EMISSIONS AND PERFORMANCE OF A DIESEL ENGINE AFFECTED BY CRAMBE BIODIESEL BLENDS

ABSTRACT Brazil has been facing a huge rise in fuel and diesel prices due to the rise in the international market and the war between Ukraine and Russia. The rise in electricity prices is also a problem that affects everyone in Brazil. This study aimed to evaluate the performance and emissions of a diesel engine for power generation that operates with crambe-based fuels with blends of 0% (control), B5, B10, B15, B20, B50, B70, and B90. The fuels were tested in an 8 kVA generator engine at a load of up to 6000 W. The biofuels were obtained from a mixture of diesel with crambe biodiesel at incremental levels from B0 to B90 in the fuel mixture. The increased proportion of crambe biodiesel resulted in lower specific consumption. Crambe biodiesel resulted in a reduction of CO, CO2, and NO2 emissions due to an increase in crambe biodiesel at the proportion. The results indicate that crambe biodiesel blends are viable technical solutions for the partial replacement of conventional diesel.