Tribological performance of nanopowder blended bio-diesel

Abstract

Biodiesel is renewable, sustainable, and an alternative fuel for compression ignition engines, and often recognized as a comparable fuel to diesel in diesel engines. This is due to a variety of factors, including less dependency on imported petroleum, less global warming, and lower diesel engine exhaust gas emissions. Cottonseed oil is converted into biodiesel by the well-known transesterification method. The ultrasonication approach is used to evaluate the bio - diesel B20 (0.8 %diesel + 0.2 %biodiesel) as well as B50 (0.5 % diesel + 0.5 %biodiesel) with Aluminum oxide nanoparticles in concentration of 50 and 100 ppm. The tribological properties of these blended samples are investigated at varied speeds and loads considering AISI 1040 steel disc with aluminium pins. The addition of Al2O3Nanoparticles helps in further enhancing the tribological properties of the biodiesel made of cotton seed oil. The results reveal that a properly concentrated Al2O3 nanofluid has strong tribological characteristics and has the capability to substitute conventional lubrication. The nanofluid has higher tribological qualities over pure cottonseed oil as well as boosts its performance substantially.