Biodiesel as a Clean Fuel for Mobility

Abstract

Conventional fossil fuel sources are limited and their combustion leads to emissions. For these reasons, more eco-friendly alternative fuels are needed. Biodiesel has been known as a suitable alternative fuel for the last few decades. This fuel is produced from various sources including vegetable oils, animal fats, and waste oils, which are all renewable. The use of biodiesel in conventional diesel engines leads to a considerable reduction in PM, HC, and CO emissions. The use of biodiesel results in a significant reduction in PM, HC, and CO emissions, along with an insensible power loss, increase of fuel consumption, and rise of NOx emission in conventional CI engines. Besides, the engine performance parameters, including brake thermal efficiency, brake-specific fuel consumption, and braking power, are virtually maintained. This chapter properly examines the impacts of using biodiesel fuel in CI and LTC engines on the main parameters, such as combustion phase, combustion characteristics, fuel consumption, and power output. It is noteworthy that the use of the LTC combustion strategy is more useful compared to other methods. This method can significantly reduce PM and NOx production by up to 98% and 95%, respectively, while the reduction of the engine performance is inconsiderate. The most efficient mode of LTC combustion is the RCCI strategy. Using the RCCI combustion model may increase the level of CO and HC pollutants, but this can be simply controlled with some existing technologies. In general, the combination of biodiesel and RCCI combustion is useful both in terms of improving RCCI engine performance and in terms of solving the NOx challenge in biodiesel combustion.