Diesel Combustion Characteristics of Coconut Oil Bio-diesel

Coconut oil has high content of saturated fatty acids with low carbon number such as lauric acid and has about 4-wt% higher oxygen compared with palm, rapeseed and soybean oils. In this study, to utilize coconut oil as a biodiesel fuel, the diesel combustion of coconut oil methyl ester (CME) is investigated using a small DI diesel engine and is compared with palm, rapeseed and soybean oil methyl esters (PME, RME, SME) and gas oil. As the results, the thermal efficiency of CME is almost the same as other test fuels. Smoke emission from CME is the lowest among the test fuels because of the highest oxygen content. NOx emission from CME is lower than gas oil. CME can be used as an alternative petroleum diesel fuel