Usability Assessment of Diesel Blends with Vegetable Oil and Ethanol in Diesel Engines

Vegetable oil is a type of biofuel that is renewable and capable of reducing emissions and harmful components in diesel engine exhaust. However, vegetable oil has several properties that differ from mineral diesel, such as high viscosity and large surface tension, making it unsuitable for direct use in conventional diesel engines. To overcome these drawbacks, several solutions have been proposed, such as pyrolysis, blending, esterification, and emulsification. Among these, the method of blending vegetable oil with low-viscosity fuels is considered simple and highly feasible. This paper presents some research results on the technical characteristics and emissions of a diesel engine using a diesel-ethanol-vegetable oil blended fuel.