Evaluation of watermelon seed biodiesel as an alternative fuel in diesel engines [Dizel motorlarda alternatif yakit olarak karpuz çekirdeǧi biyodizelinin deǧerlendirilmesi]

The exiguity of oil forces scientists to investigate new energy resources and biodiesel became one of the most popular alternative fuel since it can be obtained from renewable sources. the aim of this study is to evaluate availability of watermelon seed oil biodiesel (wmb) in diesel engines as alternative fuel. in this work,some physical fuel properties of obtained wmb and its blend with diesel fuel from %20 to %80 by volume (wmb20) were tested. the measured fuel property values were density,cetane number,viscosity,pour point and flash point. in addition,test fuels were utilized in a diesel engine in order to evaluate effect of wmb usage on engine performance parameters and exhaust emissions such as nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide. according to engine performance experiments results; although both torque and brake power values of the test engine were slightly decreased,emission values were improved with wmb utilization. therefore,the ester of water melon seed oil is advised to be a suitable alternative fuel additive to diesel fuel with its environmental friendly combustion profile.