Role of nanoadditive blended biodiesel emulsion fuel on the working characteristics of a diesel engine

Biodiesel emulsions are considered as the propitious alternative fuels for diesel engines. The need of biodiesel emulsion fuels for the diesel engines is to curtail the dependency on the fossil fuels in context to the world energy oil crisis. Henceforth, the present study provides a tangible pathway to prepare and to ameliorate the biodiesel emulsion fuel on incorporating potential alumina nanoparticles. The biodiesel emulsion fuel is prepared by emulsification technique comprising of 83% of jatropha biodiesel, 15% of water, and 2% of surfactants (Span80 and Tween80) with the aid of a mechanical agitator. The prepared biodiesel emulsion fuel is mixed with the alumina nanoparticles in the mass fractions of say 25, 50, and 100 ppm with the help of an ultrasonicator. The whole investigation is carried out in a constant speed diesel engine in three phases using jatropha biodiesel, jatropha biodiesel emulsion fuel, and alumina nanoparticle blended jatropha biodiesel emulsion fuels. The experimental results revealed a substantial enhancement in the performance and a reduction in harmful emissions for the biodiesel emulsion fuels compared to those of neat biodiesel. In addition, the incorporation of nanoparticles in the biodiesel emulsion fuel has also revealed an incremental better performance and reduced emissions than that of biodiesel emulsion fuel and biodiesel. Furthermore, the significance of shorten ignition delay effect associated with the nanoparticle blended biodiesel emulsion fuels has been investigated and asserted upon conducting a hot-plate evaporation study. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3575169]