SAFFLOWER SEED OIL OF TURKISH ORIGIN AS A DIESEL FUEL ALTERNATIVE

Among the biomass resources, vegetable oils seem to have the potential to be used as fuel alternatives for diesel engines. The major restric ting factor in the direct use of vegetable oils in diesel engines is t heir high viscosity, which causes serious problems in fuel-injection s ystems of modern CI engines that are sensitive to viscosity changes. I n this study, the dilution technique for viscosity reduction was appli ed, and blend fuels were prepared by adding 10-90% by volume safflower seed oil of Turkish origin to commercial Grade No. 2-D diesel fuel. V ariations in viscosity with temperature of the blend fuels were determ ined, ASTM fuel property tests were performed, and the 20% blend havin g fuel properties close to the limits specified for Grade No. 2-D dies el fuel was selected for further investigation. Engine performance tes ts and exhaust emission values gave promising results with the 20% ble nd fuel (20% by volume Dincer Safflower seed oil, 80% by volume Grade No. 2-D diesel fuel).