Study of lubricant viscosity from a diesel engine operating on various percentages of coconut oil blended fuel

Abstract

The lubricant viscosity from a diesel engine operating on various percentages of coconut oil blended fuel was studied to determine the suitable mixture appropriate for a diesel engine. The coconut oil was blended with conventional diesel fuel at an amount varying from 10 to 50%. The lubricant used was the conventional commercially available lubricant (SAE 40). The viscosity for all the blended fuel remained about constant throughout the 100 hr test. However, 50% coconut oil blended fuel at 40°C showed slightly lower viscosity level in comparison to other percentages of blended fuel system. Lubricant viscosity has an initial drop between zero and 10 hr running time. There were fluctuations in viscosity level occurring, especially in the upper curves. An increase in lubricant viscosity was usually caused by the formation of sludge and the presence of wear debris. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the World Tribology Congress III (Washington, DC 9/12-16/2005).