ABSTRACT
It is a fact that the emissions originated in vehicles have remarkable influence on human health, the living environment, and the ecological systems. Therefore, stricter regulations have been set to govern the emission standards of vehicles. In recent years, significant research progress has been made relating to alkyl esters of vegetable oils or animal fats, normally referred to as biodiesel, aiming to assess the suitability of biodiesel regarding the performance and emission characteristics of diesel engines. Biodiesel has been accepted as a promising alternative fuel with renewable, nontoxic, and eco-friendly properties, as well as having sustainable applicability to diesel engines. Biodiesel could partly replace fossil-originated fuels so as to lower toxic pollutants and, more importantly, to curb the life-cycle emissions of carbon monoxide. This chapter focuses on evaluating biodiesel feasibility as used in diesel engines. Further, aspects relating to engine durability and performance, deposit formation, the corrosiveness of biodiesel on engine components, as well as the emission characteristics of diesel engines running on biodiesel-based fuels – like nitrogen oxide, particulate matter, hydrocarbon, and carbon monoxide emissions – are thoroughly analyzed and compared to those of petrodiesel fuel for both ‘common rail direct injection’ and conventional diesel engines.
