Determination of the Effect of Biodiesel Blends on Agricultural Tractor during Real Time Measurement

An experiment was carried out to determine the physico-chemical properties of selected blends of karanja biodiesel with petro-diesel viz., B0, B20, B40 and B60 and to study the effect of these blends on specific draft, drawbar power, fuel consumption and fuel efficiency of 50 hp (2WD Mahindra 585DI) tractor and analyzed the emission characteristics of the tractor at three selected forwards viz., 2.5, 3.5 and 4.5 km h-1 during ploughing operation. The results indicated that the kinematic viscosity, specific gravity, flash and fire points and free fatty acids of biodiesel blends were decreased with increased percentage of biodiesel in petro-diesel while their calorific value was decreased. The performance parameters like specific draft and drawbar power of tractor were not affected by the blends of biodiesel but these were significantly affected by the speed of operation. Whereas, both the blends of biodiesel and forward speeds showed significant effect on fuel consumption and fuel efficiency. The fuel consumption of tractor was increased by 7.69 per cent for B60 blend as compared to petro-diesel at forward speed of 3.5 km h-1. The CO and CO2 emission were decreased with the increase in blends of biodiesel as compared to petro-diesel while, the NOx emission was increased during ploughing operation. Among the blends tested, B20 performed comparably with petro-diesel in terms fuel consumption, fuel efficiency and NOx emission. The fuel consumption and NOx emission increased and fuel efficiency decreased with increased percentage of biodiesel beyond B20. Hence, B20 blend of karanja biodiesel may be recommended to use in tractor for ploughing operation.