Abstract—This paper presents experimental investigation carried out on an unmodified four stroke diesel engine running with preheated straight vegetable oil (SVO) of Karanja. The viscosity of straight karanja oil was reduced by preheating the oil up to 1600C under different load condition. The preheating was done with the help of a Shell and Tube heat exchanger equipment without using any external power source. The heat exchanger was designed in the lab and the heating source was by waste exhaust gas from engine. The experimental results data were analyzed by using 20% blends of svo of Karanja with 80% diesel by volume and 100% preheated svo of karanja for various parameters like specific fuel consumption, brake thermal efficiency and emission of exhaust gas like CO, CO 2 , HC and NOx. The results indicated that by using straight karanja oil, the emission parameter increases as compared to diesel but regarding engine performance it was found to be very close to that of diesel. All total it can be a replacement of diesel with a small efficiency drop. Keywords—Karanja oil, Performance analysis, Shell &Tube heat exchanger, SVO. I. INTRODUCTION T the 5th OPEC International Seminar in Vienna the report said that between 2010-2011 and 2011-2012, India the world’s fourth largest oil importer saw its average cost of imported crude oil rising by $27 per barrel, “making India’s oil import bill rise from $100 billion to $140 billion dollars”. This higher international oil prices lead to domestic inflation increased input costs, an increase in the budget deficit which invariably drives up interest rates and slows down the economic growth. Current position of India’s crude oil import bill jumps 40% to $140 billion in FY 12, resulting 1.5% reduction in the GDP. According to 5th Renewable Energy India 2011 Expo report 75% of crude liquid fuels were imported resulting in a larger import bill. Nabnit Panigrahi is with GITAM, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering GITAM, (phone: +919861138836; e-mail: nabnit_panigrahi@yahoo.com). Dr. M. K Mohanty is with Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology Odisha, India, Department of Farm Machinery and Power CAET, (phone: +919437065318; e-mail: mohanty65_m@yahoo.co.in). Dr. S. K. Acharya is with SOA University Odisha, India, Department of Mechanical Engineering ITER, (phone: +9194776524335; e-mail: saroj.acharya76@gmail.com). S. R Mishra is with CVRCE, Odisha, India, Faculty of Chemical Engineering, CVRCE, (phone: +919437162250; e-mail: srutisr_mishra@yahoo.co.in). Dr. R. C Mohanty is with CUTM, Odisha, India, Department of Mechanical Engineering CUTM, (phone: +919437189430; e-mail: rcmohanty@cutm.ac.in). Diesel is one of the main liquid fuels used in India. The consumption of diesel is many times higher than that of petrol as the prime use of diesel is in agriculture and transport. Efforts are being made to develop a sustainable alternative fuels which can be a replacement of diesel. Much research activity has been carried out in this area and researchers are going for renewable energy source for a alternative fuel which will reduce the gap between the demand and import of hydrocarbons. India is endowed with a number of vegetable oils like groundnut, cotton seed, sunflower, coconut etc. and many non-edible vegetable oil producing trees like karanja, neem, jatropha, mahua which are renewable sources of energy can be used as an alternative fuels. These trees can thrive in heat, low water, sandy and rocky areas [1]. As there is a high demand of edible oils for food, so it is justified to concern on non –food based feedstock. It has been found that non edible vegetable oils have properties similar to that of diesel which can be easily extracted from their seeds. In the present investigation fuel was prepared from karanja seeds. Experiments study shows that, Navindgi M. C. et al. [2] have carried an investigation with non-edible straight vegetable oils of Neem, Mahua, Linseed and Castor oil on a C.I. Engine and concluded that these neat oils with preheating can be substituted as fuel for diesel engine. Rampure P. B. et al. [3] have tested non-edible Rice bran oil in a diesel engine and found that by using rice bran oil the engine runs on without any problem, the nozzle orifices were not clogged and no major carbon deposits were observed on the combustion chamber. Acharya S. K. et al. [4] have tested Kusum oil as fuel for small horse power diesel engine and concluded that the preheated oil’s performance was slightly inferior in efficiency but pollution point of view it can perform well for the unmodified engine for a long period of operation without any ignition problem. The Use of Vegetable oils results in increased volumetric fuel consumption and BSFC [5]-[7]. Some fuels can be used directly to the engine while others need to be formulated to bring it to the relevant properties close to conventional fuels [8], [9]. A. Karanja Oil Karanja oil is derives from the seeds of Pongamia pinnata tree, is common throughout India. Karanja is a legume tree that grown to about 15-25 meters in height with a large canopy which spreads equally wide. Flowering starts generally after 3- 4 years. Cropping of brown seed pods and single almond sized Nabnit Panigrahi, M. K. Mohanty, S. K. Acharya, S. R Mishra, R. C. Mohanty Experimental Investigation of Karanja Oil as a Fuel for Diesel Engine-Using Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger A World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology International Journal of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering Vol:8, No:1, 2014 187 International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 8(1) 2014 scholar.waset.org/1307-6892/9997495 International Science Index, Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering Vol:8, No:1, 2014 waset.org/Publication/9997495