Studies on Stationary Diesel Engines Operated with Cardanol Biodiesel

Energy is considered as a critical factor for economic growth, social development and human welfare. More than 6.5 million diesel engines are being used in the Indian Agricultural sectors for various activities. With increasing trend of modernization and industrialization, the world energy demand is also growing at a faster rate. India, facing the challenge of meeting a rapidly increasing demand for energy, and ranks sixth in the world in terms of energy demand. Its economy is projected to grow 7%-8% over the next two decades and there will be a substantial increase in demand for oil to manage transportation and also to meet various other energy needs.Keeping in view the plight of the energy crisis, in this work cardanol biodiesel has been selected because of its useful properties to conduct experimental investigation in various single and multi-cylinder diesel engines like single, variable compression ratio and double cylinder engines. From this investigation it is observed that up to 20% blends of cardanol biodiesel may be used in diesel engines without any hardware modifications.