.4, 57.4 and 33.9%,
respectively.
Fig. 11 shows the average changes value of CO under different
loads with respect to diesel for fuels compounds against speed.
Increasing speed decreases CO contaminant from the engine due to
improved efficiency and decreased fuel to air ratio, while speed
does not significantly affect its changes with respect to diesel, and
merely the CO changes rate for fuels with high biodiesel
892 P. Zareh et al. / Energy 139 (2017) 883e894
Fig. 10. Changes of carbon monoxide of three biodiesel samples compounds with
respect to diesel against load. (a) coconut oil biodiesel, (b) Waste cooking oil biodiesel,
(c) caster oil biodiesel.
percentages decreases in high speeds.
3.2.4. CO2 emission
Fig. 12 shows the average decrease of CO2 for three biodiesel
samples under different speeds against load imposed to the engine.
The fuel compounds of three biodiesel samples have CO2 decrease
with respect to diesel in exhaust gases. The cause of this phe-
nomenon is lesser carbon to hydrogen ratio and existence of oxygen
in fuel structure [14,15].
Highest CO2 decrease is related to coconut biodiesel fuel com-
pounds and then waste cooking biodiesel and finally castor bio-
diesel because under fixed fuel volume, WCB, COB and CAB have
77%, 74.3% and 79.5% non-oxygen compounds of weight, i.e.
hydrogen and carbon and on the other hand, carbon to hydrogen
ratio for the three biodiesels are equal to 0.517, 0.463 and 0.529,
respectively. Therefore, under fixed volume, bigger number of
Fig. 11. Changes of carbon monoxide of three biodiesel samples compounds with
respect to diesel against speed. (a) coconut oil biodiesel, (b) Waste cooking oil bio-
diesel, (c) castiker oil biodiesel.
carbon atoms enters into the cylinder upon using castor biodiesel
and then waste cooking biodiesel with respect to coconut biodiesel.
For instance, for 75% load, the COB30, WCB30, CAB30 fuels has CO2
decrease with respect to diesel for 32.2%, 29.04% and 29.56%,
respectively.
Through increasing biodiesel percentage in fuels compounds,
exhausted CO2 decreases due to less number of carbon atoms
entering into the combustion chamber. WCB5, WCB10, WCB20,
WCB30 under load of 100% have a decrease in CO2 in exhaust gases
with respect to diesel for 3.76%, 8.25%, 18.3% and 27.01%,
respectively.
By increasing engine load, although due to the increase of fuel
value sprayed in combustion chamber, CO2 increases, emission of it
with respect to diesel remains almost unchanged.
Fig. 13 shows the trend of CO2 gas emission changes with respect
to diesel against engine speed. By increasing speed, the CO2
 P. Zareh et al. / Energy 139 (2017) 883e894
Fig. 12. Changes of carbon dioxide of three biodiesel samples compounds with respect
to diesel against load. (a) coconut oil biodiesel, (b) Waste cooking oil biodiesel, (c)
caster oil biodiesel.
emission reduces, while changes trend with respect to diesel is in a
certain way that under middle speeds, highest CO2 gas decrease
with respect to diesel may be observed. For instance, CAB30 in
1,200, 1,400, 1700 and 2000 rpms has CO2 contaminant decrease
with respect to diesel for 9.6, 23.6, 21.7 and 16.1%, respectively.
4. Conclusion
In this investigation, a comparative experimental survey of
performance and emissions of a DI diesel engine running with CAB,
COB and WCB blends with diesel fuel under simultaneous changes
of load and speed was carried out. Based on the experimental study,
the main results of this study are summarized as follows:
Under simultaneous variation of speed and load, the separate
use of waste cooking and caster and coconut biodiesels along with
diesel cause decreasing brake power. This reduction increases by
893
Fig. 13. Changes of carbon dioxide of three biodiesel samples compounds with respect
to diesel against speed. (a) coconut oil biodiesel, (b) Waste cooking oil biodiesel, (c)
caster oil biodiesel.
increasing biodiesel percentage in different blends. By increasing
speed as well as load power reduction increases, except for
2000 rpm and 100% load respectively. The lowest power reduction
is related to waste cooking biodiesel blends and maximum reduc-
tion is relevant to caster biodiesel blends.
Through increasing biodiesel percentage, brake specific fuel
consumption of all fuels increases. Increased fuel consumption in
castor biodiesel in all loads and compounds of fuel is more than the
two other biodiesels. After castor biodiesel, coconut biodiesel and
eventually waste cooking biodiesel have higher specific fuel con-
sumption in comparison to diesel. Through increasing load, the
specific consumption changes have decreased. By increasing speed,
fuel growth rate with respect to diesel increases.
The use of biodiesel and its compounds with diesel results in a
decrease in PM in the engine exhaust gases. Existence of oxygen in
biodiesel molecular structure results in better oxidation of PM in
894 P. Zareh et al. / Energy 139 (2017) 883e894
combustion chamber and in turn a decrease in PM contaminant of
the engines fed with biodiesel fuel. The highest PM decrease is
related to coconut biodiesel fuel compounds, followed by castor oil
biodiesel and eventually waste cooking biodiesel. Although by
increasing load the PM changes rate with respect to diesel de-
creases, its content increases with load increase for biodiesel
compounds, except for 100% load. By increasing speed, PM content
decreases, except for 2000 rpm.
Biodiesels increase NOx exhausting the engine. Therefore, by
increasing biodiesel percentage in fuel compounds, the exiting NOx
increases. NOx increased percentage with respect to diesel de-
creases by increased load. Coconut biodiesel with load increase has
maximum rate of generated NOx percentage decrease rate with
respect to diesel. Waste cooking biodiesel lies in the second place,
and eventually caster has the highest generated NOx changes rate
with respect to diesel with load increase and merely 30% com-
bustion of this fuel generates less NOx than waste cooking biodiesel.
By increasing engine speed, exhausted NOx increases, except for
1200 rpm.
Carbon monoxide value upon using biodiesel compounds de-
creases and the more increased fuel compound percentage, the
more carbon monoxide decreases. Highest CO decrease is related to
COB compounds in comparison to similar compounds of the two
other biodiesels. After coconut biodiesel, waste cooking biodiesel
has the highest CO decrease and eventually the least changes with
respect to diesel are associated to caster biodiesel. CO contaminant
for the three biodiesel samples increases along with load increase,
except for 25%. Increasing speed decreases CO contaminant from
the engine.
The fuel compounds of the three biodiesel samples have CO2
decrease with respect to diesel in exhaust gases. Highest CO2
decrease is related to coconut biodiesel fuel compounds and then
waste cooking biodiesel and finally castor biodiesel. Through
increasing biodiesel percentage in fuels compounds, exhausted CO2
decreases. By increasing engine load, CO2 increases, and by
increasing the engine speed, CO2 emission reduces.
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