Energy Conversion and Management 50 (2009) 17811788

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Energy Conversion and Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enconman

Reducing the viscosity of Jojoba Methyl Ester diesel fuel and effects on diesel
engine performance and roughness
Mohamed Y.E. Selim *
Mech. Eng. Dept., UAE University, Al-Ain, Abu Dhabi 17555, United Arab Emirates

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 23 October 2007
Received in revised form 8 August 2008
Accepted 14 March 2009
Available online 16 April 2009
Keywords:
Jojoba Methyl Ester (JME)
Diesel engine
Viscosity
Performance

a b s t r a c t
An experimental investigation has been carried out to test two approaches to reduce the viscosity of the
Jojoba Methyl Ester (JME) diesel fuel. The rst approach is the heating of the fuel to two temperatures of
50 and 70 C as compared to the base ambient temperature and to diesel fuel too. The second approach is
adding one chemical which is considered by its own as alternative and renewable fuel which is Diethyl
Ether (DEE). The viscosity has been reduced by both methods to close to diesel values. The performance of
a diesel engine using those fuels has been tested in a variable compression research engine Ricardo E6
with the engine speed constant at 1200 rpm. The measured parameters included the exhaust gas temperature, the ignition delay period, the maximum pressure rise rate, maximum pressure, and indicated mean
effective pressure and maximum heat release rate. The engine performance is presented and the effects of
both approaches are scrutinized.
2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
In addition to diesels inherent energy efciency, use of renewable fuels can reduce petroleum consumption even further [1]. Diesel drivers have the option to ll up with blends of biodiesel a
domestically produced renewable fuel. Biodiesel fuels are derived
from a variety of biomass sources such as vegetable oil, animal
fat, and cooking oil. Biodiesel is made through a chemical process
called transesterication, where glycerin is separated from methyl
esters derived from the fat or oil. The methyl ester product is what
is known as biodiesel and must meet the standards set forth by the
American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) for fuel grade
biodiesel, specically ASTM D6751 (or EN14214 in Europe) [2].
Technically, any hydrocarbon distillate material derived from
biomass that meets the appropriate ASTM specication can be dened as diesel, or as biodiesel. Feedstocks for diesel fuels derived
from biomass include soybean [3], rape seed [46], and waste
cooking oils, along with animal fats [7]. Vegetable oils can be used
directly as diesel fuels, but their properties such as high viscosity
and low volatility cause durability problems in fuel systems [2,3,5].
Various processes convert biomass to diesel fuels. Among these
is transesterication of triglycerides, which produces esters. The
resulting fuel ts into the denition of biodiesel. Other processes
include hydrothermal processing, hydroprocessing, and indirect
liquefaction. These processes yield distillates that are not esters.

* Tel.: +971 504494723; fax: +971 37623158.

E-mail address: mohamed.selim@uaeu.ac.ae
0196-8904/$ - see front matter 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2009.03.012

Biodiesel is dened as the mono alkyl esters of long-carbonchain fatty acids derived from renewable lipid feedstocks. It is produced by transesterication of triglycerides (fatty acids) contained
in oil-rich biomass and animal fats. The triglycerides can be converted to esters that have properties more compatible with petroleum diesel fuel. In the base-catalyzed transesterication process,
the triglycerides are reacted with an alcohol, either methanol or
ethanol, in the presence of an alkaline catalyst, normally potassium
hydroxide. This reaction forms methyl or ethyl esters, and glycerin
is a byproduct.
Use of biodiesel can also result in some reduction in fuel economy depending on the blend due to biodiesels slightly lower energy content. The primary concern is one of quality assurance.
While many people can produce biodiesel, the production of biodiesel that meets the ASTM standard is more difcult. As the percentage of biodiesel in the blend increases, the sensitivity to
quality of the biodiesel increases proportionately [8,9].
Of the several biodeisel sources that started to appear in the literature by the current author is Jojoba oils [1012]. It appears to be
rst published as a fuel in shock tube experiments [12], followed
by another article about diesel engine burning this fuel [11] and
it has been then used in a dual fuel engine [10]. Another article
has been also published from the same laboratory [13]. Jojoba oil
comes from very promising plant that lives for more than one hundred and fty years and has unique properties. This is due to many
factors [13] such as its high contents of oil per seed, its molecules
contains a carbon chain of 2022 carbon atoms and its chemical
stability. The plant itself is very promising for cultivation in hot
weather as it resists salinity and dryness. It gives acceptable

M.Y.E. Selim / Energy Conversion and Management 50 (2009) 17811788

2. Experimental engine test RIG

The research engine used in the present study is the Ricardo E6
single cylinder variable compression indirect injection diesel engine. The specications of the engine are listed in Table 1. The engine cylinder head has a Ricardo Comet Mk V compression swirl
combustion chamber. This type of combustion system consists of
two parts. The swirl chamber in the head has a top half of spherical
form and the lower half is a truncated cone, which communicates
with the cylinder by means of a narrow passage or throat. The second part consists of special cavities cut into the crown of the
piston.
The engine is loaded by an electrical dynamometer rated at
22 kW and 420 V. The engine is fully equipped for measurements
of all operating parameters and noise data. The pressure time history is measured by a water-cooled piezo-electric pressure transducer and crankshaft degree angle sensor connected to the
relevant ampliers. The liquid fuel ow rate is measured digitally
by a multi-function microprocessor-based fuel system, Compuow

Table 1
Engine specications.

System. Two data acquisition systems are used to collect the

important data and store it in a personal computer for ofine analysis. The following parameters are fed into the computer: cylinder
pressure, crank angle degrees, liquid fuel ow rate data, engine
speed and torque, and air/oil/coolant/oil/exhaust temperatures. A
computer program in lMACBASIC language is written to collect
the data and manage the system and a workstation operating system has been used to run the program.
The pressure signal is fed into a charge amplier then to a data
acquisition card linked to the personal computer and the crank angle signal is fed into a degree marker shape channel and the output
is fed into the acquisition card. The acquisition card could collect
data at the rate of 250 kHz. The pressure and crank angle data
are stored in the computer disk for further analysis. A MS Excel
computer program is written to nd the pressure rise rate, combustion maximum pressure of the cycle, ignition delay, the heat release and the indicated mean effective pressure data at all cycle
points from mid compression stroke to mid expansion stroke.
The maximum value of pressure rise rate is obtained and recorded.
This value will be used to represent the combustion noise level at
that operating condition. The typical combustion pressure history
may be seen in Fig. 1 with the corresponding pressure rise rate.
The maximum combustion pressure has also been calculated for
the all operating conditions. Another program has been written
to calculate the heat release rate [1517] during the combustion
process and the maximum value only has been presented here.
The ignition delay period has been also calculated from the start
of injection to the onset of pressure deviation from the motoring
pressure values; Fig. 2. Experiments have been carried out after
running the engine for some time until it reaches steady state
and oil temperature is at 60 5 C, and cooling water temperature
is at 60 5 C.
Data are presented as exhaust gas temperature, ignition delay
period, maximum pressure rise rate (dP/dh)max, maximum pressure
(Pmax), maximum heat release rate (HRRmax), and indicated mean
effective pressure (imep) for the following operating parameters:
a. The brake mean effective pressure (bmep) and it is varied
from 50 to 450 kPa.
b. The liquid fuel inlet temperature to the pump and it is varied
at 25, 50 and 70 C.
c. The DEE concentration (viscosity reduction additive) and it
is varied at 5%, 10%, and 15% of the JME mass used.

60

2
40

20

Model

Ricardo E6

Type
Bore  stroke (mm)
Cycle
Compression ratio
Maximum power (kW)
Maximum speed (rpm)
Injection timing

IDI with the pre-combustion chamber

76.2  111.1 1 cylinder
4-stroke
Variable, max. 22
9, naturally aspirated
3000
Variable, 20 to 45 BTDC

JME + 15% DEE

Load=16.7 Nm

(dP/d )max , bar/deg.

production per acre and is currently used for cosmetics applications. The properties of Jojoba Methyl Ester (JME) are unique as
will be shown later. However, so far only the viscosity needs to
be reduced so that it will be accepted by fuel properties standards,
hence it should be reduced from more than 19 cSt. to lower than
7 cSt. All previous publications about this fuel were for high viscosity version and no work has been reported about the long term effects of the high fuel viscosity. The current high viscosity affects
negatively the injection, atomization and mixing process of the fuel
with air.
Atomization is the breakup of bulk liquid jets into small droplets by using an atomizer. Adequate atomization enhances mixing
and complete combustion in a direct injection (DI) engine and
therefore is an important factor in engine emission and efciency.
According to Lefebvre [14], the physical properties of a liquid fuel
that affect its atomization in a diesel engine are viscosity, density,
and surface tension. For a DI diesel injector at xed operating condition, use of fuel with higher viscosity delays atomization by suppressing the instabilities required for the fuel jet to breakup. An
increase in fuel density adversely affects atomization, whereas
higher fuel surface tension opposes the formation of droplets from
the liquid fuel [14]. Hence a suitable diesel fuel in a DI engine requires balanced values of viscosity, density, and surface tension,
for a given atomizer to function properly.
Therefore the objectives of the present work are to reduce the
viscosity of the Jojoba Methyl Ester so that its properties will be
acceptable by fuel properties standards and it is acceptable as a
good fuel for diesel engines. The reduction of viscosity will be carried out by different approaches to match the required viscosities
for diesel fuels. Two approaches are used here of heating the JME
fuel to different temperatures and the second is by adding very
low viscosity renewable fuel to the JME. The effect of using the
new reduced-viscosity fuel on a real diesel engine will also be
presented.

Pressure, bar

1782

-2

Combustion pressure
Pressure rise rate
0

-4
-40

-20

20

40

Crank angle, degrees ATDC

Fig. 1. Typical pressure and pressure rise rate for the diesel engine.

1783

M.Y.E. Selim / Energy Conversion and Management 50 (2009) 17811788

has been placed inside the fuel injection pump to measure the temperature of liquid fuel inside the pump tray. Three temperatures
have been tested here which are the atmospheric temperature of
25 C, 50 C, and 70 C. The temperatures of 50 and 70 C are easily
achieved by the water cooling system in the vehicle. The fuel is
heated here by passing it through an electric heater compartment
connected to the fuel line.
The second method of reducing the viscosity of the JME is by
mixing it with a very low viscosity renewable fuel which is the
Diethyl Ether (DEE). The viscosity of DEE is about 0.23 cSt at
40 C compared to 19.2 cSt for JME. The DEE has been selected
on purpose for its favorable features. It has a renewable origin, outstanding cetane number, reasonable energy density, very low viscosity [18,19]. It is also a liquid at ambient conditions. Table 2
shows the properties of DEE as compared to JME fuel. Three different blends have been tested here which are: 5%, 10%, and 15% DEE
with JME. The results of both approaches are illustrated in Fig. 3.

60

Pressure, bar

40

30

20

10
Injection
TDC

0
-40

-20

20

40

Crank angle, degrees ATDC

Fig. 2. Typical combustion pressure and motoring pressure for ID calculation.

During the experiments the following parameters have been

kept constant:
 the engine speed and it is kept at 1200 rpm.
 the fuel injection timing and it is kept at 35 BTDC.
 the engine compression ratio and it is kept constant at 22.
The diesel fuel has been used also as another base for the experiments and it is used for comparison with the JME case at ambient
temperature.
The maximum uncertainties in the measured quantities were
2% in the engine speed, 4% in the engine torque, 6% in the mass
of fuel, 3% in the pressure rise rate, and 0.6% in the exhaust
temperature.
2.1. The viscosity of the Jojoba Methyl Ester
The main objective of the present work is to examine different
approaches to reduce the viscosity of the Jojoba Methyl Ester to become within the acceptable range for diesel engine fuels. The JME
fuel has excellent physical and chemical properties e.g. high cetane
number (63.5), relatively high heating value (47.38 MJ/kg), acceptable pour point (4.4 C), higher than diesel ash point (61 C), lower than diesel C/H ratio and zero sulfur content. However, the only
property that needs reduction is viscosity of the oil. This oil is viscous by nature as the product of it is actually a wax not liquid.
Therefore, its viscosity is very high relative to other oils and this
property is attractive to its use in cosmetics applications e.g. body
oils etc. The transesterication process has been optimized to produce the highest yield of the oil, best properties of the oil and lowest viscosity of the oil. The viscosity of the oil (JME) is now 19.2 cSt.
at 40 C (16.6 cP), which is far away from the recommended values
for diesel engine fuels (1.67 cSt.). All methods applied here are to
reduce it to the allowable range for alternative fuel suitable for diesel engines. If the viscosity has been reduced, then it would be suitable for diesel engines fuels.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Viscosity reduction
The effects of adding DEE to JME as well as heating up the JME
to reduce its viscosity are shown in Fig. 3. The viscosity of the used
diesel oil is given also for reference. The JME has been heated from
25 C (atmospheric conditions) to 40 C, 55 C, and 70 C, and the
dynamic viscosity has been measured. It may be seen from the gure that heating the JME from 25 to 70 C decreased its viscosity
from about 16.6 cP to about 4.59 cP. It has been then become within the acceptable range for diesel engine fuels. The highest temperature used (70 C) is easily achievable from the vehicle systems,
e.g. the water heating system or exhaust system, etc.

Table 2
Fuels properties.
Test

JME

DEE

Density (15 C), kg/l

Kinematic viscosity at 40 C, cSt.
Caloric value, MJ/kg
Cetane no.
Carbon content % by weight
Hydrogen content % by weight
Final boiling point, C
Auto-ignition temperature, C

0.866
19.2
47.38
63.5
87
13
383
NA

0.713
0.23
33.9
>125
C2H5OC2H5
34.4
160

18
16
14
Viscosity, cP

50

Diesel, Load=14.6 Nm
Motoring
Combustion

12
10
8
6
4
2

Two methods have been tested here in the current work to reduce the viscosity of the JME from over 19 to lower than 7 cSt.
The rst method is by direct heating of the liquid fuel just before it goes to the fuel injection pump [3,5]. One thermocouple

D
ie
JM
E@ sel
25
JM
oC
E
@
40
JM
o
E@ C
55
JM
oC
E
@
70
oC
10
0%
D
JM
EE
E+
5%
JM
D
EE
E+
10
%
JM
D
EE
E+
15
%
D
EE

2.2. Viscosity reduction approaches

Fig. 3. Viscosity of JME under heating and adding DEE.

1784

M.Y.E. Selim / Energy Conversion and Management 50 (2009) 17811788

Also the effect of adding the DEE to the JME may be shown in
Fig. 3. The selection of the DEE is made because of its very low viscosity and its renewable sources. It viscosity is about 0.18 cP and it
is mixed with JME at 5%, 10%, and 15%. The viscosity of the blend is
shown as compared to the heating process and diesel fuel too. It
may be seen that adding 5% DEE caused the viscosity to drop from
16.6 cP to 11.3 cP. Adding 10% of DEE reduced it to 7.7 cP and 15%
of DEE decreased it to 5.3 cP. Both 10% and 15% of DEE can then reduce the viscosity of the JME to the acceptable range.
The tested methods of changing the viscosity have proven to be
successful and reduced the viscosity of JME to acceptable range for
diesel fuels. It has been decided then that those fuels with reducedviscosity must be tested in a real diesel engine and the effect of the
design and operating parameters on the performance must be
made clear.
3.2. Effects on exhaust temperature
The effect of adding DEE and heating JME on the exhaust gas
temperature of the diesel engine may be seen in Figs. 4 and 5

Exhaust temperature, o C

500

respectively. Fig. 4 shows the effect of adding DEE to the Jojoba

Methyl Ester at the rate of 5%, 10%, and 15% as compared to pure
JME as well as diesel fuel on the exhaust gas temperature. It may
be seen from the gure that increasing the brake mean effective
pressure generally increases the exhaust temperature as the load
is increased and the amount of fuel used is increased. It may be
seen also that the exhaust gas temperature is almost the same
for diesel engine using diesel fuel, JME, or using JME with 5% or
10% or 15% DEE. This is at the low and high load range. Although
the heating value of the DEE is lower than for diesel and for JME,
it is at low mixing ratio (up to 15%) and it did not change much
the exhaust gas temperature or other cycle temperature.
Fig. 5 illustrates the effect of the load and heating the JME on
the exhaust gas temperature of the diesel engine. It may be seen
from the gure that the exhaust gas temperatures for diesel and
JME at ambient temperature of 25 C are almost the same at all
loads as the JME has similar caloric value and did not change
the cycle temperatures. However, it is noticed that when JME is
heated to 50 or 70 C the gas temperature is reduced slightly. Heating the JME appears to cause the cycle temperatures near the end
of the expansion stroke to reduce due to the early self-ignition of
JME when heated as discussed below.
3.3. Effects on ignition delay period

Effect of adding DEE on Tex

Diesel fuel
JME - 25oC
JME + 5% DEE
JME + 10% DEE
JME + 15% DEE

400

300

200

100
0

100

200

300

400

500

Brake mean effective pressure, kPa

Fig. 4. Effect of adding DEE to JME exhaust gas temperature.

The effects of adding DEE to JME and heating the JME may be
seen in Figs. 6 and 7, respectively. Fig. 6 depicts the effects of adding DEE to JME at 5%, 10%, and 15%. It may be seen that as the load
is increased the ignition delay period is decreased for all cases. This
is due to the higher amount of fuel injected and higher cycle temperatures that reduces the ignition delay period, i.e. the fuel becomes easier to self-ignite. It may be also noticed from Fig. 6 that
the JME has lower ignition delay period than diesel fuel as it has
higher cetane number or it is easier to self-ignite. Adding more
DEE to JME causes the ignition delay period to reduce more as
the DEE has much higher cetane number than JME and diesel
and it is much easier to self-ignite so adding up to 15% of it helps
burning the JME to ignite faster once injected in the compression
stroke. Also adding more DEE caused the viscosity of JME to reduce
and the JME fuel becomes more readily mixed with hot air and
achieve the self-ignition temperature faster.
Fig. 7 shows the effect of heating the JME to 50 and 70 C as
compared to JME at room temperature and diesel fuel. it may be

50

500

Effect of adding DEE on ID

Diesel fuel
JME
JME + 5% DEE
JME + 10% DEE
JME + 15% DEE

40

o
JME - 50 C
o
JME - 70 C

400

Ignition Delay, CA degrees

Exhaust temperature, o C

Effect of heating on Tex

Diesel fuel
JME - 25oC

300

200

30

20

10

100
0

100

200

300

400

500

Brake mean effective pressure, kPa

Fig. 5. Effect of heating the JME on exhaust gas temperature.

100

200

300

400

500

Brake mean effective pressure, kPa

Fig. 6. Effect of adding DEE to JME ignition delay period.

1785

M.Y.E. Selim / Energy Conversion and Management 50 (2009) 17811788

50

Effect of heating on ID
Diesel fuel
JME - 25oC
JME - 50o C

Ignition Delay, CA Degrees

40

JME - 70o C
30

seen from the gure that heating the JME to 50 then 70 C caused
the ignition delay period to reduce as the viscosity becomes smaller and the JME fuel mixes faster and better with hot air to achieve
the self-ignition temperature and self-ignite faster. The ignition delay period is then decreased. Therefore it is advantageous to heat it
as the delay period is reduced.
3.4. Effects on maximum pressure rise rate and maximum pressure

20

10

0
0

100

200

300

400

500

Brake mean effective pressure, kPa

Fig. 7. Effect of heating the JME on ignition delay period.

The effects of adding DEE to JME and heating it are shown in

Figs. 8 and 9, respectively. Fig. 8 depicts the effect of adding DEE
at the level of 5%, 10%, and 15% to JME to the maximum pressure
rise rate. The maximum pressure rise rate presents the combustion
noise which is the main source of the diesel engine noise. It may be
seen from the gure that the maximum pressure rise rate generally
decreases slightly with increasing the engine load output. This may
be due to the reduction of the ignition delay period shown above.
However, adding more DEE to the JME caused the maximum
pressure rise rate to slightly decrease as the delay period is also
decreased. Decreasing the ignition delay period causes the combustion to start faster and smoother for a smaller amount of the

dP/d, bar/deg.

Effect of heating on Pmax

Diesel fuel
JME - 25C

68

Maximum pressure, bar

Effect of adding DEE on (dP/d)max

Diesel fuel
JME - 25C
JME + 5% DEE
JME + 10% DEE
JME + 15% DEE

JME - 50C
64

JME - 70C

60

56

52

0
0

100

200

300

400

500

Brake mean effective pressure, kPa

100

200

300

400

500

Brake mean effective pressure, kPa

Fig. 8. Effect of adding DEE to JME the maximum pressure rise rate.

Fig. 10. Effect of heating the JME on the maximum pressure.

8
Effect of heating on (dP/d )max
Diesel fuel
JME - 25oC
JME - 50oC
Maximum pressure, bar

6
dP/d , bar/deg.

JME - 70oC

Effect of adding DEE on Tex

Diesel fuel
JME - 25C
JME + 5% DEE
JME + 10% DEE
JME + 15% DEE

68

64

60

56

52

0
0

100

200

300

400

500

Brake mean effective pressure, kPa

Fig. 9. Effect of heating the JME on the maximum pressure rise rate.

100

200

300

400

500

Brake mean effective pressure, kPa

Fig. 11. Effect of adding DEE to JME on the maximum pressure.

1786

M.Y.E. Selim / Energy Conversion and Management 50 (2009) 17811788

injected fuel with less pressure rise rates. The effects of heating the
JME to 50 and 70 C on the maximum pressure rise rate may be
seen in Fig. 9. It ma y noticed that the maximum pressure for the
engine using JME at 25 C is less than that for diesel fuel. However,
heating the JME to higher temperatures did not change much the
maximum pressure rise rate. This is considered as good enough result as heating the JME already decreased the viscosity and here
did not change the combustion noise.

60

Figs. 10 and 11 show the effects of heating JME and adding DEE
on the maximum combustion pressure of the cycle. It may be noticed from Fig. 10 that heating the JME to higher temperatures of
50 and 70 C did not change the maximum pressure as the pressure
rise rate (above) did not change. The pressure rise rate did not
change so the maximum pressure would occur at similar crank angles around the top dead center with the same values. Adding 5%,
10% or 15% DEE to JME did not change also the maximum pressure

60

60

40

40

30

P, bar

P, bar

40

P, bar

50

20

20

Diesel
Torque=16.4 Nm
10
0
-40

-20

20

JME + 5% DEE
Torque=17.3 Nm

40

-40

Crank angle, degrees ATDC

20

JME - 70 C
Torque=17.2 Nm

-20

20

-40

40

(c)

60

20

40

Crank angle, degrees ATDC

Crank angle, degrees ATDC

(a)

-20

(e)

60

60

40

40

P, bar

P, bar

40

P, bar

50

30

20

20

0
0

20

Crank angle, degrees ATDC

40

-40

-20

20

40

-40

-20

20

Crank angle, degrees ATDC

(b)

(d)

(f)

60

40
P, bar

-20

JME + 10% DEE

Torque=15.7 Nm

JME - 50 C
Torque=18 Nm

10

-40

20

JME, ambient
Torque=16.5 Nm

20
JME + 15% DEE
Torque=16.7 Nm

0
-40

-20

20

40

Crank angle, degrees ATDC

(g)
Fig. 12. Typical pressurecrank angle diagram for all cases studied.

40

1787

M.Y.E. Selim / Energy Conversion and Management 50 (2009) 17811788

as may be seen in Fig. 11 due to similar pressure rise rate shown

above.
Individual pressure-crank angle cycles are illustrated in Fig. 12
for different cases of fuel temperatures and DEE concentrations at
almost similar loads. It may be noticed that all cases were almost
the same with regard to the maximum pressure, the pressure rise
rate, the location of the maximum pressure, and the pressure time
history in general.
3.5. Effects on the maximum heat release rate
Figs. 13 and 14 show the effect of heating JME and adding DEE
to the JME respectively. The effect of heating the Jojoba Methyl Ester to 50 and 70 C as compared to ambient fuel temperature of
25 C may be seen in Fig. 13. It may seen that the heat release as
calculated from the pressure history in the pre-chamber decreases
as the load output increases for all cases studied. As the load is increased the amount of fuel and total heat release should increase,
however it decreases here. It has been shown by other researchers
[15] that at low loads, the overall conditions in the pre-chamber
are stoichiometric, considering its relative size. At much lower

40

3.6. Effects on indicated mean effective pressure

20
Effect of heating on (HRR)max
Diesel fuel
JME, 25C
JME, 50C
JME, 70C
0
0

100

200

300

400

500

Brake mean effective pressure, kPa

Fig. 13. Effect of heating the JME on the maximum heat release rate.

(HRR)max, J/deg.

60

Effect of adding DEE on HRRmax

Diesel fuel
JME - 25C
JME + 5% DEE
JME + 10% DEE
JME + 15% DEE

40

20

The indicated mean effective (imep) has been calculated from

the pressure history of the whole cycle and it gives indication to
the net work produced inside the engine cylinder. Figs. 15 and
16 depict the effect of heating the JME and adding DEE on the imep
respectively. Fig. 15 shows the effect of heating JME to 50 and 70 C
as compared to ambient fuel temperature of 25 C and base diesel
fuel. It may be seen from the gure that the load increases is necessarily accompanied by an increase in the imep for all cases studied as more fuel is burned and more heat is released, then more net
work is produced. It may be also seen from the same gure that
heating the JME generally increased the imep as more heat is

600
Indicated mean effective pressure, kPa

(HRR)max, J/deg.

60

loads, combustion in the pre-chamber would proceed as usual,

ignorant of what would follow in the main chamber. On the contrary, at higher loads than this, the pre-chamber basically cannot
offer anymore heat release with duel regard to its limited availability of air but now the heat release in the main chamber increases
with load, extending progressively deeper into the expansion
phase. As the heat release rate calculated here is based only on
the measurements of the pressure history in the pre-chamber, it
would be then expected that the heat release would decrease as
the load is increased.
It can be seen also from the same gure that heating the JME to
higher temperatures if 50 and 70 C generally increases the maximum value of the heat release rate as the JME fuel becomes easier
to mix and react with the available oxygen in the pre-chamber. It is
evident that reducing the viscosity of the JME affected positively
the injection, atomization, and mixing processes of the fuel air
mixture as more heat is released.
Fig. 14 shows the effect of adding DEE to the JME fuel on the
maximum value of heat release rate. It may be noticed from the gure that adding the DEE to the JME has two effects. The rst effect
is at low loads, which is noticeable reduction in the heat release
rate than diesel and pure JME. Adding more DEE with lower heating value would then decreases the amount of heat released at low
loads than that of diesel and JME. While at the higher loads the
addition of more DEE seems to have increased the maximum value
of the heat release rate. This may be postulated to the fact that the
DEE has higher cetane number than diesel or JME, then it is easier
to self-ignite with its own oxygen content and gives more heat in
the pre-chamber than the diesel or JME which results in the high
amount of (HRR)max.

Effect of heating on " imep"

Diesel fuel
JME - 25C
JME - 50C

560

JME - 70C

520

480

440

100

200

300

400

500

Brake mean effective pressure,kPa

Fig. 14. Effect of adding DEE to JME on the maximum heat release rate.

100

200

300

400

500

Brake mean effective pressure,kPa

Fig. 15. Effect of heating the JME on the indicated mean effective pressure.

1788

M.Y.E. Selim / Energy Conversion and Management 50 (2009) 17811788

5. Adding DEE to the JME caused the maximum pressure rise rate
to decrease slightly than pure JME or pure diesel fuel.
6. Heating the JME did not change much the maximum pressure
rise rate.
7. The maximum combustion pressure slightly increased for
heated JME or when DEE is added to JME.
8. Heating the JME increased the maximum HRR at all load ranges
tested while adding DEE affected the (HRR)max in different ways
according to the load output.
9. Adding DEE to the Jojoba Methyl Ester or heating it resulted in
an increase in the indicated mean effective pressure or reducing
the mechanical efciency.

Indicated mean effective pressure, kPa

600
Effect of adding DEE imep
Diesel fuel
JME - 25C
JME + 5% DEE
JME + 10% DEE
JME + 15% DEE

560

520

480

References

440
0

100

200

300

400

500

Brakemean effective pressure, kPa

Fig. 16. Effect of adding DEE to JME on the indicated mean effective pressure.

released; as discussed above, and then more work is produced. For

the same bmep, the imep is higher for heated JME or the mechanical
efciency is lower. This means more friction losses occur for
heated fuel than for relatively cold viscous fuel. It has been shown
also by Nwafor [3] that friction power was also increased when the
diesel engine burned heated Rapeseed oil and the mechanical efciency was decreased. It was obvious that the high viscosity of the
vegetable oil can play favorable roles in combustion process despite its adverse effect on droplet sizes, distribution, and possible
over penetration.
Similar trend is noticed when comparing JME to the diesel fuel
case, as it produced higher imep or lower mechanical efciency is
produced. Adding more DEE with its low viscosity caused similar
trend as shown in Fig. 16. It shows higher imep for the same bmep,
i.e. less mechanical efciency.

4. Conclusions
From the experimental study carried out here, the following
conclusions may be summarized:
1. Heating the Jojoba Methyl Ester fuel with its high viscosity
helped to reduce the viscosity to its acceptable range for diesel
fuel.
2. Adding very low viscosity renewable oil such Diethyl Ether
helped the JME to reduce its viscosity to the acceptable range.
3. Heating the JME or adding DEE did not change the exhaust gas
temperature or other cycle temperatures.
4. Heating the JME or adding DEE reduced the ignition delay period for the JME.

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