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These last years, much of researches were carried out to find the appropriate substitution fuel to the fossil fuels. The use of biofuel prepared from non-edible vegetable oils are becoming a promising source to produce a fuel for diesel engine, commonly referred to as “biodiesel”. Considering the high oil extraction yield (around 40%) and the great quantity of pistacia lentiscus (PL) trees available in arid and semi-arid areas of Mediterranean countries, it is selected in the present work to study the biodiesel prepared from PL oil. PL biodiesel is obtained by converting PL seed oil with a single-step homogenous alkali catalyzed transesterification process. PL biodiesel characterization, according to the standard methods, shows that the physicochemical properties are comparable to those of conventional diesel fuel. In a second part, a single cylinder air-cooled, DI diesel engine is used to test PL biodiesel at 1500 rpm under various engine load conditions.

An approach for turbocharging automotive engines to reach targeted performance was developed in which the environmental and economic aspects during the turbocharger-engine matching process were considered. Three numerical assessment levels based on output performance, exhaust emissions and techno-economic metrics are established to support users during the decision-making of adequate turbochargers that meets targeted data in terms of boosting and emissions. Satisfactory improvements are measured from a 1.5L, three-cylinders, turbocharged Diesel engine, in terms of brake specific fuel consumption, thermal efficiency and NOx concentrations of about 1.73% (decrease in fuel consumption of around 2.22ml/s), 1.76%, and 4.53% (correspond to a diminution of around 217.54ppm), respectively, at the engine’s extreme conditions (full load and rated power).