Experimental study on fuel consumption and smoke opacity of defective coffee-bean-based biodiesel fuel engines

Abstract

This experimental study aims to analyse the performance of sorted coffee beans-based biodiesel. This study is carried out in three main stages; (a) the preparation process of coffee beans raw material, (b) the biodiesel formation process, and (c) biodiesel performance analysis. In manufacturing process, the coffee bean powder is added with two chemical treatments sequentially; extraction-distillation and esterification/transesterification. Parameters of analysis in this study are the characteristics of the biodiesel and the performance of the biodiesel-diesel mixture in terms of fuel consumption efficiency and engine smoke opacity. Measurements of Engine Running Time (ERT) and smoke opacity were carried out on a single-piston diesel engine. There were five biodiesel-diesel mixture specimens; B0, B5, B10, B15, and B20 (20% biodiesel fraction). The experimental results show that mixing biodiesel with diesel fuel provides two main advantages; extending engine running time which means fuel consumption efficiency, and lowering the smoke opacity level. Therefore, it is more environmentally friendly. The efficiency of fuel consumption and smoke opacity depends on the biodiesel fraction in the fuel mixture. The results and methodology of this research are expected to be an additional reference in the development of biodiesel as an alternative fuel.