Exergy, exergoeconomic, and sustainability analyses of a diesel engine using biodiesel fuel blends containing nanoparticles

The current paper investigated in detail the influence of titanium dioxide (TiO2) and silver oxide (Ag2O) nanoparticles additives into biodiesel fuel obtained from cottonseed oil in terms of performance and emissions. The fuel blends formed by nanoparticles with biodiesel fuel were evaluated from a different perspective with energy, exergy, and exergoeconomic analyses by utilizing the data from the experiments. Thermal efficiency and exergy efficiency increase when nanoparticles were mixed to the biodiesel fuel. Total exergy losses in fuel blends decrease with the nanoparticle additives. When the engine torque was 40 Nm, the total exergy losses for C100, CAg-75, and CTi-75 test fuels were 14.49 kW, 13.91 kW, and 12.17 kW, respectively. The total exergy loss in D100 fuel was calculated as 12.04 kW under the same conditions. The sustainability indexes for D100 and CTi-75 fuels at an engine torque of 40 Nm were 1.626 and 1.620, respectively. Due to the high price of nanoparticles, test fuels with nanoparticles have a higher cost per unit exergy for engine work than pure biodiesel fuel. Hence, it is essential to decrease the cost of nanoparticle production to expand the using of nanoparticle additives in biodiesel.

Automated summary

This paper investigated the influence of titanium dioxide (TiO2) and silver oxide (Ag2O) nanoparticles additives on biodiesel fuel obtained from cottonseed oil. The fuel blends formed by nanoparticles with biodiesel fuel were evaluated in terms of performance and emissions. The results showed that adding nanoparticles to biodiesel fuel increased thermal efficiency and exergy efficiency, and decreased total exergy losses in fuel blends.