ISSN: 0090-3973
Page Count: 8

Piston Ring Deposits When Using Vegetable Oil as a Fuel
Pestes, MN
Associate professor of mechanical engineering and director of the physical metallurgical laboratory, North Dakota State University, ND

Stanislao, J
Professor and dean, College of Engineering and Architecture, North Dakota State University, ND

Abstract

This paper documents the presence of piston ring deposits responsible for sticking piston rings in the diesel engine when using a vegetable oil-diesel fuel blend. It was found that piston ring immobilization is caused by carbon buildup on the combustion chamber side of the rings and in the annular space behind the rings. The carbon buildup is postulated to be the result of a polymerization growth process on preferred metallic surfaces. Most of the growth takes place on the relatively more stationary piston groove rather than on the ring. Carbon buildup preference was found for aluminum rather than cast iron at a common junction of the two metals. Possible solutions to these major problems are summarized.

Keywords:
piston rings, vegetable oils, diesel engines, blowby, sticking rings, power loss, fuel, carbon deposits, compression loss, carbon buildup, coking, fouling, adhesion, polymerization, cylinder wall, scoring, spalling, sunflower oil, safflower oil, cottonseed oil, combustion, alternate fuel, biomass

Paper ID: JTE10699J
DOI: 10.1520/JTE10699J
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