Influence of nanoparticles on the performance and emission characteristics of a biodiesel fuelled engine: An experimental analysis

Concern over unsustainability of petroleum fuels has necessitated the interest in research for alternative fuels. Biodiesel has popped up as promising choice for detailed study as it is renewable and biodegradable with reduced emissions. Since completely miscible with petroleum diesel, various blends of diesel-biodiesel were used along with the additives to improve the efficiency. In this study pongamia biodiesel blends of B20 with ferrofluid as the additive with various volumetric proportions were used as fuel. Ferrofluid was prepared by adding ferrous based nanoparticles with water as base and citric acid as the surfactant. The investigation was done on Kirloskar TV1 single cylinder four stroke diesel engine at different loads, keeping a constant speed of 1500 rpm. The engine performance and emission parameters were analysed. The results indicated that adding of ferrofluid had a positive effect on fuel, decreasing BSFC by 8% as compared to non-additive fuel. CO and HC emission were found to be lower for nano additive biodiesel blend compared to neat biodiesel blend. The blend B20 with 1% ferrofluid resulted maximum efficiency with reduced emission compared to all the fuel blends. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.