Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Palm Oil Biodiesel Blends on Emissions and Performance of a Diesel Electric Generator

This experimental investigation assesses the operational performance and exhaust emissions of a diesel generator fueled by biodiesel derived from palm oil at three different blend ratios: B0 (pure diesel), B25 (25% biodiesel blend), and B50 (50% biodiesel blend) The biodiesel was produced through a microwave-assisted transesterification process The study focused on several key parameters, including specific fuel consumption, thermal efficiency as well as the emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon dioxide (CO2), and carbon monoxide (CO), with each parameter being evaluated and compared across the three fuel blends. The results showed that B25 can be considered the most promising fuel, exhibiting a 5% improvement in thermal efficiency and a low increase in specific fuel consumption. Regarding emissions, B25 showed a reduction of 23.5% and 9% for CO2 and NOx, respectively.