The effect of acetylene black on droplet combustion and flame regime of petrodiesel and soy biodiesel

The addition of nanomaterials to base liquid fuels for the enhancement of combustion properties has long generated interest, since it is linked to improvement in combustion properties in petroleum-derived fuels. This work investigates the effect of acetylene black nanoparticles on soy-based biodiesel and petrodiesel. These nanoparticles were added in various proportions to base fuels to make suspensions. Sub-millimeter-sized spherical droplets of such suspensions were ignited using hot wire loops, and the combustion process was recorded using a high-speed camera. An infrared imaging camera was also used to record the droplet combustion process. Properties such as ignition delay, combustion rate, total combustion time, flame stand-off ratio, and droplet temperature were measured with post-processing of the resulting images. The results showed an increase in ignition delay of up to 10% in biodiesel and up to 8% in petrodiesel. An up to 13% decrease in biodiesel combustion rate and 1.5% decrease in diesel combustion rate was also observed. Moreover, a maximum of 14% decrease in the total combustion time of biodiesel was observed, compared to a 13% decrease in that of petrodiesel. The results are expected to spark further interest in the exploration of acetylene black as an additive for other liquid fuels.