PERFORMANCE OF AN AGRICULTURAL TRACTOR UNDER DIFFERENT LOADS AND FLOWS AIR ADMITTED BY ENGINE

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the energy performance, the performance in the drawbar and combustion efficiency in a Diesel cycle engine of an agricultural tractor using different loads on the draw bar and flow of air entering the feeding system. Thus, an experiment was set up in a completely randomized design in a factorial 5 x 4, consisting of different loads on the draw bar of (2.7, 7.4, 11.9, 15.5 and 20.5 kN) and different air flow admitted by the engine (0.077, 0.085, 0.099 and 0.109 m3 s-1), with three replications. The air flow permitted by the engine in smaller proportions, 0.077 and 0.085 m³ s-1, resulted in increased fuel consumption. The highest performance in the drawbar and the lowest specific fuel consumption occurred when the tractor pulled the largest load, 20.5 kN. The combustion efficiency decreases with increasing air flow admitted to the engine.