Performance and emission characteristics of the diesel engine running on neem (Azadirachta indica) biodiesel with effect of exhaust gas recirculation at optimum injection strategies

Environmental pollution and strict emission norms are promoting researchers to explore the methods for reducing pollution and provide optimum solution. By considering these situation as the baseline, study was conducted to analyse the effect of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) on performance and emission of the DI diesel engine. The effects of Injection Timings (IT), split injection and Exhaust Gas Recirculation on performance, emission characteristics of diesel engine fuelled neem biodiesel blends are investigated. Initially experiments are conducted with diesel, NB5, NB10 with original injection timing of 23° bTDC with direct injection and are considered as base reading. The fuel injection is optimized (at 19° bTDC and 16% split injection) and the effect of EGR rate at this optimized condition is analysed. Significant reduction of about 65.3%, 67% and 57% in the amount of NOx was obtained at full load as compared to base readings. Smoke emissions reduced by 2.8-3.4% and CO emissions reduced by around 52% for diesel and biodiesel blends at full load.