A numerical study of temperature distribution in the cylinder liner of biodiesel-powered compression ignition engine is presented. The mathematical model equations developed were based on heat transfers in the cylinder liner and subsequently transformed using the finite difference method. Numerical solutions were obtained from computer codes written in MATLAB programming language. A biodiesel produced from Nigerian physic nut oil was used in the study. The result was compared with that obtained for conventional diesel fuel. The results revealed that the cylinder head section of the liner material presented higher temperature distribution compared to the oil sump section of the liner. Over a twelve-minute time range, the liner attained steady state with Jatropha-based biodiesel, recording a maximum temperature of 873.1°C. Conventional diesel recorded the lower temperature of 784.3°C. Results also showed that the cylinder head section of the liner material closest to the combustion chamber experienced the greatest temperature rise in comparison to other parts of the liner. These results show that though there are lots of publications confirming that a compression ignition engine previously running on diesel fuel can run on biodiesel fuel or its blend with diesel, there is a need for a further critical study on the development of engine parts like the cylinder liner.

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