Investigation of the effects on fuel, performance and emission properties of modify ternary transformer oil fuel blends in a diesel engine

This study investigates the potential of waste transformer oil (WTO) as an alternative fuel in diesel engines. To achieve this, we mixed crude transformer oil (TO) with diesel fuel (D100) at specific volume ratios (TD10, TD20, TD30 and TD40) to create fuel blends. The fuels' physicochemical characteristics were described using FT-IR, density, viscosity, cloud point, pour point and TG-DSC studies. Using a single-cylinder, four-stroke, air-cooled diesel engine, the prepared fuel blends were experimentally tested for engine performance and exhaust emissions at full load and at various engine speeds (1000, 1500, 2000 and 2500 rpm). The results showed that the density and viscosity of the fuel increased with increasing WTO ratio, but the lower heating value decreased. The TD10 fuel blend showed the best performance in terms of braking power, with a 6.32% reduction and a 9.9% increase in specific fuel consumption compared to D100. Torque values decreased with increasing WTO content, and TD40 fuel produced 14.03% less torque compared to D100. In terms of exhaust emissions, TD10 and TD20 fuels reduced CO emissions by 22% and 12.87%, respectively, while TD30 fuel provided the highest reduction in NO_x emissions with 23.98%.