Effect of varying 9-octadecenoic acid content in ester on the performance of CI engine

The 9-Octadecenoic acid (Oleic fatty acid) content of vegetable oil seeds can be altered, there by increasing its content in the oil - by mutagenesis - for the purpose of increasing the shelf life. In this work, it is intended to examine the effect on performance of a CI engine if run on such oil. For the purpose, the situation is simulated by adding commercially available 9-octadecenoic acid to pongamia ester- the experiments were conducted with 10% and 20% extra acid, at various compression ratios-16, 17, 17.5 and 18.The results indicate that the smoke emission and BSEC increase with increase in oleic acid content, however, the NOx decreases; and a compression ratio of 17 –normal compression ratio for the engine is 17.5- is found to be ideal while operating with extra oleic acid content.