Performance of Soybean and Neem Methyl Esters as Biodiesel on Diesel Engine

To study the feasibility of using two local produced plant oils Soybeans (Glycine max, Family: Fabaceae), and Neem (Azadirachta indica, Family: Meliaceae) as diesel substitute, a comparative study on their combustion characteristics on a C.I. engine were made. Experimental investigations were carried out on diesel engine with bio diesel blends of Soybeans oil Methyl Esters and Neem Oil Methyl Esters .The engine used for the experiments was single cylinder four stroke air cooled. Soybeans Methyl Esters and Neem Methyl Esters were derived through transesterification process and parameters of transesterification were optimized. The blending was done with pure diesel in the ratio of 15:85(B15 and N15), 20:80 (B20 and N20), 25:75 (B25 and N25), by volume. Pure diesel was used as control. Tests were carried out to examine their engine performance of different blends in comparison to diesel. From the experimental results it was shown that B20 has more closer performance to diesel, followed by B25%, in terms of torque, brake power and specific fuel consumption, with B20% giving a higher toque above that of diesel at 1800rpm. While Neem biodiesel blends have poor performance. These studies have revealed that soybean oils at 20% and 25% blend with diesel can be used as a diesel substitute without bringing any modifications in the engine. DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2013.v2n13p47