Impact of Binary Biofuel Blend on Lubricating Oil Degradation in a Compression Ignition Engine

This paper presents lubricating oil performance in a compression ignition (CI) engine fueled with a binary fuel blend of 70% aamla seed oil biodiesel and 30% eucalyptus oil (EU) on volume basis. This blended fuel was stable and congruent with engine-fuel system. Initially, the engine was operated with normal diesel fuel as per standard endurance test. The same endurance test was performed with the above binary biodiesel blended fuel in the engine under somewhat modified engine operational condition. The lubricating oil was examined at a specified interval to evaluate the impact of the fuel on lubricating oil properties. Quantification of various metal debris concentrations was carried out using inductive coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy. After experimentation, the lubricating oil samples were analyzed using analytical ferrography that showed lower wear debris concentrations from binary biodiesel blend than diesel fuel operated engine. The better lubricating property of binary biodiesel blended fuel resulted in lower wear and improved performance of engine parts. Relatively low wear and concentrations of all metal wear were found in the lubricating oil with binary biodiesel blended fuel engine revealed better performance of engine with this fuel blend. No technical problem was encountered during the long-term endurance tests with the binary biodiesel blended fuel under modified engine parameters.