Experimental study of diesel engine using cashew nut shell oil (CNSO) with varying injection pressures

Diesel oil as an energy source is insufficient to meet the present-day energy demands and rapid industrial development. The goal of this work is to experimentally investigate the effects of using CDB (Cashew Nut Shell Oil diesel blends i.e. B20) mixture of 80% diesel by volume with 20% CNSO with different injection pressures (IP) of 200, 220 and 240 bar respectively. In the present scenario, CNSO is one of the superlative substitute sources which are comparably the cheapest non-edible sources in nature. The test was carried out with CDB in a 4-stroke, single cylinder diesel engine, at a rated power of 4.4 kW and constant speed of 1500 rpm. The effect of combustion analysis of test fuels at a net heat release rate, cylinder pressure, brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC), brake thermal efficiency (BTE) and cylinder temperature were observed by the performance tests. The experimental results revealed that BTE have improved whereas BSFC of CDB fuelled has been reduced, at 220 bar IP. It is also seen that there is a significant reduction in emissions of hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and smoke opacity with 220 bar IP, whereas carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide shows increasing trends.