Optimisation of performance and emission parameters of a CI engine fuelled with kapok oil methyl ester–turpentine oil blends and diethyl ether additive

The article aims to investigate the characteristics of compression ignition (CI) engines fuelled with blends of kapok oil methyl ester (KME) and turpentine oil (TO) with the inclusion of diethyl ether (DEE) as a fuel additive and the RSM has been used to analyse the engine characteristics. The design matrix is created for 50% to 100% loading and 30% to 70% blending in TO with kapok methyl ester. The experiment was conducted on a water-cooled 5.2 kW CI engine and 30%, 50%, and 70% of KME and TO blend. According to the test results, 50–50 KME and TO have a brake thermal efficiency of 29.13%. Another design matrix was designed for a load range of 50% to 100% and DEE of 0% to 20% in a 50 KT blend. The 50 KT blend with 20% DEE has the highest brake thermal efficiency (30.30%) and the lowest brake-specific energy consumption. The emissions of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and smoke decrease to 8.25 g/kWh, 0.13 g/kWh, and 57%, respectively. The combustion process leads to the highest peak pressure and net heat release rate, which are 72 bar and 74.93 kJ/^OCA, respectively. The outcome is 50–50% turpentine and kapok oil methyl ester blends, with 20% DEE have improved the performance and reduced the emissions.