Experimental investigation of performance and emission characteristics of diesel engine using Jatropha biodiesel with alumina nanoparticles

Biodiesels have come up as a very strong alternative for diesel fuel. Biodiesels such as Jatropha Oil Methyl Ester (JOME) are comparable in performance with that of the diesel engine. The thermal efficiency of engines fuelled with biodiesels was found lower than conventional diesel fuel but due to the bio-origin, the emission characteristics are much better. However, biodiesel increases the NOx emissions as these are rich in oxygen, hence nanoparticles are used in this experiment to curb the high temperatures and reduce the NOx formation. The experiment on naturally aspired diesel engine was conducted with four prepared test fuels other than neat diesel and neat biodiesel. The 50 and 150 of alumina nanoparticles were added separately to the pure diesel and pure Jatropha biodiesel to form the nano emulsions using ultrasonicator. The properties of nanoemulsion were evaluated using dynamic light scattering technique using zetasizer. The performance and emission characteristics of multi-cylinder diesel engine with these nanoemulsions were compared with that of neat fuels. The results showed that using nanoparticles with diesel and biodiesel can contribute in a more efficient, economical, and eco-friendly engine operation.