Applied Technology of Vegetable Oils for Diesel Engines ─ Use of Various Fuels expect for Biodiesel Fuel ─

Abstract

A survey of published papers was carried out to evaluate the technology applied to vegetable oils expect biodiesel fuel (BDF) in diesel engines. The paper describes the findings and the development of this research field. The analysis of 40 papers in Japanese and English established the following points as important with many related studies: (1) the differences in the fuel properties and the combustion characteristics of neat vegetable oils and ordinary diesel fuel, (2) the spray characteristics and the mechanisms of the spray combustion, (3) improvements of combustion by mixing with volatile fuels, (4) improvements of combustion by fuel heating, (5) improvements of combustion by water emulsification, (6) engine modifications, (7) vegetable oil hydrogenating process. For the future, the following research themes can be suggested:development of modification engine fueled with neat vegetable oils, and development of vegetable oil hydrogenating process.