Biodiesel Emulsion Research Articles

EFFECTS OF WATER EMULSIFIED B5-DIESEL AND BIOGAS ON THE COMBUSTION AND EMISSIONS OF RCCI ENGINE AT LOW LOAD

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of water in biodiesel emulsions (WiBE) and biogas on the reactivity-controlled compression ignition combustion for improved performance and reduced emissions. 13% WiBE, 15% WiBE and regular B5 were, directly, injected with the port injection of biogas at the intake valve, as a modified fueling approach. An advanced injection timing of 21o CA BTDC and energy fraction of 50% each of the fuels, were maintained at a speed of 2000 rpm and vary the load from 4.5 to 6.5 bar IMEP. The combustion of WiBE and biogas had been found disadvantageous to the rise in the cylinder pressure and heat released at high load but highly beneficial in reducing peak pressure rise rate besides lowering the in-cylinder temperature as a useful tool for low-temperature combustion technique. The use of WiBE and biogas resulted in a retarded combustion phase while B5 demonstrated more delayed combustion. Both 13% and 15% water emulsions exhibited similar carbon dioxide emission attributes but remained higher compared to the regular B5 at all the engine capacity except 6.5 bar IMEP. The fuels reactivity lowers significantly, the in-cylinder temperature causing elevated carbon monoxide (CO) and unburned hydrocarbon (UHC) emissions, by 41.09% and 19.61% respectively, along with the reduced nitrogen oxides emission by 50.85%. Use of strategies to raise the in-cylinder temperature may cut down the challenging emissions

Effect of microwave synthesized hydroxyapatite nanorods using Hibiscus rosa-sinensis added waste cooking oil (WCO) methyl ester biodiesel blends on the performance characteristics and emission of a diesel engine

Abstract Global warming and climate change are the major challenges of the current century which is due to the combustion in diesel engine and subsequent increase of emission. The biodiesel is a potential fuel which is the alternate for fossil fuels. The biodiesel is an attractive option for the present scenario and is produced economically from cooking oil residue by transesterification process in presence of alkali Catalyst (KOH) at a temperature of 60 °C with 1:2.5 methanol to oil molar ratio. The present investigation deals with the test samples prepared by adding 100 ppm of microwave synthesized Hydroxyapatite Nano-rods using Hibiscus Rosa Sinensis (HRS E: Hap) additives with help of two different solvents (de-ionized water and methanol) in 15% water and WCO biodiesel emulsion. The fuel samples are categories into B0PM0PW30, B0PM30PW0, B20PM0PW30, B20PM30PW0, B100PM0PW30 and B100PM30PW0. Ultra-sonicator is used for achieving uniform dispersion of additives in fuel samples to improve the performance and effective controlling of emission in a diesel engine. The preparation of solvent is by mixing Hibiscus Rosa Sinensis (HRSE: Hap) additives in biodiesel and diesel, where the brake thermal efficiency, emission and specific fuel consumption going to be tested in Kirloskar Engine TV 1 diesel Engine. The findings revealed that the methanol-based nanoparticles dispersed test fuel (B20HW100) significantly improved by 12%, succeeded by 30decrease of NO emission, 60% decrease of carbon monoxide emission, 44% decrease of hydrocarbon emission and 38% decrease of smoke emission while compared to B100.

Impact of emulsion drops on a solid surface: The effect of viscosity

This paper presents a study of the impact of various water in Jatropha biodiesel emulsion drops on a stainless steel surface. The composition of the emulsion is varied by changing the volume percentage of water. The effect of the change in the composition and the Weber number (We) is reported. With the increase in the percentage of water, the domination of the viscous force is observed to increase. The emulsions having lower percentages of water (less than 20%) are found to be inertia dominated, while the others (equal or greater than 20%) are viscous dominated. The maximum spreading diameter normalized by the preimpact diameter, βmax, decreases with an increase in the percentage of water due to the increased viscous losses. Consequently, the minimum splat thickness factor and the equilibrium splat thickness factors increase with the percentage of water. Higher viscous losses affect the shape of the drop during spreading as well. Emulsification delays the splashing due to the higher viscous losses. No splashing is observed for the emulsions containing 20 or higher percentage of water, since viscosity dominantly affects the impact. To confirm the effect of the viscosity, βmax obtained from the experiments are compared with that obtained from various existing models. Another purpose of the comparison is to check the suitability of the models for the emulsion drop impact. Only one model among all studied is found to compare well because the model assumes that the characteristic length for viscous dissipation is of the order of splat thickness.

Production of stable bio-emulsion fuel with the use of underwater explosion

ABSTRACTOxides of nitrogen (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) are the main pollutants from diesel engines. Bio-diesel fuel, as alternative fuel, has potential to reduce the formation of NOx and PM. And emulsion fuel is a mixture of fuel and water that can reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) and PM in exhaust gas when it is burned in a diesel or other heat engines. Reduction of NOx is originated from the reduction of local high temperature due to vaporized water during combustion. The aim of the present study is performed on the production of the stable bio-diesel emulsion fuel. In this research, a bubble pulse caused by an underwater explosion is used to emulsify samples, i.e., water (in the range of 5–20%) and bio-diesel fuel with two different specific surfactants. This mechanism of the emulsification is observed by a high speed video camera. It is found that (i) the process of generating emulsification under the underwater explosion is disclosed, (ii) the stable emulsion fuel is affected by HLB, i.e., the ratio of two different specific surfactants and the timewise stability of the emulsion fuel is attributed to the scattering intensity of the measured water particle size.

Emission and performance investigation on the effect of nano-additive on neat biodiesel

ABSTRACT In this present study, the emissions characteristics of four-stroke, single cylinder water cooled diesel engine fueled with neat biodiesel were investigated. Titanium dioxide nano-additive is added to neat biodiesel at different concentrations to view its impact on emissions and performance pattern. The obtained results are compared with diesel fuel (D100). Cottonseed oil is transesterified into biodiesel and employed in this work. Two samples of Titanium dioxide nano-additive are characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and included into 100% of biodiesel in a mass fraction of 50 and 100 ppm. Addition of TiO2 nanoparticle in biodiesel emulsion fuel further reduces the NOx, HC, CO and smoke emission by 11.2%, 6.2%, 8.4% and 5.8% respectively under peak load condition. The TiO2 nanoparticle inclusion at 50 ppm improves the BTE and BSFC by 0.8% and 1.2% respectively when compared to CSBD at full load condition. TiO2 nanoparticle inclusion at 100 ppm fuel exhibits 1.1% and 1.5% improvement in terms of BTE and BSFC respectively when compared to CSBD at all load conditions.

Role of nanoadditive blended biodiesel emulsion fuel on the performance and emission characteristics of diesel engine

An investigational research is carried out to found the performance and emission characteristics of a direct injection (DI) diesel engine with aluminium oxide nanoparticle additives in water and biodiesel blend. Palm methyl ester was produced by transesterification and blended with water. Aluminium oxide nanoparticles of 50 and 100 ppm in proportion are subjected to high-speed mechanical agitation followed by ultrasonication. The experimentations were conducted on a single cylinder DI diesel engine at a constant speed of 1500 rpm using different aluminium-oxide (AL2O3)-blended with emulsified biodiesel (PBD5%W+100ppm, PBD10%W+50ppm, PBD15%W+100ppm, PBD20%W+50ppm) and the outcomes were compared with those of neat diesel and Palm biodiesel. The experimental results indicated that brake thermal efficiency of PBD20%W+50 ppm and PBD+15%W+100ppm aluminium oxide was increased by 3-4% with 1.72% betterment in specific fuel consumption. Emissions of nitrogen oxide and hydrocarbon were reasonably lower than diesel fuel.

Evolution of Microexplosion Phenomenon in Parent–Child Droplets of Water in Biodiesel Emulsions Enhanced by Different Surfactant Dosages and Hydrophilic–Lipophilic Balance Values

This experimental study endeavors to investigate the evolution of microexplosion phenomenon of water in biodiesel emulsion droplets with the base fuel (B5) containing 95% diesel and 5% of palm oil methyl ester (POME). Parameters such as water content varied from 9%, 12%, and 15%, surfactant dosages of 5%, 10%, and 15% and the hydrophilic–lipophilic balance (HLB) values of 6, 7, 8, and 9 were varied to study its impact on microexplosion phenomenon. Three different sizes of emulsion droplets of approximately Ø2.8 mm, Ø2.2 mm, and Ø0.3 mm were visualized for the evolution of microexplosion phenomenon under the Leidenfrost effect using hot plate as a heat source. The evolution of microexplosion phenomenon of parent droplets, puffing behavior, and waiting time was visualized with high-resolution images. It was observed that the coalescence process was the dominating factor in inducing the microexplosion, and the coalescence process can either be advanced or be delayed by the surfactant dosage. The waiting time for the microexplosion was found to be influenced by the surfactant dosage and the droplet size. The rate of phase change of emulsions and puffing was found to be influenced by the surfactant dosage. By analyzing the postbehavior of the child droplets formed after the microexplosion of the parent droplet, it was observed that the child droplets undergo a series of puffing process and eventually microexplosion phenomenon also. The size of the parent droplets has a significant influence on the size of the child droplet.

The Influence of Formulation Ratio and Emulsifying Settings on Tri-Fuel (Diesel–Ethanol–Biodiesel) Emulsion Properties

In this study, an alternative fuel for compression ignition (CI) engines called tri-fuel emulsion was prepared using an ultrasonic emulsifier. The objective of the study is to investigate the effect of emulsifying settings and formulation ratio on the physicochemical properties of tri-fuel emulsions. Design of experiment (DOE) with the two-level factorial design was employed to analyze the effect of emulsifying settings such as time, amplitude, and cycle along with the variation ratio of tri-fuel emulsion components as control factors. Numbers of responses identified were important parameters that may contribute to microexplosion phenomenon in CI engine. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was carried out for each response, and the results indicated that density, dynamic viscosity, surface tension, and average droplet size were influenced by specific preparation control factors. Furthermore, interaction among the control factors was found to affect the responses as well. Interaction means the effect of two factors together is different than what would be expected from each factor separately. Besides, the stability of the tri-fuel emulsion was observed for three months. Furthermore, a qualitative approach with a multiobjective lens digital microscope revealed the geometry of freshly made dispersed tri-fuel emulsion droplets. Microscopic examination on tri-fuel emulsion droplets has shown that the dispersed ethanol capsulated within diesel with the help of biodiesel is similar to a water in diesel emulsion and is dissimilar to commercial diesel mixed with fatty acid methyl esters found in the market.

Emission and performance study emulsified orange peel oil biodiesel in an aspirated research engine

This study paves the way on reducing smoke emission and NOx emissions of research diesel engine by detailing the effect of water addition in biodiesel. Fuel samples were prepared with different concentrations of water in orange peel oil biodiesel (94% waste orange peel oil biodiesel + 4% water + 2% Span 80 (WOPOBDE1) and 90% waste orange peel oil biodiesel + 8% water + 2% Span 80 (WOPOBDE2). Span 80 was employed as a nonionic surfactant, which emulsifies water in biodiesel. Experimental results revealed that the nitrogen oxides and smoke emission of orange peel oil biodiesel emulsion were reduced by 11%–19% and 3%–21%, respectively, compared to that of neat orange peel oil biodiesel (WOPOBD). In addition, the introduction of orange peel oil–water emulsions in the diesel engine considerably reduced the emissions of unburned hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide. The overall hydrocarbon emission of WOPOBDE2 was 12.2% lower than that of WOPOBD and 16.3% lower than that of diesel. The overall CO emission of WOPOBDE2 was 17% lower than that of base fuel (WOPOBD) and 21.8% lower than that of diesel. Experimental results revealed that modified fuel had higher brake thermal efficiency and lower brake specific fuel consumption than that of base fuel at all engine brake power levels.

Combustion, performance, and emission analysis of diesel engine fueled with water-biodiesel emulsion fuel and nanoadditive.

The present study is aimed to analyze the combustion, performance, and emission characteristics of water-emulsified soybean biodiesel fueled diesel engine with alumina nanoadditive and the results compared with conventional diesel fuel (BD). Experiments were conducted in a single-cylinder, four-stroke, variable compression ratio, and natural aspirated diesel engine with an eddy current dynamometer at a constant speed of 1500rpm. Water-soybean biodiesel emulsion fuel was prepared using a mechanical agitator, in which the water concentration was limited to 10%, whereas soybean biodiesel (SB) and surfactant concentrations were 89% and 1% by volume respectively. Alumina (Al) was chosen as a nanoadditive, and the mass fractions of 50ppm and 100ppm were blended with emulsion fuel using ultrasonicator and the physicochemical properties were measured. The physicochemical properties of water-emulsified biodiesel and nanoadditive included emulsified biodiesel are at par with EN14214 limits. The in-cylinder pressure (ICP) and net heat release rate (NHR) values of SB are 5.3% and 7.2% lower than BD respectively, whereas the water inclusion significantly increases the ICP and NHR values by 6.9% and 15.9% compared to SB. Brake-specific fuel consumption (BSFC) of SB is higher than BD, and brake-specific energy consumption (BSEC) is lower than BD. An inclusion of 10% water in SB improves the BSFC and BSEC by 4% and 10.6% respectively compared to SB. The Al nanoparticle inclusion in water-emulsified soybean biodiesel further improves the combustion and performance parameters. The exhaust gas temperature (EGT) of sample fuels seems to be lesser than BD due to efficient combustion. As far as the emission characteristics are concerned, the SB promotes lower level of hydrocarbon (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), and smoke emissions with notable increases in oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. An inclusion of 10% water in SB reduces the NOx, HC, CO, and smoke emission by 21.2%, 16.7%, 16.9%, and 11.8% respectively under peak brake mean effective pressure (BMEP) condition. The addition of Al nanoparticle in biodiesel emulsion fuel further reduce NOx, HC, CO, and smoke emissions and marginally increases the CO2 emission.

Emission analysis of diesel engine fueled with soybean biodiesel and its water blends

ABSTRACTThe present study is carried out to formulate stable water-in-soybean biodiesel emulsion fuel and investigate its emission characteristics in a single cylinder diesel engine. Four types of emulsion fuels, which consist of a different percentage of water (5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%) in soybean biodiesel, were prepared with suitable surfactant and properties were measured. The physicochemical properties are on par with EN 14214 standards. The experimental result of test fuels indicates that the soybean biodiesel promotes a lower level of hydrocarbon (HC), carbon monoxide (CO) and smoke emissions compared to base diesel except for nitrogen oxide (NOx) emission. Increase in water concentration with soybean biodiesel significantly reduces the NOx emission and smoke opacity. The HC and CO emissions are further reduced with emulsified biodiesel up to 10% water concentration and beyond that limit, marginal increases are recorded. Overall, it is observed that inclusion of water with soybean biodiesel reduces the HC, CO, NOx and smoke emissions when compared to base diesel and soybean biodiesel, and 10% water in soybean biodiesel is an appropriate solution to reduce the overall emissions in the soybean-fuelled diesel engine.

Experimental Investigation of Performance and Emission Characteristics of IDI Diesel Engine Using Homogenized Water in Bio-Diesel Emulsion

Water in diesel emulsion when used as fuel in diesel engine has shown simultaneous reduction in both nitrogen oxides and particulate matters. However, when water in bio-diesel emulsion is used, the effect of simultaneous reduction of nitrogen oxides and particulate reduction is not achieved. The current study aims at investigating the diesel engine performance and exhaust emissions using water in bio-diesel fuel prepared by a homogenizer that produced micro-water particles in the emulsion. A 1.8L indirect injection diesel engine was operated using bio-diesel fuel which contains 95% diesel and 5% palm oil methyl ester, mixed with 5%, 10% and 20% by volume of water. Engine testing was conducted at full load condition with the engine speeds ranges from 1000 to 4000 rpm. Torque, engine speed and fuel consumption were measured along with emissions of NOx, CO, CO2, HC, O2. The results showed small reduction in brake power, 1.4% and 2.1% for WBDE-5 and WBDE-10 respectively, at maximum torque. While, reduction in exhaust gas temperature, CO2 and smoke opacity for all the tested emulsions were exhibited. On the other hand, NOx was found to increase with increase in water contents due to the higher oxygen content in the bio-diesel fuel. WBDE-20 showed the worst efficacy due to having water content of 20% by volume.

Short term endurance results on a single cylinder diesel engine fueled with upgraded bio oil biodiesel emulsion

This paper deliberates the endurance test outcomes obtained from a single cylinder, diesel engine fueled with an upgraded bio oil biodiesel emulsion. In this investigation a bio oil obtained by pyrolysis of woody biomass was upgraded with acid treatment. The resulted bio oil was emulsified with addition of biodiesel and suitable surfactant which is termed as ATJOE15. The main objective of the endurance test was to evaluate the wear characteristics of the engine components and lubrication oil properties, when the engine is fueled with the ATJOE15 emulsion. The photographic views taken before and after the end of 100 hrs endurance test, and visual inspection of the engine components, wear and carbon deposit results, are discussed in this paper.

Investigating the effect of high thermal\u2013saline conditions on the rheological properties of waste vegetable oil biodiesel-based emulsion mud

Tight environmental regulations coupled with the constant need to enhance water-based drilling mud performance for use in deeper formation where it can withstand high temperature, high pressure and high saline condition have always been an existential issue during drilling operations. This research compared the performance of biodiesel produced from waste vegetable oil with that of white oil 5#, used as additives in mud formulations. Their effectiveness was tested at high temperature high pressure, in the presence of monovalent and divalent electrolytes. The mud density, rheological behavior, yield point, fluid loss under high temperature and pressure, and cake thickness were examined. The biodiesel emulsion mud proved more stable compared to both the white oil emulsion mud and the water-based mud without oil additive under thermal and saline conditions. The biodiesel emulsion mud demonstrated low and stable mud viscosity under the different conditions studied. The fluid loss reduction was better for biodiesel emulsion mud with API fluid loss of 2.20 cm3 and high temperature high pressure filtration loss of 9.4 cm3, while white oil emulsion mud gave 6.40 and 18.40 cm3, respectively, for both parameters at 180 °C in calcium-contaminated mud. The biodiesel emulsion mud exhibited superior qualities of rheological properties compared to white oil emulsion mud at higher temperature and saline conditions. The rheological models of the white oil emulsion mud and biodiesel emulsion mud at room temperature followed Bingham plastic model, but at high temperature their rheogram approximated to Herschel–Bulkley model.

Impact of Carbon Nanotubes and Di-Ethyl Ether as additives with biodiesel emulsion fuels in a diesel engine – An experimental investigation

In the current global energy scenario, fossil fuels face challenges with regards to exorbitant demand, environmental hazards and escalating costs. In this regard, the technical community is in quest for alternative resources. In this context, biodiesel fuel is potentially considered as alternative fuels for compression ignition engines. Hence, in this current investigation, biodiesel and biodiesel emulsions are prepared from a vegetable oil and further subjected for the blending with potential additives such as CNT (Carbon Nanotubes) and DEE (Di-Ethyl Ether) to improve the working attributes of the diesel engine. The entire investigation was carried out in five stages. In the first stage, both pure diesel and biodiesel (derived from jatropha oil) fuels were tested in the diesel engine to obtain baseline readings. In the second stage, water–biodiesel emulsion fuel was prepared in the proportion of 91% of biodiesel, 5% of water and 4% of emulsifiers (by volume). In the third stage, 50 ppm of CNT, 50 ml of DEE and combined mixture of CNT+DEE (50 ppm CNT+50 ml DEE) were mixed with the water–biodiesel emulsion fuel separately to prepare the CNT and DEE blended water–biodiesel emulsion fuels respectively. In fourth stage, the prepared emulsion fuels were subjected to stability investigations. In the fifth stage, all the prepared stable emulsion fuels were subjected for experimental testing in a diesel engine. It was observed that the CNT and DEE blended biodiesel emulsion fuels reflected better performance, emission and combustion attributes than that of pure diesel and biodiesel. At the full load, the brake thermal efficiency, NO and smoke emission of CNT+DEE fuels was 28.8%, 895 ppm and 36%, whereas it was 25.2%, 1340 ppm and 71% for pure diesel respectively. It was also observed that on adding CNT and DEE with the biodiesel emulsion fuels, the ignition delay was shortened and henceforth, the additive blended biodiesel emulsion fuels exhibited higher brake thermal efficiency and reduced emissions (NO, smoke) than that of pure diesel and biodiesel.

Experimental investigation of the impact of using alcohol- biodiesel-diesel blending fuel on combustion of single cylinder CI engine

The effect of alcohol addition has been experimentally in vestgated in the current study by blending it with diesel and palm based biodiesel on the combustion of a compression ignition engine. The experiment was run by single-cylinder, naturally aspirated, direct injection, four-stroke diesel engine. Based on the pressure-crank angle data collected from the pressure transducer and crank angle encoder, the combustion analysis such as incylinder pressure, incylinder temperature, energy release rate, cumulative energy release and ignition delay are analysed. In this comparative study, the effects of alcohols namely butanol BU20 (20% butanol addition on the commercially available diesel biodiesel emulsion) is compared and evaluated with pure diesel (D100). The results revealed that the the ignition delay for BU20 is longer as compared to that of D100 in all engine speeds and loads compared. Besides, the incylinder temperatures were rudecued with the butanol addition. The energy release rate for BU20 was higher than that for diesel, whereas the peak positions concerning the energy release rate for BU20 was discovered at 2400 rpm. Therefore addition of butanol will have positive role on the NOx emissions and stability of the engine due to its higher latent heat of vaporization.

A Case Study on the Influence of Selected Parameters on Microexplosion Behavior of Water in Biodiesel Emulsion Droplets

Microexplosion behavior of water in biodiesel emulsion droplets was studied by suspending a single droplet on a wire type thermocouple. Water in biodiesel emulsion droplets with 9%, 12%, 15%, and 18% water by volume was observed in the Leiden frost regime using a hot plate as the heat source maintained at two different temperatures of 400 °C and 500 °C. The evolution of microexplosion was recorded with a high-speed camera synchronized with a temperature data logger. The emulsions were prepared by an electrical stirrer fitted with customized made blades rotating at 1500 rpm for 15 min. The emulsions were stabilized with two different hydrophilic–lipophilic balance (HLB) values, which were prepared by mixing two different commercial surfactants. It is found that the microexplosion time and temperature were influenced by emulsion stability, water content, surfactant dosage, base plate temperature, and HLB value. All the unstable emulsions developed microexplosion at both plate temperatures. Emulsions stabilized with an HLB value of 6.31 and 18% water content did exhibit microexplosion at both base plate temperatures. Also, the waiting time was found to decrease with increasing surfactant concentrations for a 500 °C plate temperature compared to 400 °C.

Diesel engine performance and emission evaluation using Canola biodiesel emulsion fuel

Diesel engines exhausting gaseous emission and particulate matter have long been regarded as one of the major air pollution sources. The emulsification method is not only motivated by cost reduction but is also one of the potentially effective techniques to reduce exhaust emission from diesel engines. An experimental investigation was carried out to produce a biodiesel emulsion fuel to be used in a diesel engine under different operating conditions. The proper mixing technique and surfactants were used to produce stable emulsions of 15% water by volume in biodiesel. The properties of emulsion fuel such as density, viscosity and pour point were observed. The performance of a single cylinder diesel engine in terms of engine speed, brake power output, specific fuel consumption, brake thermal efficiency, exhaust gas temperature and emissions such as NOx and particulate matter were measured and analysed with the prepared emulsified biodiesel. The results showed that the water emulsification has a potential to improve the diesel engine performance and to reduce gas pollutants.

Performance and emission characteristics improvement studies on a biodiesel fuelled DICI engine using water and AlO(OH) nanoparticles

The paper describes a sequence of experimental investigations conducted on a biodiesel fuelled Direct Injection Compression Ignition (DICI) engine with an objective of improving its working characteristics using Aluminium oxide hydroxide (AlO(OH)) nanoparticles as a fuel additive. Systematically prepared biodiesel from Jatropha oil and commercially available nano-sized AlO(OH) were used in this investigation. The AlO(OH) nanoparticles crystallite size and morphology were studied using XRD (X-ray diffraction) and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM). The particles were dispersed in ppm levels (25, 50 and 100 ppm) in a set of biodiesel emulsion fuels (BD5W: Blend of 93% biodiesel + 1% Span80 + 1% Tween80 + 5% water, and BD10W: Blend of 88% biodiesel + 1% Span80 + 1% Tween80 + 10% water). The working characteristics of test fuels were investigated in a test rig, consisting of a single cylinder, four stroke DICI constant speed engine (Speed = 1500 rpm, Compression ratio = 17.5), data acquisition system and an electric loading device (Alternator). The results of the test fuels were analysed and compared with those of neat diesel and neat biodiesel. The analysis revealed that the performance parameter, namely, brake thermal efficiency, was lower, and NO level in the engine exhaust was higher for the biodiesel than that for neat diesel. However, the performance and emission characteristics were notably enhanced by the inclusion of water and nanoparticles.

Performance and Emission Characteristics of Diesel Engine Using Alumina Nanoparticle Blended Biodiesel Emulsion Fuel

Diesel engines are widely used for their low fuel consumption and better efficiency. An investigation was carried out with a single cylinder diesel engine to establish the effects of alumina nanoparticle incorporation into the Canola biodiesel (BD) emulsion fuel. The Canola BD was formed from the Canola oil by transesterification process, and later the Canola BD emulsion fuel was prepared in the fraction of 83% of Canola BD, 15% of water, and 2% of surfactants (by volume). The alumina nanoparticles were blended with the Canola BD emulsion fuel at different ratios systematically. The entire study was conducted in the diesel engine using the three fuels, namely, neat BD, Canola BD emulsion fuel, and alumina nanoparticle blended Canola emulsion fuels consecutively. The experimental results revealed a considerable improvement in the brake thermal efficiency (BTE) for the alumina blended Canola emulsion fuels compared with that of neat Canola BD and Canola BD emulsion fuel. At the full load, the BTE observed for the Canola BD fuel was 30.7%, whereas it was 27.81% and 31.6% for the Canola BD emulsion fuel and alumina nanoparticle blended emulsion fuel, respectively. The use of a nanoparticle blended BD fuel reduced the hydrocarbon (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions but increased oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions due to the increased oxygen content in the BD fuel but it was reduced in nanoparticle blended fuel. The smoke emission was reduced by 50% with the use of the nanoparticle blended emulsion fuel.