Abstract
Microalgae is considered as an excellent potential renewable source of fuel in many forms including powder or slurry. A high percentage of emulsified water in the fuel is reported to reduce diesel engines’ emissions such as NOx, but that will compromise the engine output power. Using microalgae powder as an additive to enhance the emulsified water fuel heating value is the main objective of this work. Diesel engine combustion, vibration, performance and emissions were evaluated for pure cottonseed biodiesel (CS-B100), emulsified water 20% (vol.) in cottonseed biodiesel (CSB-E20) and emulsified water 20% (vol.) containing Fresh Water Microalgae Chlorella Vulgaris (FWM-CV) in cottonseed biodiesel (CSB-ME20). The emulsified water fuels showed a reduction in in-cylinder pressure, vibration, brake power, torque, exhaust gas temperature, CO2 and NOx, while BSFC and O2 were higher than the pure biodiesel (CS-B100). CSB-ME20 produced higher power and torque than CSB-E20 due to the presence of microalgae in the fuel that increased the energy content of the fuel.
Highlights
The current strict regulations on global environmental protection to reduce the exhaust gas emissions produced from diesel engines has attracted the attention of governments, industry and researchers [1,2,3]
The in-cylinder pressure that occurs at the power stroke is important for identifying the indicated engine performance and is correlated to the engine vibration
Based on the engine manufacturer’s data, fuel injection starts at 16.5◦ before top dead centre (BTDC) (360◦ ), as marked in the pressure and heat release rate figures
Summary
The current strict regulations on global environmental protection to reduce the exhaust gas emissions produced from diesel engines has attracted the attention of governments, industry and researchers [1,2,3]. The main adopted strategies to enhance combustion and reduce the emissions are by developing alternative fuels, additives to the current fuels and post treatment of the engine product [4]. Liquids biofuels can be used as fuels or additives to run diesel engines, and they are compatible with the current fuel storage and distribution systems. Biodiesel is a renewable and environmentally-friendly alternative fuel for diesel engines [5]. Biodiesel fuel emits less harmful exhaust gas emissions [6,7,8]. In most cases [9,10,11], the NOx emission was reported to be higher than petroleum diesel (PD)
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