Experimental investigation of multi-additive fuel blend and its optimization for CI engine performance and emissions by the hybrid Taguchi- TOPSIS technique

Abstract

In recent years, the critical stage of air pollution and government stringent emission norms like Bharat Standard VI in 2020 in India and Euro VI in European countries, along with the promotion of electric vehicles, has made the future of diesel vehicles unpredictable. The present work correlates and tries to overcome the emission issue by improving fuel properties using a novel multi-additive fuel blend which can control engine emission, mostly NOx, without compromising efficiency and operating fuel economy. Using experimental and literature studies, three additives were identified for creating a novel multi-additive fuel blend, viz. dimethyl carbonate, 2-ethylhexyl nitrate and ethyl acetate. Using the Taguchi Design of Experiment method, sixteen test samples having different combinations of these additive were identified for experimental trials to create sufficient and suitable test data for the optimization process. Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution is a Multi Criteria Decision Making optimization process, is performed to identify the optimized multi-additive fuel blend coded as D8EH6E4. Blending the optimized multi-additive sample D8EH6E4 with diesel fuel reduced NOx formation by an average of 19 % while causing a substantial drop in smoke at higher load conditions without adversely affecting engine performance and fuel economy.