POSSIBILITIES TO USE BIO FUELS FROM PEANUT OIL FOR DIESEL ENGINES IN THE TROPICS AND SUBTRO-PICS
DRAMAN OUEDRAOGO, PAVEL ŠTĚPÁNEK, KAREL OTTO
Abstract
Diesel engines represent the most widely used energy
source in agriculture. The prices of the Diesel oil as fuel continue increasing
because the sources of crude oil are diminishing. In addition, the exhaust gases
from the combustion of fossil fuels in the engines spoil the environment. The
oil of the peanut (Arachis hypogaea), particularly its methyl ester, possesses
physical and chemical properties allowing to use the oil as fuel for Diesel
engines. A short-term test was conducted with the A VIA 712-18 Diesel engine,
using peanut oil methyl ester and standard Diesel oil. The result of measurements
conducted with these two types of fuel were analysed and compared. The differences
in the energy parameters were small. At the engine's rated speed (3000 rpm)
the performance of the engine using standard Diesel oil was 3.8% higher than
with peanut oil methyl ester. The methyl ester fuel consumption was greater
by 8.6%. The levels of pollutants such as carbon monoxide CO, nitrogen oxides
NOX an d carbon dioxide CO2 were lower (except hydrocarbons, HC) when the methyl
ester was used. The fuel properties showed that the methyl ester contained a
very low level of sulphur (less than 0.01 %; in standard Diesel oil the sulphur
level was 0.058%). We believe, on this basis, that vegetable oils (peanut oil
in this particular case) can be used as alternative fuels and may help to solve
the issue of economical and environment-friendly operation of farm machines
in the warm climatic zone.
Key words:
peanut oil methyl ester, Diesel oil, comparisons,
Diesel engine power, exhaust gases, sulphur, environment, economy, subtropics
and tropics