Egyptian Journal of Petroleum xxx (xxxx) xxx

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Egyptian Journal of Petroleum

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Performance and exhaust emissions of a diesel engine using diesel

nanoemulsions as alternative fuels
M.R. Noor El-Din a, Marwa R. Mishrif a, M.S. Gad b,⇑, Mohamed Keshawy a
a
Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute (EPRI), 1 Ahmed El-Zomor St, Nasr City, 11727 Cairo, Egypt
b
Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Fayoum University, Egypt

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The aim of this paper is to investigate the effect of water-in-diesel fuel nanoemulsions on diesel engine
Received 12 September 2018 performance and exhaust emissions of a single cylinder diesel engine at different engine loads. Emulsified
Revised 7 February 2019 diesel fuel was prepared by mixing diesel fuel with surfactant in percentage of 4, 6, 8 and 10 wt% of the
Accepted 12 March 2019
emulsion total weight. Emulsified diesel oils with varying content of water and surfactant concentrations
Available online xxxx
were prepared via batch method technique. Different concentrations of water as 5, 6 and 7 wt% was grad-
ually added. Effect of water content and surfactant concentration on engine performance parameters and
Keywords:
exhaust emissions were investigated. From the obtained results, specific fuel consumptions for water die-
Diesel
Diesel-water emulsion
sel emulsions were reduced by 8% compared to pure diesel fuel at 4 wt% surfactant concentration, 7 wt%
Performance water content and engine load of 1 kW. Furthermore, the lowest HC, CO and NOx emissions value of 66,
Exhaust emissions 48 and 32%, respectively were obtained in case of using 6 wt% of surfactant concentration, 7% water con-
Surfactant tent and engine load of 1 kW. The prepared emulsified diesel fuel achieved a higher engine performance
and lower exhaust emissions compared to neat diesel fuel.
Ó 2019 Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open
access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction Nowadays, diesel engines are fuel efficient combustion engines

Nanoemulsion is a type of emulsion systems which consists of
nanoscale droplets with droplet diameter in the range of 50–
200 nm. The small size leads to useful properties such as higher
surface area per unit volume, robust stability, optically transparent
appearance and tunable rheology [1]. Nanoemulsions are kineti-
cally stable, consequently, they are stable against sedimentation
or creaming owing to their small droplet size [2]. Generally, two
methods namely high and low energy methods are utilized to form
stable nanoemulsions [3,4]. High energy methods consume notice-
able quantity of energy (
108–1010 W kg1) to perform small dro-
plet. The lowest consuming energy used by low energy methods
is about 103 W kg1 [5,6]. A typical methods of low energy emulsi-
fication methods are phase inversion temperature (PIT) [6], emul-
sion inversion point (EIP) [4]. Recently, a new methods as
evaporative ripening [7], batch addition methods [8] have been
developed for performing stable nanoemulsions. Two mechanisms
namely; coalescence and Oswald repining were used to prepare
the stable nanoemulsions [9].
Peer review under responsibility of Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute.
⇑ Corresponding author.
that used by commercial transportation sectors. Generally, diesel
engine offers fuel economy, efficient power and durability [10].
Diesel engines are a major source of air pollution in cities and
urban areas because of their smoke, nitrogen oxides, particulate
matters, sulfur oxides, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide emis-
sions. Nitric oxide emission can be significantly reduced by
nanoemulsion fuel. Nanoemulsion can produce lower exhaust gas
temperature which is favorable for combustion [11]. Water emul-
sified fuel is now being used in diesel fuel engines for NOx control
with addition of 20% water at full load [12]. Higher brake thermal
efficiencies are shown in emulsion fuels compared to diesel oil
[13]. Exhaust emissions of a diesel engine vary considerably
depending on engine type, operating condition, fuel and lubricat-
ing oil [14]. Increasing the energy demand, rapid depletion of pet-
roleum fuel and increase of environmental problems have directed
the search for alternative fuels. Water-in diesel fuel emulsions in
diesel engines is an effective method in the improvement of engine
performance in terms of engine torque, engine power, engine brake
thermal efficiency and engine brake specific fuel consumption [15].
This work is aimed to study the effect of emulsified diesel fuel
on diesel engine performance and exhaust emissions. Emulsified
diesel fuel was prepared by mixing diesel fuel with surfactant in
percentage of 4, 6, 8 and 10 wt% from the total weight of emulsion.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpe.2019.03.004
1110-0621/Ó 2019 Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Please cite this article as: M. R. N. El-Din, M. R. Mishrif, M. S. Gad et al., Performance and exhaust emissions of a diesel engine using diesel nanoemulsions as
alternative fuels, Egyptian Journal of Petroleum, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpe.2019.03.004
2 M.R.N. El-Din et al. / Egyptian Journal of Petroleum xxx (xxxx) xxx
Different concentrations of water as 5, 6 and 7 wt% was gradually
added. A single cylinder diesel engine was used to test diesel oil
emulsions at different engine loads. The influence of emulsified
diesel fuel on diesel engine performance such as specific fuel con-
sumption, thermal efficiency, exhaust gas temperature and air-fuel
ratio was measured. Effect of emulsified diesel fuel on diesel
engine exhaust emissions such as smoke opacity, unburned hydro-
carbon, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides was measured. This
paper aims to show the effect of water content and surfactant con-
centration on diesel engine performance and exhaust emissions.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Formation of water-in-diesel fuel nanoemulsions
Diesel fuel denotes as Grade No. 1 was purchased from Cairo Oil
Refining Company, Egypt. Its specifications are listed in Table 1.
Diesel fuel was utilized without further purification. Two analytical
grades of non ionic surfactants have different Hydrophilic-
Lipophilic Balance (HLB) value namely; polysorbate (85) (HLB
value of 15) and sorbitanoleate (HLB = 3) denoted as (M) and (S),
respectively were purchased from Fluka company, Germany. The
water used in all experiments was double distilled, deionized
and filtered prior use.
Eight water-in-diesel fuel nanoemulsions were formed by batch
addition method reported by Ref. [1]. At the beginning, the oil
phase of the emulsified diesel fuel was prepared by mixing diesel
fuel with (SM) surfactant in percentage of 4, 6, 8 and 10 wt% from
the total weight of emulsion. For each oil phase mixture, different
concentrations of bi-distilled water as 5, 6 and 7 wt% was gradually
added. The addition rate of water was (0.1 ml/min) with continu-
ously stirred using mixer rotated at 700 rpm for 10 min at 15 °C.
The optimum HLB value of 10 (HLBSM) is utilized for forming stable
nanoemulsion. The acronym of each emulsion is shown in Table 2.
The HLBSM value of the used emulsifier was calculated using the
following equation:
HLBSM ¼ ðHLBM  ðMÞ%Þ þ ðHLBS  ðSÞ%Þ
where HLBM, HLBS and HLBSM are the HLB values of M, S and SM,
respectively. M% and S% are the mass percentages of surfactant type
(M) and (S) in the mixed surfactants, respectively [2].
2.2. Water droplet size measurement
Emulsified water droplet size (Zavg) and its distribution of pre-
pared diesel nanoemulsion was measured via dynamic light scat-
tering (Malvern Zetasizer ZS, Worcestershire, U.K.). An argon-
laser (k = 488 nm) with variable intensity was utilized to cover
the wide size range. Measurements were carried out at a scattering
angle of 173°. The hydrodynamic diameter (Dh) is calculated using
the Stokes-Einstein following equation [16]:
kT
D¼
3pgDh
Table 1
Physicochemical properties of pure diesel fuel.
Properties Value Standard method
Colour 2 ASTM D-156
Density at 15 °C, g/cm3 0.8427 IP – 160
Kinematics Viscosity at 40 °C, cSt 3.068 ASTM D 445-03
Flash Point, °C 63 IP 34/ASTM D93
Boiling point range, °C 150–300 ASTM D-86
Cloud point, °C 6 ASTM D5773-15
Pour point, °C 3 ASTM D97-12
Water Content, wt% Nil ASTM D-4006-81
Please cite this article as: M. R. N. El-Din, M. R. Mishrif, M. S. Gad et al., Performance and exhaust emissions of a diesel engine using diesel nanoemulsions as
alternative fuels, Egyptian Journal of Petroleum, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpe.2019.03.004
Table 2
Emulsion ingredients and its abbreviations.
Emulsion’s Diesel, wt% Water content, Blend emulsifiers (SM)
Acronym wt% concentration, wt%
P 100 0 0
A 91 5 4
B 90 6
C 89 7
D 89 5 6
E 88 6
F 87 7
G 87 5 8
H 85 5 10
where D is the diffusion coefficient, k is the Boltzmann constant, T is
the absolute temperature, and g is the viscosity of the medium. The
distribution of droplet size was analyzed by CONTIN mode. Refrac-
tive index (rd) for pure diesel and water were determined by ABBE
refractometers (DR-A1, ATAGO Co., LTD, Japan) and were found to
be 1.46 and 1.33, respectively.
2.3. Diesel engine set up and test rig
Engine performance and the exhaust emissions for pure and
emulsified diesel fuel were carried out using single cylinder diesel
engine. The technical specifications of air cooled single cylinder
diesel engine of type DEUTZ F1L511. The engine bore and stroke
are 100 and 105 mm, respectively. The rated brake power is
5.775 kW at 1500 rpm. The photographic view of the experimental
setup is shown in Fig. 1. The diesel engine is coupled directly with
AC generator of maximum electric output power of 10.5 kW. A
sharp edged orifice fixed in the side of an air box coupled to the
engine inlet. Intake air and exhaust gas temperatures were mea-
sured using thermocouples of type (K). Supply of the pure and
emulsified diesel fuel were used by two tanks of 10 L volume. Fuel
flow measurements and selection between both diesel and emulsi-
fied diesel were done by burette with stopcock and two way
ð1Þ valves. A speed tachometer was used for engine speed measure-
ment. A MRU DELTA 1600-V gas analyzer was used for exhaust
emissions as NOx, CO and HC measurement. An OPA 100 smoke
meter was used for smoke emission measurement. All tests were
carried out by varying the load from zero to full load at a constant
engine speed of 1500 rpm. All the tests are carried out for three
times under steady state condition and the observed uncertainties
for NOx, HC, CO, smoke opacity and BTE are ±1 ppm, ±1 ppm,
±0.01% Vol, ±1% and ±1.5%, respectively. The maximum uncertainty
in brake power, brake specific fuel consumption and engine speed
measurements are found to be 0.85%, 2.2% and 0.15% (±2 rpm),
respectively.
3. Results and discussions
3.1. Nanoemulsion stability
ð2Þ
The nanoemulsion stability was measured by the variation of
water droplet size as a function of time (dr3/dt). The Ostwald ripen-
ing rate (x) was assumed by Lifshitz-Slezov and Wagner (LSW)
theory [17,18] as shown in the following equation:
x ¼ dr3 =dt ¼ 8=9½ð C1 cVm D=dRTÞ ð3Þ
where r is the mean average radius of the droplet, t is the storage
time, C1 is the solubility of the dispersed phase in the continuous
phase, c is the interfacial tension between the dispersed phase
and the medium, Vm is the molar volume of the dispersed phase,
D is the diffusion coefficient of the dispersed phase in the continu-
ous phase, d is the density of the internal phase, R is the universal
 M.R.N. El-Din et al. / Egyptian Journal of Petroleum xxx (xxxx) xxx 3

Fig. 1. Photographic view of the experimental setup.

gas constant and T is the absolute temperature. The Ostwald Table 3

ripening rate (x) of the prepared emulsified diesel denoted as A, Initial radius (ro) and Ostwald ripening rate (ώ) of emulsified diesel at different water
content and SM concentrations at 25 °C.
D, G and H which is calculated from the slope of water droplet
radius (r3) as a function of time (t) is shown in Fig. 2. Emulsion ro, nm ώ, m3 s1  1023
In Table 3 and Fig. 2, Ostwald ripening rate (x) increases from A 32.81 5.8
5.8 to 90.7  1023 m3 s1 with increase of the (SM) concentration B 36.41 3.7
at water content of 5 wt%. Furthermore, the lowest water droplet C 75.21 0.8
D 31.15 30.4
size as 25.1 nm was obtained by emulsified diesel of type (H) at
E 34.2 1.7
(SM) concentration and water content as 10 and 5 wt%, respec- F 39.1 5.3
tively. Considering the effect of time on the water droplet size G 28.9 50.4
formed inside the emulsified diesel oil, it is cleared that the droplet H 25.1 90.7
size of water enlarged with increase of time. The water droplet size
increases in the range from 4.2 to 48.87 nm with increase of time
from 0 to 129.6  103 s. This may be regarded to decreasing of 3.2. Engine performance and exhaust emissions
Oswald ripening rate which causes the diffusion of the formed
water droplet from smallest droplets to largest to be increased Effect of water content and surfactant concentration on engine
[19]. Increasing the (SM) concentration led to higher repulsion performance parameters (brake thermal efficiency, specific fuel
potential between the water droplets. Consequently, the water consumption, exhaust gas temperature and air-fuel ratio) and
droplet size decreases [20]. Increasing of the water content in die- exhaust emissions (CO, NOx, HC and smoke) were studied. Series
sel emulsion leads to decrease the adsorbed emulsifiers on the of nano-emulsified diesel fuel with different water content as 5,
water-diesel interface. Therefore, the emulsified diesel oil stability 6 and 7 wt% and surfactant concentration as 4, 6, 8 and 10 wt%
was reduced. were prepared at 15 °C. The assessment of diesel engine was

5.5
A

5 D
G
H
4.5

4
3
,m
-23

3.5
r x 10
3

2.5

1.5
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
3
Time x 10 , Second

Fig. 2. Hydrodynamic diameter (r3) as a function of time for different diesel emulsions at water content of 5 wt%.

Please cite this article as: M. R. N. El-Din, M. R. Mishrif, M. S. Gad et al., Performance and exhaust emissions of a diesel engine using diesel nanoemulsions as
alternative fuels, Egyptian Journal of Petroleum, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpe.2019.03.004
4 M.R.N. El-Din et al. / Egyptian Journal of Petroleum xxx (xxxx) xxx
managed under selected test conditions and engine speed of
1500 rpm and different engine loads as 1, 2, 3 and 4 kW.
3.2.1. Brake thermal efficiency (BTE)
Fig. 3 illustrates BTE for pure diesel fuel and their emulsions at
different engine load of 1, 2, 3 and 4 kW. BTE increases with the
increase of water content in the prepared diesel emulsions. The
highest value of BTE was obtained by diesel fuel in comparison to
all prepared emulsified diesel fuel for the same operation condi-
tions. The maximum value of BTE was achieved by diesel nanoemul-
sion of 7 wt% water content and 4 wt% (SM) concentration. BTE of
pure diesel fuel and its emulsions decrease with the engine load
increase due to the fuel consumption increase [21,22]. The improve-
ment of BTE for diesel emulsions may be due to micro-explosion
phenomena of diesel fuel emulsions. As the water evaporation
increases, the mixing of air-fuel ratio increases. Hence, the combus-
tion efficiency increases at all applied engine loads [24]. Increasing
of the water concentration in diesel emulsions lead to increase the
intensity of micro-explosion and prolonged duration of explosion.
Optimum level of water content in the formed diesel fuel nanoemul-
sion resulted in better explosion and shorter burnout time [25,26].
The increase of water content in the prepared emulsions leads to
increase of water vapor work expansion. Increasing of water vapor
expansion offers additional force on the top of the piston which
increases the power produced [27]. Less heat content of the pre-
pared diesel fuel emulsion was obtained by higher water content
that affects the fuel spray formations.
A significant decrease in BTE was noticed with the increase of
the surfactant concentration of the prepared diesel fuel nanoemul-
sions to 10 wt%. There were decreases in thermal efficiency with
the increases of surfactant concentration at all applied engine
loads. This may be attributed to the strength of the formed emul-
sifier interfacial film between dispersed water droplet and diesel
fuel [25]. The presence of different emulsifier aggregations as a
resulting from the increases of the emulsifier concentration, results
in more rigid of surfactant interfacial film. The relative thicker sur-
factant film can confer a strong stabilization of the dispersed water
droplet against micro-explosion, hence, BTE values depress.
3.2.2. Specific fuel consumption (SFC)
From Fig. 3, it is noticed that SFC values of the prepared diesel
fuel emulsions diminishes from 0.118532 to 0.1015 kg/kW.h with
the increases in water content from 5 to 7 wt%, respectively at
Fig. 3. Thermal efficiency and specific fuel consumption for pure and different emulsified diesel fuels at different engine loads.
Please cite this article as: M. R. N. El-Din, M. R. Mishrif, M. S. Gad et al., Performance and exhaust emissions of a diesel engine using diesel nanoemulsions as
alternative fuels, Egyptian Journal of Petroleum, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpe.2019.03.004
operating engine load of 1 kW. The decrement in SFC values can
be explained due to the strength of micro-explosion, Increasing
ambient pressure leads to decrease the strength of micro-
explosion due to the shorter penetration of the droplet at higher
gas density [26]. Decreasing of the cylinder temperature leads to
form the explosion due to partial attainment of superheated state
of water droplets [27]. Increasing of the water content in diesel fuel
nanoemulsion led to reduction of the actual volume of diesel fuel
burned. Diesel fuel emulsion needs more energy to bring complete
combustion. Some part of the heat was consumed during water
vaporization process [28]. SFC value decreases with the increases
of applied engine load due to the less fuel consumption at higher
engine loads [29].
3.2.3. Exhaust gas temperature
Exhaust gas temperature variation with engine load for pure
diesel fuel and its diesel fuel nanoemulsions is shown in Fig. 4.
As water content increases from 5 to 7 wt%, the exhaust gas tem-
perature decreases from 196 to 157 °C, respectively at surfactant
concentration of 4 wt% and engine load of 1 kW. This may be
regarded to the effect of heat sink that is caused by the water evap-
oration in diesel fuel nanoemulsions. Therefore, a lower heat sink
causes the flame temperature to be low, and increases the burning
time for the emulsified fuel which having greatest water content
[30]. Increasing the amount of water droplet fuel emulsions results
in decrease of latent heat thought the water evaporation process.
The explosion of water droplets produces an adequate energy to
emit finer water droplets to a far distance away from the spray
boundary. This may be leads to improve the air-fuel mixing,
atomization and evaporation process. At water content of 5 wt%
and engine load of 1 kW, increase of surfactant concentration to
4, 6 and 8 wt%, the exhaust gas temperature increases to 192,
207 and 216 °C, respectively. This was due to heat sink effect
caused by presence of water in nanoemulsions [31]. At water con-
tent of 5 wt% and engine load of 2 kW, the exhaust gas temperature
increases gradually with increasing of surfactant concentration up
to 8 wt% and then decreases at surfactant concentration of 10 wt%.
The fluctuations of exhaust gas temperature values may be attrib-
uted to the uniformity of the formed water droplet size [32]. Min-
imum water droplet size (r = 59.06) was obtained in case of using
surfactant concentration of 10 wt%, the minimum water droplet
size distribution was gained by surfactant concentration
(0.225 ± 0.01) of 8 wt%. The exhaust gas temperature value is not
 M.R.N. El-Din et al. / Egyptian Journal of Petroleum xxx (xxxx) xxx
Fig. 4. Exhaust gas temperature and air-fuel ratio for pure and different emulsified diesel fuels at various engine loads.
only depends on the formed water droplet size but on water dro-
plet size distribution of the prepared water-diesel fuel nanoemul-
sions. The exhaust gas temperature decreases with decrease of
water droplet size. The smallest size of water droplets in the com-
bustion process weakens the strength of micro-explosion due to
the decrease in the residual mass of water. Increase of droplet size
enhances the intensity of micro-explosion and results in earlier
occurrence of explosion. The exhaust gas temperature is affected
by the heat loss in exhaust, specific fuel consumption and thermal
efficiency [33].
3.2.4. Air-fuel ratio
Form Fig. 6, there are decreases in air-fuel ratios with the
increase in the engine load from 0 to 4 kW for pure diesel and its
emulsions at constant speed of 1500 rpm. Air- fuel ratio is calcu-
lated as the ratio between mass of fuel consumed to the mass of
intake air. This effect may be attributed to the increase of injected
fuel mass and to the micro-explosion phenomena. At higher engine
load, the injected fuel increases to produce a homogeneous air-fuel
mixture. At lower engine load, the ignition delay can be increased
to produce stratified fuel mixture. The improvement of air-fuel
mixture increases by the increase of the water content from 6 to
7 wt.% in the formed diesel fuel nanoemulsions due to fuel con-
sumptions decrease. This also may be attributed to the micro-
explosion phenomenon. The micro-explosion enhances fuel
atomization, increases interfacial tension between fuel and water
vapor and air-fuel ratio increases [34,35].
3.2.5. NOx emission
The effect of emulsified diesel fuel on engine exhaust emissions
depends mainly on the engine load, the dispersed water content
and the water droplet size in the formed diesel emulsions [36].
Effect of different engine load of 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 kW for diesel fuel
and emulsified diesel fuel on NOx emissions was illustrated in
Fig. 5. Concentration of NOx increases with the increasing in engine
load for all fuels. The main reasons for this phenomenon were due
to higher cylinder temperature [37]. The conversation (oxidation)
reaction between nitrogen oxide and O2 to form NO2 was took
place under higher cylinder temperature and pressure in diesel
engine. Reduction of ignition delay and Increase of the hydroxyl
group that result from the presence of water in the fuel emulsion
led to higher cylinder temperature [20,23,38]. Concentration of
NOx emissions decreases with the increases of water content in
Please cite this article as: M. R. N. El-Din, M. R. Mishrif, M. S. Gad et al., Performance and exhaust emissions of a diesel engine using diesel nanoemulsions as
alternative fuels, Egyptian Journal of Petroleum, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpe.2019.03.004
5
emulsified diesel oil. As the cylinder temperature decreases, NOx
emission decreases due to endothermal reaction of water droplets
in emulsified diesel fuel during combustion. Comparing to the pure
diesel fuel, the presence of higher content of dispersed water in
emulsified fuels enhances the burnout emissions concentrations
by increasing the oxidation reaction of nitrogen monoxide with
oxygen. Concentration of NOx emissions diminishes from 95 to
86 ppm with water droplet size decrease from 98.8 to 59.1 nm at
water content of 5 wt% and engine load of 2 kW. This may be
due to homogeneity of water distribution in emulsified fuels that
leads to increase of the interfacial surface contact between water
droplets and burned fuel [39]. The heat sink of emulsified fuel that
occurs inside the combustion chamber lead to decrease the surface
area of finer water droplet, decrease of the cylinder combustion
temperature and decrease of NOx emissions. Highest NOx concen-
tration of 77 ppm was obtained at a water content of 5 wt%, surfac-
tant concentration of 4 wt% and engine load of 1 kW. This may be
attributed to the dilution effect of emitted NOx by water evapora-
tion of emulsified diesel fuel inside the combustion chamber under
higher cylinder temperature and pressure [40].
3.2.6. CO emission
Carbon monoxide of diesel fuel is formed due to incomplete
combustion of air-fuel mixture. Effect of different engine load of
0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 kW for diesel fuel and emulsified diesel fuel on
CO emissions was illustrated in Fig. 5. CO emission increases with
the increases of engine load. At lower engine load of 1 kW, CO
emission for diesel oil was significantly higher than emulsified die-
sel oil. As air-fuel ratio decreases, a limit value of oxygen to burn
inside the combustion chamber. More CO emission is converted
to CO2 with increases of engine load [41]. CO emission was influ-
enced by combustion gas temperature that is accompanied by CO
oxidation reaction. The higher cylinder temperature accelerates
the oxidization conversion rate of CO gas to CO2. CO emission
reduces with the water content increase from 5 to 7 wt% in emul-
sified diesel oil. This may be due to the decreases in combustion
chamber temperature as shown and it is not adequate to convert
CO to CO2. Increase of water content in diesel emulsion causes
the heat absrorption inside for vaporization process to increase,
therefore, the oxidation time of CO emission to decrease. Reduction
of CO emission increases from 7.1 to 28.5% with decrease of the
water droplet size from 98.8 to 59.1 nm, respectively. This may
be due to the micro-explosion phenomena, increasing the
6 M.R.N. El-Din et al. / Egyptian Journal of Petroleum xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 5. NOx and CO emissions for pure and emulsified diesel fuels at various engine loads.

homogeneity of the dispersed water droplet, decreasing the water
droplet size in the prepared emulsified fuel and improves the com-
bustion inside the cylinder [42]. The dispersed water droplets con-
verts to steam bubble at higher temperatures. The water
vaporization makes a rapid expansion of the surrounding oil dro-
plets and fragmenting the oil into huge number of smaller fuel dro-
plets. The water droplet in the emulsified oil has a very small and
well distributed size to increase the effectiveness of the secondary
atomization in the combustion process. The smallest water droplet
of 59.1 nm has a higher surface area leads to increase the number
of water droplets that are responsible to sufficient energy which
causes the secondary atomization in the combustion process. The
water droplets produce a fierce explosion inside the continuous
oil phase with increase of the surrounding temperature inside
the combustion chamber. This process increases with the decrease
of water droplet size and increase of the fuel droplets surface area
[43]. The main factors affecting the fuel burning in flame zone are
the surface area and water droplet size. The greatest water droplet
size in the formed diesel emulsion leads to decrease of the time
required for complete combustion and the possibility of flame
impinging on the engine wall cause to decrease. The time neces-
sary to burn out the carbon was decreased, which in turn leads
to air reduction required for complete combustion. So, the conver-
sion of C to CO was depressed [44].
3.2.7. Smoke opacity emission
Smoke emission increases as the engine load increases due to
incomplete combustion of diesel fuel [45,46]. Fig. 6 shows that
smoke emission decreases with increase of water content in diesel
fuel emulsion. Diesel emulsion of 7 wt% water content reduces
smoke emission to 32.8% at a surfactant concentration of 10 wt%
and engine load of 3 kW. This is due to the dilution effect on smoke
emission by water vapor. Burning of emulsified fuel produces a
water vapor which dilutes the smoke level in exhaust emission
[47]. The reduction of smoke emission decreases from 3.9 to 5.8%
with decreasing the droplet size of water from 98.8 to 59.1 nm,
respectively at engine load of 1 kW and water content of 5 wt%. This
may be attributed to the effect of surfactant film thickness around
the water droplet and micro-explosion phenomena. However, the
relative thicker surfactant film can prevent the vaporization of the
formed water droplets. More time and higher cylinder temperature
were needed to crash this film. The ignition delay time was
increased with increasing of the droplet size. Increasing the ignition
delay time promotes the oxidation of smoke and enhances combus-
tion reaction, consequently, smoke emissions were reduced [47].
3.2.8. Hydrocarbon emissions
HC emission of pure diesel fuel and its emulsions at various
engine loads of 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 kW are shown in Fig. 6. HC emissions

Fig. 6. Smoke opacity and hydrocarbon emissions of emulsified diesel fuels at various engine loads.

Please cite this article as: M. R. N. El-Din, M. R. Mishrif, M. S. Gad et al., Performance and exhaust emissions of a diesel engine using diesel nanoemulsions as
alternative fuels, Egyptian Journal of Petroleum, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpe.2019.03.004
 M.R.N. El-Din et al. / Egyptian Journal of Petroleum xxx (xxxx) xxx
for diesel fuel nanoemulsions are lower than pure diesel fuel at all
engine operating conditions. HC emissions of emulsified diesel fuel
are less than pure diesel fuel with 47.3% at engine load of 3 kW.
The better air–fuel ratio permits and enhances the fuel atomization
that causes the micro-explosion to be increased [48]. The increase
of oxygen content results in complete combustion in the fuel-rich
zone [49]. Therefor, HC emissions were decreased.
4. Conclusions
The aim of this research is to study the effect of different emul-
sified diesel oils on performance and exhaust emissions of diesel
engine at different engine loads. The main conclusions are summa-
rized as:
1. The maximum value of BTE was achieved by diesel nanoemul-
sion of 7 wt% water content and 4 wt% (SM) concentration.
BTE of pure diesel fuel and its emulsions decrease with the
engine load increase due to the fuel consumption increase.
2. SFC values of the prepared diesel fuel emulsions diminishes
from 0.118532 to 0.1015 kg/kW.h with the increases in water
content from 5 to 7 wt%, respectively at operating engine load
of 1 kW.
3. As water content increases from 5 to 7 wt%, the exhaust gas
temperature decreases from 196 to 157 °C, respectively at sur-
factant concentration of 4 wt% and engine load of 1 kW.
4. The improvement of air–fuel mixture increases by increasing
the water content from 6 to 7 wt% in the formed diesel fuel
nanoemulsions.
5. Concentration of NOx emissions diminishes from 95 to 86 ppm
with decrease of water droplet size from 98.8 to 59.1 nm at
water content of 5 wt% and engine load of 2 kW. Highest NOx
concentration of 77 ppm was obtained at a water content of
5 wt%, surfactant concentration of 4 wt% and engine load of
1 kW.
6. CO emission reduces with the increase in the content of water
from 5 to 7 wt% in emulsified diesel oil. Reduction of CO emis-
sion increases from 7.1 to 28.5% with decrease of the water dro-
plet size from 98.8 to 59.1 nm, respectively.
7. Diesel emulsion of 7 wt% water content reduces smoke emis-
sion to 32.8% at a surfactant concentration of 10 wt% and engine
load of 3 kW. The reduction of smoke emission decreases from
3.9 to 5.8% with decreasing the droplet size of water from 98.8
to 59.1 nm, respectively at engine load of 1 kW and water con-
tent of 5 wt%.
8. HC emissions for diesel fuel nanoemulsions are lower than pure
diesel fuel at all engine operating conditions. HC emissions of
emulsified diesel fuel are less than pure diesel fuel with 47.3%
at engine load of 3 kW.
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