An Investigation into the Impact of Nano-Additives on the Performance and Emission Levels of a Diesel Engine Fuelled by Nahar Biodiesel

Research on alternative fuels has been intense due to rising energy needs, fossil fuel depletion, rising fuel consumption rates, and the generation of toxic pollutants. The production of biodiesel included the use of nahar oil by acid esterification, followed by a trans-esterification process. 20% volume of nahar biodiesel blend (NME20) was blended with diesel considering it to be the optimized blend ratio. Nanoparticles such as titanium dioxide (TiO2) and aluminium oxide (Al2O3) were used to improve the properties of fuel. The additives were included into the biodiesel mix at concentrations of 25, 50, 75, and 100 parts per million (ppm), respectively. This research aims to evaluate the efficacy and ecological footprint of a diesel engine that utilises a blend of nahar biodiesel with the incorporation of nano additives. An experimental setup was implemented on a diesel engine with a single cylinder to assess its performance and emissions at various engine loads. The tests demonstrated that the use of a biodiesel mix NME20 containing 100 ppm nano Al2O3, (NME20Al100), resulted in a significant increase of 12.48% in thermal efficiency when compared to the other fuels tested. The addition of Al2O3 to the NME20 with 100ppm also resulted with the reduction of 22.85%, 23.07% and 27.59% of CO, HC and smoke emissions, respectively. Despite the fact that NOx levels tend to rise when nano additions are used, SME20Al100 stands out as the best nano additive compared to SME20Ti100 because of its exceptional engine performance.