The effect of injection pressure on the thermal performance and emission characteristics of an oil burner operating on B20 palm oil biodiesel-diesel blend fuel

The present work investigates the effect of injection pressure of B20 palm oil biodiesel-diesel blend fuel on the thermal performance and emission characteristics of an oil burner. The fuels were sprayed by a 60-degree hollow-cone nozzle, which was 200 µm in diameter. The parameters measured were axial temperature of flame, total radiation and luminosity of flame and concentrations of CO2, CO and NOx pollutant emissions. The results indicate that increase in pressure of injection causes the flame to take the form of a cone, which grows in width and shrinks in length. This decreases the flame penetration length and makes a voluminous flame with larger flame reaction zone. Furthermore, increase in injection pressure decreases the size of the fuel droplets and enhances the mixing rate, which raises both the temperature and the total radiation of flame and reduces the emissions of CO and soot particles. Finally, although the concentration of NOx emission is increased by pressure of injection, it is lower than the standard value even at high pressures of injection.