Performance and emission characteristics of using sea lemon biodiesel with thermal barrier coating in a direct-injection diesel engine

Abstract

In this experimental work an attempt has been made to study non-edible biodiesel blends with diesel used as a fuel in a thermal barrier coated (TBC) diesel engine. Biodiesel is prepared in a laboratory by a single-step base-catalyzed transesterification method. Engine combustion chamber elements such as cylinder head, valves and piston are coated with Lanthana-doped yttria-stabilized zirconia (the doping of YSZ coatings with small amounts of La2O3) with a thickness of 300 µm over a 100-µm thick bond coat of Al2TiO5 using a plasma spray coating method. Experiments are carried out on a Lanthana-doped YSZ-coated TBC in a single-cylinder diesel engine fuelled by methyl esters of sea lemon oil and its blend with diesel. The results are compared with an uncoated normal engine. We observed an increase in engine power and decrease in specific fuel consumption, as well as significant improvements in exhaust gas emissions, except NOx, for all test fuel used in the Lanthana-doped YSZ-coated engine. Further, it was observed that the performance of the engine is improved while using sea lemon biodiesel along with TBC for M20 biodiesel blend.