Energy 44 (2012) 633e640

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Energy
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Influences of re-entrant combustion chamber geometry on the performance

of Pongamia biodiesel in a DI diesel engine
S. Jaichandar a, *, K. Annamalai b
a
Dept. of Automobile Engineering, Sree Sastha Institute of Engineering and Technology, Anna University, Chennai 600 123, Tamilnadu, India
b
Dept. of Automobile Engineering, Madras Institute of Technology, Anna University, Chromepet, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India

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

Article history: In this experimental study, the influences of re-entrant combustion chamber geometry on a diesel engine
Received 1 February 2012 emission, performance and on the combustion were investigated using Pongamia Oil Methyl Ester
Received in revised form (POME). For this purpose, the pistons with Toroidal Re-entrant Combustion Chamber (TRCC) and Shallow
12 April 2012
Depth Re-entrant Combustion Chamber having the same volume as that of the baseline Hemispherical
Accepted 18 May 2012
Available online 10 June 2012
open Combustion Chamber were tested in a four stroke, single cylinder, DI diesel engine. Two fuels
namely, 20 percent POME blend (20% POME) with petroleum based diesel fuel (PBDF) and PBDF were
used for this study. The test results for re-entrant type combustion chambers fuelled with 20% POME and
Keywords:
Biodiesel
PBDF were compared with baseline engine having hemispherical open type combustion chamber
Diesel engine operated with PBDF and 20% POME blend. The test results showed that substantially higher brake
Combustion chamber thermal efficiency and lower specific fuel consumption for TRCC compared to baseline engine fuelled
Performance with 20% POME. Sharp reduction of particulates, CO and UBHC were observed for TRCC compared to the
Emissions other two. However oxides of nitrogen (NOx) were higher for TRCC. The combustion analysis shows that,
the ignition delay is lower for TRCC compared to baseline engine and the peak pressure is also higher at
full load.
Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The diesel engine generally offers better fuel economy, relatively
higher emissions and noise level than its counterpart petrol engine.
The high fuel efficiency of diesel engines has led to their use in
many fields including transportation, electrical power generation
and agricultural machinery. However the rapid depletion of fossil
fuel with increased environmental concern has increased interest
and efforts to produce alternative to PBDF. The twin problems of
fuel crises and environmental pollution by the usage of fossil fuels
in diesel engines can be resolved significantly by the usage of
alternative fuels such as vegetable oils. The physical, chemical and
thermodynamic properties of vegetable oils are almost similar to
those of PBDF and hence can be used in diesel engines. However
investigations carried out [1e4] using raw vegetable oils as alter-
native diesel engine fuels have shown, increases in brake specific
fuel consumption and emissions such as carbon monoxide, unburnt
hydrocarbon and smoke opacity compared to neat PBDF. This was
attributed to their properties such as lower heating value, high
* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ91 44 26850493, þ91 9444984748 (mobile).
E-mail address: jaisriram18@yahoo.com (S. Jaichandar).
viscosity, poor atomization and low volatility. Therefore, the raw
vegetable oils are not ideally suited as fuels for diesel engines. To
make them suitable they have to be modified in terms of their
properties, particularly viscosity of the oil has to be brought closer
to PBDF. Methods like blending with diesel, emulsification, pyrol-
ysis and transesterification are used to reduce the viscosity of
vegetable oils. Among these, the transesterification is the
commonly used commercial process to produce clean and envi-
ronmental friendly biodiesel fuel [5e8].
Transesterification is a chemical process of transforming large,
branched, triglyceride molecules of vegetable oils into smaller,
straight chain molecules, almost similar in size to the molecules of
the species present in PBDF known as biodiesel. However even after
transesterification, certain properties of biodiesel such as viscosity,
calorific value, density and volatility differ from PBDF. These
properties strongly affect injection characteristics, air-fuel mixing
characteristics and thereby combustion characteristics of biodiesel
in a diesel engine. A large number of experimental investigations
on the performance, emission and combustion characteristics of
biodiesel fuel in diesel engines have been carried out [9e23]. These
studies have reported that the use of biodiesel blends and neat
biodiesel in diesel engine decrease carbon monoxide, unburnt
hydrocarbon, and smoke emission levels compared to PBDF.

0360-5442/$ e see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.energy.2012.05.029
634 S. Jaichandar, K. Annamalai / Energy 44 (2012) 633e640

However, increases in NOx emission levels, increases in brake
specific fuel consumption and decreases in brake thermal efficiency
and brake mean effective pressure have been reported [15e27].
The performance, combustion and emission characteristics of
diesel engines depend on various factors like the engine design,
operating parameters and fuel properties [28]. The engine design,
particularly the combustion chamber design in a direct injection
diesel engine has to achieve a high degree of air movement inside
the cylinder in terms of swirl, squish and turbulence, in order to
prepare better air-fuel mixture, to promote the evaporation in
a very short time and to achieve higher combustion efficiency. The
conventional combustion chamber has been optimized for
combustion of PBDF, including improvement of mixing between
injected PBDF and in-cylinder air, but not for biodiesel. Since the
properties of biodiesel are different from PBDF, to clarify the
influence of components of the fatty acid methyl ester on the
engine performance, combustion and emission characteristics,
engine tests were carried out using three types of combustion
chamber geometries to compare the performance, emission and
combustion characteristics of 20% blend of POME and PBDF, in
a four-stroke, single-cylinder, DI diesel engine.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Biodiesel and its properties
The biodiesel chosen for the present investigation is POME. The
tested biodiesel was produced from Pongamia seeds obtained from
the tree Pongamia pinnata. Pongamia pinnata belongs to the family
of Fabaceae (or Leguminosae). Amongst the many species, which
can yield oil as a source of energy in the form of bio-fuel, Pongamia
pinnata has been found to be one of the most suitable species in
India. It is a medium sized evergreen tree with a spreading crown
and a short bole. It is one of the few nitrogen-fixing trees, producing
seeds containing 30e40% oil. Its root, bark, leaves, sap, and flower
also have medicinal properties and traditionally used as medicinal
plant. To prepare POME, the transesterification reaction was per-
formed on raw Pongamia oil. The process takes place by the reac-
tion of raw Pongamia oil with methyl alcohol in the presence of
catalyst. The physico-chemical properties of the raw Pongamia oil
and POME were experimentally evaluated. The properties of raw
Pongamia oil, POME and its 20% blend with PBDF are compared
with the PBDF in Table 1. Most of the properties of bio-fuels like
calorific value, viscosity, density, flash point, cloud point and pour
point are comparable with those of PBDF. Even though properties of
POME are comparable with PBDF, the viscosity of 20% POME was
found to be about 14.5% higher and calorific value was 2.3% lower,
when compared to PBDF.
2.2. Experimental setup
A four-stroke, single cylinder, direct injection, naturally aspi-
rated, water-cooled, compression ignition (CI) Kirloskar TV1 model
diesel engine was used for the tests. The detailed technical speci-
fications of the standard engine are given in Table 2. The engine is
equipped with a MICO in-line injection pump, which pressurize the
fuel and injects at a pressure of 200 bar. A three-hole injector is
used, which injects the fuel in the form of fine spray to ensure good
fuel atomization. The fuel is injected into the centrally positioned
combustion chamber made in the piston crown. The engine oper-
ates at a constant speed of 1500 rpm. The standard engine has
a hemispherical combustion chamber with the overhead valve
arrangements operated by push rods. This engine was coupled to an
eddy current dynamometer with a control system. The cylinder
pressure was measured by a piezoelectric pressure transducer
fitted on the engine cylinder head and a crank angle encoder fitted
on the flywheel. Both the pressure transducer and encoder signal
were connected to the charge amplifier to condition the signals for
combustion analysis using SeS combustion analyser. The engine
combustion analyser is used to evaluate and determine power
cylinder combustion characteristics such as ignition delay, start of
combustion, estimated end of combustion, mass fraction burnt,
heat release rate and pressure and volume variations with respect
to crank angle. UBHC and CO were measured using a CRYPTON 5
gas analyser. The instrument measures CO, CO2 and UBHC
employing Non-Dispersive lnfra-Red (NDIR) techniques. NOx
emissions were measured using chemiluminescent type SIGNAL
heated vacuum NOx analyser. The smoke intensity was measured
with the help of the AVL 437C Smoke meter. It works on the prin-
ciple of extinction of light between light source and receiver. Fig. 1
shows the schematic diagram of the experimental setup.
2.3. Engine modifications
To achieve improved performance and further reductions in
emissions from biodiesel operated diesel engine, rapid and better
air-biodiesel mixing is the most important requirement. To achieve
these, investigations on any modifications of engine design,
particularly combustion chamber may be required, because
mixture formation within the engine cylinder mainly depends

Table 1
Properties of diesel, raw Pongamia oil, biodiesel from Pongamia and its blend.

Properties Pongamia oil 100% POME 20% POME Diesel IS: 15607 specification Test methods IS1448/ASTM
Density (Kg/m3) 912 898 862 850 860e890 P 16
Kinematic viscosity (cSt) 27.84 5.46 3.49 2.9 2.5e6.0 P 25/D 445
Calorific value (MJ/kg) 34 39.15 43.126 44.12 D 5865
Flash Pt ( C) 242 196 91 76 120 P 21/D 93
Cloud Pt ( C) 14.6 10.2 7.1 6.5 e D 2500
Pour Pt ( C) e 4.2 3.6 3.1 e D 2500
Cetane no 46 57.9 51 49 51 P 9/D 613
Sulphur, mg/kg 0.007 0.005 21 29 50 P 83/D 5453
Carbon residue, % mass 1.2 0.0035 0.015 0.1 0.05 ASTM 4530
Sulphated ash, % mass 0.014 0.002 0.001 0.001 0.02 P 4/D 874
Water content, mg/kg e 340 90 52 500 P 40/D 2709
Acid value, mg KOH/g 5.06 0.42 0.15 0.10 0.5 P 1/D 664
Methanol, % mass e 0.09 0.02 e 0.20 EN 14110
Ester content, % mass e 98 e e 96.5 EN 14103
Phosphorous, mg/kg e 3.2 e e 10 ASTM D4951
Iodine value, g I2/100 gm 96 86.5 e 38.3 120 EN 14104
Oxidation stability, at 110  C, h e 11.6 e e 6 EN 14112
 S. Jaichandar, K. Annamalai / Energy 44 (2012) 633e640 635

Table 2 process, engine performance and NOx and smoke emissions. They
Standard engine specifications. found that the reentrant chamber reduces ignition lag and provides
Make Kirloskar TV1 better fuel economy with delayed injection timing, which is
Type Vertical diesel engine, 4stroke, attributed to the effect produced by the hotter surface of the
water cooled, single cylinder reentrant chamber. Also combustion is enhanced with reduced
Displacement 661 cc smoke emission due to higher velocities induced around TDC
Bore & stroke 87.5 mm & 110 mm
accompanying much turbulence. Montajir R et al. [32] have studied
Compression ratio 17.5:1
Fuel Diesel the effects of combustion chamber geometry, the shape of the
Rated brake power 5.2 kW @ 1500 rpm cavity entrance, bottom corner radius and the position where spray
Ignition system Compression ignition impinges on the wall were varied to investigate their effects on the
Injection timing 23 bTDC (rated) spray development in the chamber using a common rail injection
Injection pressure 200 bar
Combustion chamber Hemispherical combustion chamber
system. They found that the reentrant cavity with round lip
produces larger spray volumes and wider spray spreading. For
effect on impinging position they stated that the fuel impingement
just on the lip corner produces the maximum spreading area. They
upon the shape of the combustion chamber in a DI diesel engine. In
also concluded that introduction of a bottom corner radius helps to
the present investigation, to investigate the effects of combustion
disperse the fuel accumulated at the bottom corner and the spray
chamber geometry on performance, combustion and emission
volume increases.
characteristics of biodiesel fuelled DI diesel engine, the piston bowl
geometry was modified. Without altering the compression ratio of
the engine, the piston bowl geometry was modified to have 2.4. Experimental method and evaluation
Toroidal Re-entrant Combustion Chamber (TRCC) and Shallow
depth Re-entrant Combustion Chamber (SRCC) from the baseline Two fuels were tested in this study: PBDF and a blend of 20%
Hemispherical open type Combustion Chamber (HCC). Fig. 2 shows POME fuel by volume in the PBDF. To begin with the performance,
the shapes and dimensions of combustion chamber geometries emission and combustion tests were carried out using PBDF at
used for this study. The photographic view of pistons having the various loads for standard engine having HCC with fuel injection
three shapes of combustion chambers employed for this study is pressure of 200 bar and fuel injection timing of 23 bTDC, which are
shown in Fig. 3. set by the manufacturer. These performance, combustion and
Numerous test results indicate that, for high swirl DI diesel emission values are used as baseline PBDF operation throughout
engines, a reentrant combustion chamber shape in which the lip of the experimentation for comparison with the results obtained from
the combustion chamber protrudes beyond the walls of the bowl standard engine with 20% POME and modified engine with 20%
provides a substantial improvement in performance and emissions POME and PBDF. Then the performance, emission and combustion
over the previous open straight sided bowl designs [29]. tests were conducted for standard engine with 20% POME and
Researchers at AVL List (Austria) found that a reentrant bowl gave modified engine having TRCC and SRCC with PBDF and 20% POME,
a 20% reduction on PM emissions compared to those measured at the same injection parameters. The engine tests were carried out
from a straight sided bowl at the same compression ratio [30]. T. at 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% load. In order to have meaningful
Saito et al. [31] investigated the effect of the combustion geometry comparison of emissions and engine performance, investigation
on combustion with special emphasis focused on the re-entrant was carried out at same operating conditions i.e. engine speed,
combustion chamber using PBDF. They compared the conventional torque, air-fuel ratio and peak conditions were maintained. In the
combustion chambers and the reentrant in terms of combustion experimental investigations different equipment and instruments

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of experimental setup.

636 S. Jaichandar, K. Annamalai / Energy 44 (2012) 633e640
Fig. 2. Schematic diagram different combustion chambers employed.
were used for measurement of different parameters. These
instruments and equipment are made by different manufacturers
using different technologies. The accuracy of measurement and
their performance may vary depending on the operating conditions
and experimental environment. Hence the uncertainty occurs due
to fixed or random errors. The uncertainties in the measured
parameters were estimated based on analytical methods. The
uncertainties computed for the measured quantities are given in
Table 3.
3. Results and discussion
The performance, emission and combustion characteristics of
the base engine with HCC and modified engine with TRCC and SRCC
were measured, analysed and compared for brake specific fuel
consumption, brake thermal efficiency, unburnt hydrocarbon,
carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen smoke emissions and
combustion parameters such as ignition delay and in cylinder peak
pressure.
3.1. Performance analysis
3.1.1. Brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC)
Brake specific fuel consumption is the ratio between mass fuel
consumption and brake power and it is inversely proportional to
thermal efficiency. Fig. 4 shows the BSFC of standard engine and
modified engine with PBDF and 20% POME. It shows that the BSFC
decreases with the increase in brake power for all types of fuel and
combustion chambers. The BSFC for 20% POME (0.288 kg/kW-hr) is
slightly higher than that of PBDF (0.263 kg/kW-hr) for the standard
engine at full load. This may be attributed to the lower calorific
value of POME than that of conventional PBDF. However the
Fig. 3. Photographic view of different combustion chambers employed.
specific fuel consumption for SRCC (0.271 kg/kW-hr) and HCC
(0.288 kg/kW-hr) are higher than that for TRCC (0.252 kg/kW-hr)
when fuelled with 20% POME at full load. The higher specific fuel
consumption for SRCC and HCC may be attributed to poor air fuel
mixing, which leads to poor combustion.
3.1.2. Brake thermal efficiency (BTE)
Brake thermal efficiency of an engine is important since it
determines how efficiently the fuel is being used in the engine. It is
the ratio of energy in the brake power to the fuel energy. Fig. 5
shows the comparison of BTE of standard engine and modified
engine with PBDF and 20% POME. It shows that the BTE increases
with the increase in brake power. BTE of 20% POME is lower
(28.93%) compared to that of PBDF (31.7%) with standard engine
having HCC. Since the engine is operated under constant injection
timing and POME has a smaller ignition delay, combustion is
initiated much before TDC is reached [27]. This increases
compression work and more heat loss and thus reduces the BTE of
the engine. On the other hand BTE for TRCC (33.07% at full load) is
higher when compared to the other two types of combustion
chambers at all loads when operated with 20% POME. This may be
due to better mixture formation of POME and air, as a result of
better air motion in TRCC, which leads to better combustion of the
biodiesel and thus increases the BTE. At all loads the BTE for SRCC is
lower than that of TRCC and it lies in between TRCC and HCC.
3.2. Emission analysis
3.2.1. Unburnt hydrocarbon emission (UBHC)
The unburnt hydrocarbon emissions for TRCC and SRCC are
compared with the baseline HCC. UBHC emissions are reduced over
the entire range of loads for TRCC and SRCC when compared to HCC
 S. Jaichandar, K. Annamalai / Energy 44 (2012) 633e640 637

Table 3
Uncertainties in the measured parameters.

Parameters Percent uncertainty

Speed 1.0%
Load 0.5%
Time 0.3%
Temperature 0.2%
Brake power 0.5%
BSFC 0.8%
BTE 0.6%
CO 0.2%
UBHC 0.3%
NOx 0.2%
Smoke opacity 1.0%
Pressure 1.0%

Fig. 5. Comparisons of BTE for HCC, SRCC and TRCC.

with 20% POME. This may be attributed to better combustion of
POME, due to better mixture formation of air and POME, as a result
diesel engines always operate with excess air, NOx emissions are
of improved swirl and squish motion of air in re-entrant combus-
mainly a function of gas temperature and residence time. Fig. 8
tion chambers. Fig. 6 shows the variations of UBHC emissions with
shows the variations of oxides of nitrogen emissions for standard
brake power for three types of combustion chambers. There is
engine and modified engine with PBDF and 20% POME. The NOx
a reduction of 20.7% HC emissions for the TRCC compared to
emissions were higher for TRCC than the base engine. The reason
baseline engine when tests are carried out with 20% POME and 30%
for the increase in NOx may be attributed to higher combustion
reduction with PBDF at full load operation.
temperatures arising from improved combustion due to better
mixture formation in TRCC and availability of oxygen in POME.
3.2.2. Carbon monoxide emission (CO)
Another reason for increased NOx emissions may be attributed to
CO is predominantly formed due to the lack of oxygen and
that, a larger part of the combustion is completed before top dead
incomplete combustion of fuel. Usually in diesel engines CO
centre for POME and its blends compared to PBDF due to their
emissions are formed with fuel-rich mixtures, but as diesel
lower ignition delay [27]. So it is highly possible that higher peak
combustion is occurred with lean mixture and has an abundant
cycle temperatures are reached for POME compared to PBDF.
amount of air, CO from diesel combustion is low. Fig. 7 shows the
However NOx can be controlled by adopting Exhaust Gas Recircu-
comparison of CO emissions with brake power for three types of
lation (EGR) and by employing suitable catalytic converters. At full
combustion chambers. At all loads, CO emissions for all types of
load with 20% POME for the TRCC, the NOx emission was 784 ppm
combustion chambers fuelled with biodiesel blend decreased
compared to 712 ppm for standard engine with HCC. There is an
significantly when compared with those of PBDF. This shows that
increase of about 9.2% NOx emissions for TRCC.
CO emissions are greatly reduced with the addition of POME to
PBDF. It has also been found that CO emissions from the engine
3.2.4. Smoke
with TRCC are lower than the other two combustion chambers.
In diesel engine smoke formation generally occurs in the rich
Higher air movement in TRCC and presence of oxygen in POME,
zone at high temperature, particularly within the core region of fuel
lead to better combustion of fuel resulting in the decrease in CO
spray. Fig. 9 shows the smoke intensity comparison for three types
emissions. Secondly increase in the proportion of oxygen in POME
of combustion chambers with 20% POME and PBDF. At all loads,
promotes further oxidation of CO during the engine exhaust
smoke emissions for the blend decreased significantly when
process. Reduction in CO emissions is a strong advantage in favour
compared with those of PBDF. The significant reduction in smoke
of POME. There is a reduction of 44.5% CO emissions for the TRCC
emission may be due to the presence of oxygen in biodiesel blend.
compared to standard engine when tests are carried out with 20%
Smoke is mainly produced in the diffusive combustion phase. The
POME.
oxygenated 20% POME fuel leads to an improvement in diffusive
combustion. It is also observed that the smoke emissions were
3.2.3. Oxides of nitrogen emission (NOx)
lower for TRCC than SRCC and HCC. Among all combustion cham-
NOx is formed by chain reactions involving nitrogen and oxygen
bers, TRCC gives 28.2% reduction of smoke opacity when compared
in the air. These reactions are highly temperature dependent. Since

Fig. 4. Variations of BSFC for HCC, SRCC and TRCC. Fig. 6. Variations of UBHC emissions.
638 S. Jaichandar, K. Annamalai / Energy 44 (2012) 633e640
Fig. 7. Variations of CO emissions.
with standard engine fuelled with PBDF. This may be reasoned to
more complete combustion due to better air fuel mixing and the
presence of oxygen in the POME.
3.3. Combustion analysis
3.3.1. Ignition delay
Ignition delay of fuel is a significant parameter in determining
the knocking characteristics of diesel engines. Fig. 10 shows the
variations of ignition delay for modified and unmodified engine. It
is observed that the ignition delay period of 20% POME is signifi-
cantly lower than that of PBDF when tested in the standard engine.
This indicates that POME and its blends have higher cetane number
compared to PBDF. It is also observed that the ignition delay periods
are lower for TRCC than HCC and SRCC at all loads of operation. The
ignition delay for SRCC lies between TRCC and HCC at all loads of
operation when fuelled with 20% POME. It is noticed that for all test
fuels and combustion chamber geometries the reduction in ignition
delay increases with the increase in load. This may be due to higher
combustion chamber wall temperature and reduced exhaust gas
dilution at higher loads.
3.3.2. Peak pressure (P)
The variation of peak pressures with respect to brake power for
modified engine and standard engine with diesel and 20% POME is
shown Fig. 11. It can be seen that the peak pressure is slightly lower
for 20% POME when compared to that of PBDF in the standard
engine. This may be attributed to improper mixing of 20% POME
with air due to higher viscosity and lower calorific value for 20%
POME. However the peak pressure for TRCC is higher than that for
Fig. 8. Comparisons of NOx emissions.
Fig. 9. Comparisons of smoke emissions.
HCC with PBDF operation. Further the peak pressure for TRCC is
higher than that for SRCC and HCC with 20% POME. This may be
attributed to better combustion due to better air fuel mixing in
TRCC as a result of improved air motion. It has been noticed that the
maximum peak pressure of 80.6 bar is recorded for TRCC operated
with diesel, while TRCC operated with POME records its peak
pressure as 77.1 bar.
3.3.3. Net heat release rate (Qn)
The comparison of the net heat release rate curves for stan-
dard engine and modified engine with PBDF and 20% POME is
shown in Fig. 12. It can be seen from the Fig. 12 that the
maximum heat release rate of 20% POME blend is lower than
that of PBDF in the standard engine. This may be attributed to
shorter ignition delay for 20% POME compared with that of PBDF.
In addition the poor spray atomization characteristics of bio-
diesel due to higher viscosity and surface tension may be
responsible for the lower heat release rate. Further it has been
noticed that heat release rate during diffusion combustion phase
of 20% POME is slightly higher than that of PBDF. However the
heat release rate curve for TRCC fuelled with 20% POME
demonstrates similar but slightly lower than baseline engine
fuelled with PBDF and better than the other combustion cham-
bers operated with 20% POME. This may be attributed to
improved air fuel mixing, evaporation and better combustion. It
has been observed that the maximum heat release rate of 91.2 J/
 CA is recorded for TRCC operated with diesel at 6 before Top
Dead Centre (TDC), while TRCC operated with POME records its
maximum heat release rate of 87.6 J/ CA at 10 bTDC.
Fig. 10. Variations of ignition delay.
 S. Jaichandar, K. Annamalai / Energy 44 (2012) 633e640
Fig. 11. Variations of peak pressures.
Fig. 12. Comparisons of heat release rate at full load.
4. Conclusion
In this experimental study the effect of open combustion
chamber geometries on performance and emission characteristics
of biodiesel derived from Pongamia oil was investigated. The
following conclusions were drawn from the experimental results.
1. The improved air motion in TRCC due to its geometry improves
the mixture formation which increases brake thermal effi-
ciency substantially and lowers the specific fuel consumption
compared to SRCC and HCC.
2. Due to higher oxygen content in the POME and better
combustion as a result of improved mixture formation, the
emissions of CO, UBHC and smoke were lower for TRCC than
other types of combustion chamber.
3. Better combustion and presence of oxygen content in the
POME results in increased combustion chamber temperature
that produces higher oxides of nitrogen in TRCC than HCC and
SRCC.
4. Due to higher combustion chamber wall temperature, avail-
ability of oxygen with POME and improved mixture formation
due to better air motion, the ignition delay for TRCC is found to
be lesser compared to SRCC and HCC.
639
5. Better combustion due to better air fuel mixing in TRCC gives
maximum in cylinder pressure compared to SRCC and TRCC.
For all combustion chambers operated with 20% POME
decrease in premixed combustion and increase in diffused
combustion was observed.
The present analysis reveals that performance, emission and
combustion characteristics of biodiesel from Pongamia oil can be
improved by suitably designing the combustion chamber.
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