Performance Characterization of Diesel Engine Generator Set with the addition of clove oil as Bio-Additives for Diesel fuel

The consumption of diesel fuel in Indonesia increases every year. However, this increasing rate of fuel consumption is not followed by the increase in petroleum reserves available in Indonesia. One of the solutions to overcome the problem is by utilizing the abundantly available natural resources in Indonesia such as essential oil which potential as bio-additive for improving fuel economy. This study investigated the performance of Clove oil as additive, with the objective of reducing fuel consumption. Experiments were conducted by mixing clove oil and diesel fuel at the percentage of 1%, 0.5% and 0.1% of total volume. Generator set was operated at varied loading of 200, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1400, 1600, 1800 and 2000 W at constant engine speed of 1500 rpm. The measured and calculated variables in this experiment were Power, Torque, BMEP, SFC, and hourly fuel consumption. Results showed that the addition of clove oil into diesel fuel at the volume percentage of 1%, 0.5% and 0.1% reduced the fuel consumption to an average of 2.94%, 6.12% and 4.74%, respectively. Maximum fuel consumption reduction of 7.7% was reached at 800 W load with 0.5% of clove oil. The next study is to perform a mixture of Clove oil and citronella oil as additives, which is expected to reduce fuel consumption while anticipating the risk of engine corrosion.