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Influence of Al2O3nano additives in ternary fuel (diesel-biodiesel-ethanol) blends

operated in a single cylinder diesel engine: Performance, Combustion and Emission
Characteristics

Harish Venu, V. Dhana Raju, S.Lingesan, Manzoore Elahi M Soudagar

PII: S0360-5442(20)32198-8
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2020.119091
Reference: EGY 119091

To appear in: Energy

Received Date: 22 February 2019

Revised Date: 13 August 2020
Accepted Date: 13 October 2020

Please cite this article as: Venu H, Raju VD, S.Lingesan Elahi M Soudagar M, Influence of Al2O3nano
additives in ternary fuel (diesel-biodiesel-ethanol) blends operated in a single cylinder diesel
engine: Performance, Combustion and Emission Characteristics, Energy, https://doi.org/10.1016/
j.energy.2020.119091.

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Authors Contribution
Harish Venu (CORRESPONDING AUTHOR) • Novelty identification
Department of Automobile Engineering, • Work flow development
Veltech Rangarajan Dr. Sagunthala R & D
Institute of Science and Technology, • Engine testing
400, Outer Feet Road, • Paper writing
Chennai, 600062, India
e-mail: harishvenuresearch@gmail.com • Proof reading
Tel: +91(8939118102) • Revision of paper
• Grammatical correction
V. Dhana Raju, • Engine testing
Department of Mechanical Engineering, •

of
Paper writing
Lakireddy Bali Reddy College of Engineering,
Mylavaram, AP, India. • Proof reading

ro
Mobile No: +91(9848363670) • Revision of paper
Email: dhanaraju.v@lbrce.ac.in
S. Lingesan.
-p • Engine testing
Department of Automobile Engineering,
re
• Paper writing
Madras Institute of Technology,
Chennai, 600044, India • Proof reading
lP

e-mail: s.lingesan@gmail.com • Revision of paper

Tel: +91(9626126744)
na

Manzoore Elahi M Soudagar, • Engine testing

Department of Mechanical Engineering, • Paper writing
Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya,
ur

Kuala Lumpur-50603, Malaysia • Proof reading

e-mail: me.soudagar@gmail.com •
Jo

Revision of paper
Tel: +91(9844665621)
 Influence of Al2O3nano additives in ternary fuel (diesel-biodiesel-ethanol)
blends operated in a single cylinder diesel engine: Performance, Combustion
and Emission Characteristics

*a b c d
Harish Venu, V. Dhana Raju S.Lingesan & Manzoore Elahi M Soudagar
a
Department of Automobile Engineering, Vel Tech Rangarajan Dr.Sagunthala R&D Institute of Science
&Technology, Chennai, India.
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Lakireddy Bali Reddy College of Engineering, Mylavaram,
Andhra Pradesh, India -521230
c
Department of Automobile Engineering, Madras Institute of Technology, Chennai, India.

of
d
Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur-50603, Malaysia

ro
The author information is provided
*a
Harish Venu
-p
(*Corresponding author)
re
Department of Automobile Engineering,
Veltech Rangarajan Dr. Sagunthala R & D Institute of Science and Technology,
lP

400, Outer Feet Road, Chennai, 600062, India

e-mail: harishvenuresearch@gmail.com
Tel: +91(8939118102)
na

b
V. Dhana Raju,
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
ur

Lakireddy Bali Reddy College of Engineering,

Mylavaram, AP, India.
Jo

Mobile No: +91(9848363670)

Email: dhanaraju.v@lbrce.ac.in
c
S. Lingesan,
Department of Automobile Engineering,
Madras Institute of Technology,
Chennai, 600044, India
e-mail: s.lingesan@gmail.com
Tel: +91(9626126744)
b
Manzoore Elahi M Soudagar
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya,
Kuala Lumpur-50603, Malaysia
e-mail: me.soudagar@gmail.com
Tel: +91(9844665621)
1|P a g e

Influence of Al2O3nano additives in ternary fuel (diesel-biodiesel-ethanol)

blends operated in a single cylinder diesel engine: Performance,
Combustion and Emission Characteristics
Abstract

The present work is dedicated to the experimental analysis on the

influence of fuel borne additives on ternary fuel blend operated in a single

cylinder DI diesel engine. Alumina (Al2O3) nanoparticles were chosen as fuel

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additives at dosing levels of 10ppm, 20ppm and 30ppm respectively and the

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ternary fuel (TF) is prepared by blending 70% diesel, 20%Jatropha biodiesel
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and 10% ethanol. Performance characteristics like brake thermal efficiency
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(BTE)and brake specific energy consumption (BSEC), emission characteristics
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like HC, CO, NOx and smoke along with combustion characteristics like
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cylinder pressure, HRR (Heat release rate) and CHRR (Cumulative heat release
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rate) were considered for analysis. Based on experimentation, it is observed

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that, TF blended with 20ppm alumina nano additive (TF20) resulted in higher

BTE and lowered BSEC by 7.8% and 4.93%, lowered HC, CO, NOx and

smoke emissions by 5.69%, 11.24%, 9.39% and 6.48% in comparison with TF.

Moreover, TF20 resulted in higher cylinder pressure, HRR and CHRR of about

72.67bar, 76.22J/oCA and 1171.1J respectively which are higher than diesel and

TF. Hence, it is concluded that addition of 20ppm alumina nano additive in TF

can enhance the engine performance and combustion as well as lower the

exhaust pollutants simultaneously.

2|P a g e

Keywords: Alumina; Ternary fuel; Engine performance; Combustion; Emission

1. Introduction

In recent years, ternary fuel (diesel+biodiesel+ethanol) blends

have gained rapid momentum owing to its potential in replacing the fossil

fuels completely. Ethanol when blended with diesel becomes a hygroscopic

mixture reported by Fang et al. (2013) i.e. attraction towards water

molecules, which affects the fuel injector in long run due to stratification.

of
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Use of biodiesel in diesel-ethanol blend resulted in absence of stratification.

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This idea opened a new tri-fuel mixture pattern called biodiesel-alcohol-
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diesel fuel mixture. Numerous works were reported with diesel-biodiesel-
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ethanol fuel blends for diesel engine applications. Lin et al. (2013)
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developed the optimized model for the diesel-ethanol –biodiesel fuel blends.
ur

They analyzed the various fuel blends to enhance the system profitability by
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given production costs and fuel prices to met the multiple fuel property

criteria like heating value, kinematic viscosity, cetane number and fuel

stability. Venu and Madhavan (2017) explored the effect of fuel additives

on the various characteristics of diesel engine operated with ternary blends

prepared from biodiesel-ethanol- diesel fuels. They reported that the use of

nano additives to the ternary blend had shown improved performance

parameters of the diesel engine. However, they also noticed more particulate

formation with the use of nano particles blended fuels. Similar reports are
3|P a g e

presented by Qi et al. (2011) and Fang et al. (2013) about the use of the

diesel-ethanol-biodiesel fuel blends for diesel engines. They found significant

reductions in oxides of nitrogen emissions with the ternary blends when

compared to the diesel fuel at all load conditions.

Yesilyurt and Aydin (2020) examined the effect of diethyl ether with

cottonseed oil on the performance characteristics of diesel engine at different

load conditions. They were added the DEE to the 20% cotton seed biodiesel

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blend at different concentrations such as 2.5%, 5%, 7.5% and 10% on volume

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basis. They found 17.39% reduction of BTE and 29.15% increment of BSFC
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with 10% DEE addition to the 20% cotton seed biodiesel blend. However,
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they noticed significant mitigations of exhaust emissions like 12.89%, 4.12%

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and 8.84% of HC, Smoke and NOX respectively when compared to diesel at

full load.
ur

Dogan et al.(2020) investigated the characteristics of diesel engine with

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1-heptanol as an oxygenated fuel. They studied various aspects such as

energy, exergy, exergoeconomic, enviroeconomic and sustainability analyses.

I-heptanol was added at 5%, 10% and 20% on volume basis to the diesel fuel.

Test results were revealed that specific fuel consumption was higher for 20%

1-heptanol blend of 0.221kg.kWh. They also observed that exergy

destruction was higher for the 1-heptanol blends than diesel at all load
4|P a g e

conditions. The maximum exergy destruction was found for HP20 blend of

3.08kW at 25% full load.

Yesilyurt et al. (2020) have studied the binary blends of diesel-safflower

and ternary blends of diesel-pentanol-biodiesel on the diverse characteristics

of diesel engine. They found greater reduction in BTE and more increment in

BSFC with ternary fuel blends. Further, the addition of pentanol

concentration has shown significant reductions in NOX emissions. Also, the

of
use of pentanol reduces the exhaust emissions like CO, HC and smoke at all

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load operations. -p
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Yesilyurt (2020) have performed tests on diesel engine with waste
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cooking oil biodiesel-diesel blends at different fuel injection pressures. Tests

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were conducted at six fuel injection pressures like 170 bar, 180bar, 190 bar,

200bar, 210bar and 220 bar. The author found increased brake thermal
ur

efficiency with increase in fuel injection pressure up to 210 bar. Also,

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exhaust emissions like CO and Smoke were reduced at greater level at all

load conditions.

Yesilyurt et al.(2020) investigated the quaternary fuel blends of alcohol-

biodiesel-vegetanble oil-diesel fuel on the performance , combustion and

emission characteristics of the diesel engine. They have selected safflower as

biodiesel and different alcohols like ethanol, isopropanol, n-butanol were

chosen apart from the base diesel fuel and safflower oil as vegetable oil.
5|P a g e

From their test results, they recommended the use of quaternary fuel blends

for future diesel engine applications.

Yesilyurt and Arslan (2019) have analysed the effect of fuel injection

pressures on the energy and exergy characteristics of diesel engine powered

with waste cooking and canola biodiesels. They found maximum energy and

exergy efficiencies of 24.5% and 21.27% respectively with diesel fuel at 190

bar. Whereas maximum energy and exergy efficiencies were found as

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22.12% and 20.05% respectively with biodiesel at fuel injection pressure of

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210 bar. Furthermore, the exergy destruction values of the diesel engine were
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found to be between 58.9% and 62.79% for biodiesel.
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Chokalingam et al. (2017) examined the effective application of ethanol for

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diesel engines. The blends of ethanol-diesel were stabilized by the tetra

methyl ammonium bromide as an additive. They reported 10% addition of

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ethanol have shown nearly equivalent performance when compared to diesel

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fuel. Sandalc1 et al. (2014) studied the effect of ethanol on the characteristics

of the diesel engine when operated with diesel fuel at two levels such as 15%

and 30% on volume basis. They found ethanol-diesel blends were highly

stable and no phase separation. Also, they noticed remarkable reductions in

NOX and smoke emissions when compared to the diesel fuel at all load

conditions. However, they were reported that a precise engine optimization

was highly needed to drastic reduction of emissions while maintaining

6|P a g e

acceptable engine performance. Nour et al. (2018) examined the effect of

alumina nanoparticles at various concentrations such as 25, 50, 75 and

100mg/l into diesterol blended fuel (10% Jojoba biodiesel+ 20% ethanol

+70% diesel) on the exploitation of diesel engine characteristics. They

observed greater reduction in oxides of nitrogen and hydrocarbon emissions

at dose level of 25mg/l when compared to the other additions of

nanoparticles, but significant enhancement in peak cylinder pressure and

of
considerable reduction in specific fuel consumption was found for 75mg/l.

ro
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Rakopous et al. (2008) evaluated the effect of ethanol at two levels with the
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diesel fuel at 5% and 10% (by vol.) concentrations. They reported that 10%
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of ethanol blend with diesel fuel have shown promising engine performance
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and emission characteristics when compared to the 5% blend of ethanol-

diesel fuel.
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Hulwan et al. (2011) examined the feasibility of higher ethanol

concentrations in diesel/ethanol blends. They conducted experiments on 4

blends namely D70/E20/B10 (“A” blend), D50/E/30/B20 (“B” blend),

D50/E40/B10 (“C” blend) and standard diesel fuel (D). Experiments were

performed on multi-cylinder diesel engine with injection timing (IT) of

13degbTDC. Initially at this IT, blends B and C, the engine do not run and

hence the IT was advanced to 18degbTDC and 21degbTDC. With advanced

IT, NOx emissions increased significantly. At lower loads, CO increased and

7|P a g e

at higher loads. Smoke opacity reduced for blends B and C, in comparison

with Barabas et al. (2010) experimental in a 4 cylinder diesel engine with

diesel/biodiesel/bio-ethanol blend and analyzed the performance and

emissions characteristics. They observed that, at lower engine loads, with the

above blend there is a drop in performance due to lowered heating value of

the blend. HC and CO emissions were decreasing for BDE blend while NOx

and CO2 emission increases due to higher O2 content of the blend. Yilmaz et

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al. (2014) investigated the emissions in BDE blend with ethanol

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concentration varying in steps of 3%, 5%, 15% and 25%. They identified that
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varying ethanol concentration played a significant effect in varying emission
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strategies due to cooling effect and oxygen content of ethanol in blends. They
na

found that ethanol concentration in BDE lowered the CO and HC emission

but increased the NOx emissions. HC emissions were load dependent of

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higher ethanol concentrations. Till 50% load, HC emissions were reduced,

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while lower ethanol concentrations lowered the HC emissions upto 70%

engine load condition. Li et al. (2014) experimented on ternary blends based

on diesel/biodiesel/pentanol blends with compositions of 40/30/30 in a

constant speed diesel engine (1600rpm). Results indicated that with pentanol

addition in diesel blends the following were observed. i) Improved fuel-air

mixing rate ii) higher indicated thermal efficiency iii) lowered soot emissions

iv) lowered NOx emissions (in par with diesel NOx).

8|P a g e

Charoensaegn et al. (2018) studied the engine tailpipe emissions from the

diesel engine fuelled with ethanol-diesel-palm biodiesel blends. From their test

results, they reported that the prepared micro emulsion biofuels have shown

increased specific fuel consumption and significantly reduced the NOX

emissions. Overall, they concluded that micro emulsion fuels can be used as an

eco-friendly alternative in agriculture diesel engines. Ghadikolaei et al. (2019)

analysed the chemical properties and particulate matter formation from the

of
diesel engine operated with ternary fuels such as (diesel-biodiesel-ethanol) at

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different loading conditions. They recommended the use of ternary or blended
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mode of fuel for diesel engine applications due to positive effect on diesel
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particulate filter efficiency and they found diesel particulate matter of 85.8%;
na

ions of 1.9% and metal elements of 0.7%. Soudagar et al. (2018) reviewed the

influence of nano additives on the stability, performance, combustion and

ur

emission characteristics of the diesel- biodiesel fuelled diesel engine. From the
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literature, They summarised the various research findings on nano additives and

concluded that the addition of nanoparticles have demonstrated superior

improvement in thermophysical properties, increment in heat transfer rate and

stabilization of fuel/air mixture results in significant enhancement in engine

performance and greater reduction in engine tailpipe emissions. They suggest o

develop the economical and sustainable nano additives for the future

automobile industry. Datta and Mandal (2014) explored the feasibility and
9|P a g e

viability of jathropha biodiesel as one of the better partial replacement for the

diesel fuel. They have keenly examined the strengths, weakness, opportunities

and challenges of jatropha biodiesel in Indian scenario as well as economics of

biodiesel production and its utilization aspects. They were suggested that

development of definite biodiesel policy and its perfect implementation by the

government of India may enhance the use of jatropha biodiesel for diesel engine

applications. Chen et al. (2018) studied the influence of three nanoparticles

of
namely silicon oxide, alumina oxide and carbon nanotubes as fuel catalysts for

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the augmentation of combustion, performance and emission characteristics of
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the diesel engine. They used these nanoparticles at different levels like 25ppm,
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50ppm and 100ppm with the diesel fuel and also they have done the ultraviolet-
na

visible spectrophotometer for stability analysis of the nanoparticle blended

diesel fuel. They noticed better stability for the silicon oxide and alumina oxide.
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However, the carbon nanotubes were least stable. They concluded that use of
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nanoparticles have shown significant reductions in NOX emissions.

Ramesh et al. (2018) explored the viability of the poultry litter biodiesel

as an alternative fuel for diesel in diesel engines. They have tested 20% poultry

litter biodiesel along with 30mg/l of alumina nanoparticle as fuel additive. They

found greater reductions in hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide oxides of

nitrogen emissions by the addition of nanoparticles when compared to the

biodiesel blend without nanoparticles. Nour et al.(2018) examined the effect of

10 | P a g e

alumina nanoparticles at various concentrations such as 25, 50, 75 and 100mg/l

into diesterol blended fuel (10% Jojoba biodiesel+ 20% ethanol +70% diesel)

on the exploitation of diesel engine characteristics. They observed greater

reduction in oxides of nitrogen and hydrocarbon emissions at dose level of

25mg/l when compared to the other additions of nanoparticles, but significant

enhancement in peak cylinder pressure and considerable reduction in specific

fuel consumption was found for 75mg/l. They suggested the dose level of

of
75mg/l alumina nanoparticle addition had the overall improvement of the

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-p
characteristics of the diesel engine. Wu et al. (2018) investigated the influence
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of carbon coated aluminum nanoparticles as fuel catalysts for the biodiesel-
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diesel blends on the performance and emission characteristics of the diesel

na

engine. The test results revealed that the dispersion nanoparticles have shown

14.5% reduction of hydrocarbon emissions, 6% reduction of brake specific fuel

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consumption and 10% reduction of carbon monoxide when compared to the

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10% biodiesel blend. El- Seessy et al. (2018) studied the influence of aluminum

oxide nanoparticles on the characteristics of the diesel engine powered with

20% jojoba methyl ester-diesel blend at different loading conditions. They used

the Al2O3nanoparticle at various concentrations of 10mg/l, 20mg/l, 30mg/l,

40mg/l and 50mg/l to the 20% biodiesel blend by the use of ultrasonic

stabilization. They found promising results for 20mg/l additions to the biodiesel
11 | P a g e

blend which revealed a significant reduction in exhaust emissions such as

60%by CO, 80% by HC and 70% by NOX at full load.

Addition of nano additives leads to improved engine performance due to

its catalytic properties. Selvan et al. (2009) analyzed the influence of cerium

oxide nano additive in diesel-biodiesel-ethanol blends. They blended 25ppm

cerium oxide nano additives which are at range of 32nm with D70C10E20

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blend (70%Diesel +10%Biodiesel+20%Ethanol). They observed that the fuel

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consumption is increased and BTE is decreased of the ternary blends in
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comparison with diesel fuel. They also found that, addition of cerium oxide
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lowered the heat release rate for ternary blends. With cerium oxide addition
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in ternary blends, they observed reported reductions in HC and CO

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emissionsin comparison with diesel fuel.

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Shaafi and Velraj (2015) experimentally investigated the effect of

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alumina nano particles (with dosing level of 100mg/L) in binary blends (B20)

and ternary blends (80%diesel +15%soybean biodiesel + 4% ethanol + 1%

surfactant). The dosage level of alumina is kept constant and the surfactant

used was isopropanol for preventing the phase separation. They found that,

the cylinder pressure and HRR of alumina blended ternary fuel

(D80SB15E4S1+alumina) showed higher cylinder pressure and HRR owing

to higher surface area to volume ratio of alumina along with inherent oxygen

present in soybean biodiesel which altogether makes rapid advances in

12 | P a g e

combustion rate. The BSEC levels of B20 and D80SB15E4S1+alumina were

higher than diesel fuel. Venu et al. (2016) investigated the effect of alumina

nano particles in ternary fuels (diesel-biodiesel-ethanol) blends at various

injection timings. They observed that, the nano particle combustion was

effective in retarded injection timing in lowering the harmful tailpipe

emissions such as HC, CO, NOx and smoke emissions. Venu et al. (2017)

also found that nanoparticle addition in ternary fuel blend is superior to that

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of adding oxygenated additive such as diethyl ether in terms of improved

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performance and combustion characteristics.
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Hosseini et al. (2017) experimentally investigated the effect of alumina
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nano particles as catalysts to B5 (5% WCO biodiesel + 95%diesel) and B10

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blend (10% WCO biodiesel + 90%diesel) operated in a single cylinder diesel

engine. They chose the dosage levels of 30ppm, 60ppm and 90ppm for both
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the test fuels and operated the test fuels at engine speeds of 1800, 2300 and
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2800rpm at full load condition. Test results indicates that, in comparison with

diesel fuel, B10 blend with 90ppm alumina nano additives (B10AL90)

resulted in higher torque, power, BTE and EGT of 5.36%, 5.36%, 10.63%

and 5.8% while lowered BSFC of 14.66%.

Sivakumar et al. (2018) investigated the effect of 50ppm and 100ppm

alumina nano additives for B25 (25% pongamia biodiesel+75% diesel) blend

fuelled in a single cylinder diesel engine. They found that, B25A100

13 | P a g e

(100ppm alumina doped in B25 blend) has 16.67% lowered BSFC and 8.36%

higher BTE in comparison with B25 owing to pooled effect of physical

ignition delay, higher evaporation rate, prolonged flame sustenance and

higher flame temperatures of alumina nanoparticles. Prabu et al. (2016)

evaluated the combined effect of alumina and ceriua nano additives doped in

jatropha biodiesel fuelled in a single cylinder diesel engine. The proposed

dosage levels were 10ppm; 30ppm and 60ppm where both nano additives

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share equal proportions (for instance 10ppm doping indicates 5ppm

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alumina+5ppm ceria). They found that jatropha biodiesel blended with
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60ppm nano additives exhibits lowered BSFC of 0.293bkg/kWh and higher
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BTE of 31% which are closer to diesel fuel owing to higher surface area to
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volume ratio of nano additives improving the rate of combustion.

1.1Motivation for the present study

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Jatropha is a renewable biological crop, and it maintains a closed carbon

cycle. It is produced from the seeds of the Jatropha curcas, a plant that can grow

in wastelands across India and the oil is considered to be an excellent source of

bio-diesel. The cultivation of jatropha in waste land provide employment for the

rural people of India. The oil content of jatropha varies from 35–40% of

the seed mass. Ethanol is a renewable fuel source and it produces complete

combustion. It is derived from the corn, sugarcane, and grain or indirectly from

paper waste. The main issues with the jatropha are more viscosity and lesser
14 | P a g e

heating value. Similarly, ethanol is a clean combustible fuel, but it has very low

cetane number. In this context, in order to promote the use of biofuels and

ethanol in diesel engine applications, Ternary fuel blend(diesel-biodiosel-

ethanol) is prepared and all the physical and chemical properties are determined

as per the ASTM standards and these properties of ternary blend is very close to

the standard diesel fuel.

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In fact, there is very limited technical literature has been existed on the

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performance, combustion and emission characteristics powered by ternary fuels
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for diesel engine applications. A very few studies were devoted to identify the
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optimum blending concentration of nano additives in the base fuel for achieving
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improved engine performance and lowered exhaust emissions. In addition, the

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improved fuel property of ternary fuel blends with nano additives can leverage
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the usage of renewable alternative energy sources such as bio-ethanol and bi-
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diesel in the lieu of increasing fossil fuel dependency and growing emission

concerns. With this strategic conception, for the current study, experiments

were conducted to analyze the performance, emissions and combustion

characteristics of DF100 (100% diesel fuel), JB100 (100% Jatropha biodiesel),

TF (diesel (70%) +biodiesel (20%) + ethanol (10%), TF10 (TF blended

with10ppm Al2O3 nano additives), TF20 (TFblended with 20ppm Al2O3 nano

additives) and TF30 (TF blended with 30ppm Al2O3 nano additives). Therefore,

the present study seeks to exploit the influence of nanopartcles in ternary blend
 15 | P a g e

at various concentrations in order to analyze diesel engine characteristics

without any modification.

2. Material & Methods

2.1 Jatropha biodiesel preparation

Jatropha biodiesel was produced using a 2L batch reactor, a magnetic stirrer, a

condenser, a sampling outlet unit and a thermometer. Biodiesel preparation was

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carried out using acid-base catalyst procedure. Initially before starting

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esterification, the raw Jatropha curcas oil is heated up to 60oC using a rotary
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evaporator in vacuum for moisture removal. For esterification, a mixture of 10:1
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molar ratio of methanol to raw oil and 1.5% (v/v) sulphuric acid (H2SO4) were

treated with above preheated raw oil and stirred for 4h at 60oC at 700rpm. Then,
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using a funnel separator the esterified oil was separated from alcohol, H2SO4 and
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impurities. Separated esterified Jatropha oil was now heated at 60oC for 1h in a
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rotary evaporator for removing water and methanol. After esterification,

transesterification is carried out to further reduce the viscosity as the raw Jatropha

oil is very viscous (4.2 mm2/s). For transesterification, a mixture of 4:1 molar

ratio of methanol to oil ratio and 1% (m/m) of KOH (potassium hydroxide) were

added with the esterified oil and stirred for 2h at 60oC at 700rpm. Then, the

obtained solution is transferred to a funnel separator and allowed to settle for 24h.
 16 | P a g e

The final product (Jatropha curcas biodiesel) is obtained at the top layer and

glycerol is settled over the bottom which is drained.

2.2Ternary fuel preparation

As proposed in introduction, a ternary fuel blend was proposed to be

developed with 20% biodiesel, 10% ethanol and 70% diesel fuel. Hence, the

mixture is prepared for one litre and is subjected to magnetic stirring for 2 h. The

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resulting mixture is named as TF and important fuel properties such as density,

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kinematic viscosity, calorific value, cetane number and flash point were
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determined for TF according to ASTM standards as shown in Table 2. It is
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observed that, the density, viscosity and cetane number of TF were lowered by

2.52%, 26.73% and 8.16 % in comparison with JB100 and higher than diesel fuel
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by 1.43%, 11.97% and 0.83% respectively. However, the properties are still not a
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match with mineral diesel. Hence, the researcher intended to adopt a novel
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technique of blending alumina nano additives with TF on three different

proportions of 10ppm, 20ppm and 30ppm and further analyzing the property as

well as performing experimentation with nano additives doped ternary fuel

blends. Hence, alumina nanoparticles were blended with the base fuel.

2.3Alumina nanoparticle preparation

Alumina nanoparticles were prepared using sol-gel method. Initially

aluminium nitrate solution (0.5M) is dissolved in 50 ml deionized water (H2O) at

 17 | P a g e

22oC and stirred magnetically. Secondly, urea (0.05M) is dissolved with prepared

aluminium nitrate solution and reacted for 30 minutes until the solution attains a

pH level of 2.This is the base solution which is to be titrated with a mixture of 0.1

M sodium hydroxide and 25 ml of H2O till pH level 6 is attained. Further

addition of sodium hydroxide to the base solution forms a clady gel (pH=8),

which is dried and calcined at 150oC for 12 h. Finally, alumina nanoparticles

were collected after the dried sample is subjected to 300oC and 2 h in furnace.

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The properties of synthesized alumina nanoparticle are illustrated in Table 1.

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In the current experimental work, alumina nano particle was chosen.
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There are no specific reasons for selection of alumina nano particle because the
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primary objective of the current research work is to render improvement in

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diesel-biodiesel-ethanol blends with any fuel-borne additives. Almost all the

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metal oxide nano additives performs well as it liberates oxygen during

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combustion and helps in oxidation reaction thereby lowering the exhaust tailpipe

emissions presented by Venu and Madhavan et al. (2016). It is also to be

inferred that, only the oxygen atoms in metal oxides (cerium oxide, zirconium

oxide, titanium oxide, manganese oxide, etc.) paves way for improved catalytic

combustion activity.

2.4 Preparation method and property analysis of alumina blended

ternary fuel
18 | P a g e

Ternary fuel (TF) blend is prepared by mixing (70% v/v), biodiesel

(20%v/v) and ethanol (10%v/v) and subjecting for magnetic stirring for 2 h.

Alumina nano additives were blended with TF at proportions of 10ppm, 20ppm

and 30ppm and were named as TF10, TF20 and TF30. For blending the nano

additives, ultrasonication method is chosen as it results in uniform dispersion of

nanoparticles in base fuel.The properties of alumina nanoparticles blended with

ternary fuel are displayed in Table 2.

of
It is observed from the Table 2 that, with increasing concentration of

ro
-p
nanoparticles in TF, there is a drop in density, kinematic viscosity and cetane
re
number. Among various doping levels, it could be observed that, TF20 showed
lP

higher calorific value of 43846kJ/kg, lowered kinematic viscosity of 3.02

mm2/s and higher cetane number of 48.7. It can be concluded from fuel
na

property analysis that, the optimum doping level for improved fuel
ur

characteristics in TF is capped at 20 ppm. Lowered proportion of 10 ppm as

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well as improved proportion of 30 ppm does not make any significant

improvements in physical properties in comparison with neat TF blend without

any additives.The prepared test fuels with various concentration of alumina

nanoparticles are subjected to the stability investigation; each fuel sample kept

in a 100 ml graduated scale glass test tube under static conditions and found

stable for 15 h.

3. Experimental Setup
19 | P a g e

Experimentation is done on Kirloskar make, single cylinder four stoke

diesel engine which is basically an agriculture application oriented engine.

Hence, this type of engine is preferred for research work throughout the world

with alternate fuels. The test engine develops an output power of 4.4kW which

operates at a constant speed of 1500rpm. This direct injection naturally aspirated

engine has an engine capacity of 661cm3, bore and stroke of 87.5mm and 110mm

along with 203mm long connecting rod assembly.The standard operating

of
conditions as per the manufacturer prescribed is 17:1 compression ratio,

ro
23obTDC injection timing, 200bar injection pressure and rated speed of 1500rpm.
-p
The specifications of test engine were displayed in Table 3.
re
lP

The current experimental arrangement uses MICO fuel injection and a

na

piezo electric pressure transducer mounted on engine cylinder head for recording

the in-cylinder pressure and heat release rate generated during the power stroke.
ur

QRO-402 exhaust gas analyzer measures the HC, CO, CO2 and NOx emissions
Jo

and AVL437C smoke meter measures the smoke opacity. The layout of

experimental setup is outlined in Fig. 1. The engine load is attached with eddy

current dynamometer which is connected with the test engine with flexible

coupling. Based on the variation of current supply, the engine load varies from

lower to higher load. Experiments were performed with engine loads of 0%, 25%,

50%, 75% and 100% respectively. The air cooled test engine uses SAE40

lubricating oil with 3.7 L capacity for ensuring negligible friction and wear

between the moving components.

20 | P a g e

3.1 Error and uncertainty analysis

During experimental measurements and calculation of various performance

parameters, errors are significant. Several factors like device selection,

calibration, relative condition, environment, reading, observation and test

planning influences the occurrence of errors and uncertainties. In order to prove

the accuracy of obtained results, uncertainty analysis is needed. Uncertainty of

various instruments along with its range and resolution were given in Table 4.

of
ro
The overall uncertainty of the current experiment is calculated as below.

-p
Overall uncertainty of the experiment = Square root of {(uncertainty of brake
re
specific fuel consumption)2 +(uncertainty of load)2+ (uncertainty of brake
lP

thermal efficiency)2 + (uncertainty of carbon monoxide)2 + (uncertainty of

na

unburned hydrocarbon)2 + (uncertainty of oxides of nitrogen)2 + (uncertainty of

ur

smoke number)2 + (uncertainty of exhaust gas temperature)2 +(uncertainty of

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pressurepickup)2}

= square root of {(1)2 + (0.2)2 + (1)2+ (0.2)2+ (0.2)2 + (0.2)2+ (1)2+ (0.15)2+

(1)2}= ± 2.04 %.

The uncertainty values of each equipment were evaluated. The overall

uncertainty of the current experiment was calculated as ±2% and it is much lower

than the ± 5%. It is well known that the acceptable range for the uncertainty is

below the aforementioned value. Therefore, the overall uncertainty of the

system was within the acceptable limits.

21 | P a g e

4. Results and discussion

4.1 Combustion characteristics

Fig. 2illustrates the variation of in-cylinder pressure for all the test fuels

with respect to crank angle. As observed from the figure, the maximum cylinder

pressure is observed for DF100 (74.4bar), while the lowest cylinder pressure is

of
ro
obtained for JB100 (62.44bar). The in-cylinder pressure is a function of fuel

-p
property (especially the viscosity and cetane number properties), as it profoundly
re
influences the air-fuel interaction and combustion process. When the viscosity of
lP

fuel is lower and its cetane number properties are enhanced, then the air-fuel
na

mixture formation is very uniform followed by increased pressure. JB100 is of

very high dense, highly viscous and has lowered calorific value in comparison
ur
Jo

with DF100 (as observed from Table 2) which could have presumably affected

the air-fuel interaction characteristics (especially the atomization and evaporation

rate) followed by lowered cylinder pressure. TF blend showed improved cylinder

pressure of 67.29bar in comparison with JB100 (62.44bar) which could be

attributed to lowered viscosity and improved calorific values.

In addition to above states, the presence of ethanol in TF makes the in-built

fuel O2 molecules to effectively take part in combustion followed by improved

cylinder pressure. TF blended with alumina nano additives showed improved

cylinder pressure in comparison with JB100 and TF. Cylinder pressures of TF10,
22 | P a g e

TF20 and TF30 were 70.23bar, 72.67bar and 71.6bar, respectively. The main

reason attributed to such increase in cylinder pressure is higher surface area to

volume ratio of alumina nano additives which improves the combustion

efficiency followed by higher premixed combustion phase and improved cylinder

pressures. Among various dosage levels, TF20 stand superior in cylinder pressure

(72.67bar) which is only 2.33% lower than diesel fuel.

Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 represent the variation of HRR and CHRR for various test

of
fuels with respect to crank angle at 100% engine load condition. Highest HRR is

ro
-p
observed for DF100 (84.41J/degCA) in comparison with other test fuels. This
re
could be attributed to more diesel fuel accumulating at premixed combustion
lP

phase (primary stage) and the lower cetane numbered diesel fuel liberates more
na

heat in comparison with other test fuels. JB100 fuel exhibits lowest HRR of

56.85J/degCA owing to its typical fuel properties such as denser and more
ur

viscous nature which could have perhaps affected the evaporation rate at
Jo

premixed stage. However, the improved cetane number properties of JB100

enables itself to liberate heat at earlier crank angles well before the TDC and

makes the diffusion combustion to be more prolonged, because the presence of

O2 molecule plays major effect only at later stages of combustion. TF blend

exhibits HRR of 69.31 J/degCA which is 21.92% higher than JB100. This can be

attributed to lower proportions of biodiesel and presence of ethanol in the blend

which altogether lowers the fuel accumulation in premixed combustion phase.

TF10, TF20 and TF30 exhibits HRR values of about 70.58J/degCA,

23 | P a g e

76.22J/degCA and 71.66J/degCA which are higher than TF (69.31J/degCA).

Similarly the CHRR values of TF10, TF20 and TF30 are higher than TF by

1.49%, 3.79% and 2.57% respectively. Highest CHRR is observed for TF20

(1171.1J) which is higher than DF100 by 7.76%..CHRR trend of diesel fuel

shows the significant variation in delay period amounting to excess fuel

accumulation during the premixed combustion duration which causes higher

HRR and overall lowest CHRR values. These are in good agreement with the

of
previous research findings of Rao & Anand (2016); Basha & Anand (2011); and

ro
Tyagi et al. (2008). To conclude with, TF20 resulted in improved combustion
-p
characteristics in comparison with other test fuels.
re
lP

4.2Performance characteristics
na

Fig. 5 shows the variation of BTE for DF100, JB100, TF and TF with
ur

10 ppm, 20 ppm and 30 ppm alumina nano additives. It is observed that, JB100
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exhibits lowest BTE throughout the engine load condition which could be

attributed to higher levels of density and viscosity of pure biodiesel. In

comparison with DF100, the viscosity of JB100 is higher by 52.82% which

resulted in lowest BTE of 26.2% at full load condition indicating improper

combustion of 100% pure biodiesel with respect to diesel fuel. The presence of

ethanol in TF increases the BTE throughout the engine load condition which

could be attributed to the oxygen content in ethanol and enhanced combustion

process. However, the BTE of TF is still lower than diesel fuel. Addition of

nanoparticles in TF makes significant improvement in enhancing the BTE. From

24 | P a g e

the fuel properties (Table 2), it is inferred that with alumina nanoparticle addition

in TF, there is a surge in heating value and drop in fuel viscosity. In comparison

with TF, the BTE of nano additives doped TF were higher by 2.48%, 7.8% and

1.42% for doping levels of 10 ppm, 20 ppm and 30 ppm respectively. This could

be attributed to catalytic activity of nano particles, promoting micro-explosion of

primary droplets reported by Shaafi & Velraj (2015); Kao et al. (2007); and Raju

et al. (2018) thereby increasing the evaporation rate and reducing the physical

of
delay which overall increases the combustion efficiency along with improved

ro
BTE. Improvement in BTE can also be attributed to the enhanced surface
-p
area/volume ratio of the nanoparticles, which have high potential to store energy
re
and reactivity (Yetter et al. (2009) and De Luca et al. (2005)). Another possible
lP

reason for the engine improvement is that the nanoadditives have a positive
na

influence on the heat transfer rate due to its enhanced conductive, radiative and
ur

heat/mass transfer properties elaborated by Tyagi et al. (2008). Therefore, the

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presence of nanoparticles leads to higher evaporation rate that enhances the

mixing of fuel vapor with air and a higher probability of complete combustion.

Hence, among different dosage levels of alumina, TF20 showed better BTE in

comparison with TF10 and TF30. Increased BTE with alumina nanoparticle

addition were in accordance with the previous research findings of Aalam &

Saravanan (2015); Hosseini et al. (2017); Patel & Kumar (2017); Prabu et al.

(2016).
25 | P a g e

Fig. 6 depicts the variation of brake specific energy consumption of

diesel and ternary fuel with different dosage levels of alumina nano additives.

From the figure, it is observed that, JB100 (100% Jatropha biodiesel) exhibits

highest energy consumption in comparison with diesel and other test fuels. The

calorific value of JB100 is lower than diesel fuel by 4.53% which could possibly

result in fluctuations in calorific value and higher viscosity of JB100 lowers the

fuel droplet’s atomization and vaporization rate and thereby increasing the BSEC

of
characteristics. The BSEC profile is also in agreement with inverse profile of

ro
BTE. TF blend exhibits lowered BSEC than JB100 by 22.32%, 22.1%, 15.54%
-p
and 8.97% at engine loads of 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% respectively. This could
re
be attributed to the presence of ethanol and lower percentage of biodiesel in TF
lP

which results in enhanced combustion rate and lowered energy consumed to

na

maintain the engine speed constant in comparison with low calorific value JB100
ur

blend. Although, the BSEC profile is lower than JB100, the BSEC of DF100 is
Jo

still lowest among the considered test fuels. Hence, influence of fuel borne

additives in TF is necessary. It is observed that, by addition of alumina nano

additives, the BSEC drops down marginally, which is in agreement with BTE

profile. This could be attributed to enhance surface area to volume ratio of nano

additives, reduced physical delay and superior cetane number properties which

overall results in lowered BSEC trend for alumina blended TF blends.Among

various dosing levels of alumina with TF, it is observed that TF20 exhibits lowest
26 | P a g e

levels of BSEC which could be attributed to significant energy released during

the combustion of nano additives.

Moreover, addition of nano particles results in higher evaporation rate,

lowered ignition delay and improved spray penetration altogether enhances the

catalytic activity and improved combustion efficiency of TF20 thereby resulting

in lower levels of BSEC. Lowered BSEC profile with alumina nano additives

of
were reported in similar works as well by Shaafi & Velraj (2015); Patel & Kumar

ro
(2017); Prabu et al. (2016).

4.3Emission characteristics
-p
re
lP

Fig. 7illustrates the variation of carbon monoxide emissions for all the
na

test fuels with respect to engine loads. It is observed that DF100 exhibits highest
ur

CO level throughout the engine condition. In comparison to diesel fuel, JB100 as

Jo

raw fuel leads to lower the CO emission by 13.33%, 17.33%, 13.95%, 24% and

9.76% at engine loads of 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% respectively. This could

be attributed to availability of plenty of oxygen atoms in JB100 which enhances

the conversion rate to CO2 from CO. TF exhibits lower CO emissions than JB100

throughout the engine load condition owing to the presence of ethanol which acts

as combustion enhancer, which provokes faster rate of combustion followed by

lowered CO emissions.
27 | P a g e

Addition of alumina nano additives in TF further lowers the CO emission

levels marginally. At full load condition, CO emissions of TF10, TF20 and TF30

were lower than TF by 2.81%, 11.24% and 8.99% respectively. This is because,

alumina nano additives acts as oxygen buffer and oxygen donating catalyst for

oxidation of CO molecule. In addition, large surface area to volume ratio of

alumina nanoparticles enhances the chemical reactivity and lowers the delay

period which promotes complete combustion and lowered CO emissions. At

of
higher temperatures, Al2O3 nanoparticle dissociates to Al2O and O. “Al2O”

ro
molecule is very unstable at higher temperatures inside the combustion chamber
-p
which further disposes to 2Al and ½ O2. This oxygen molecule further reacts with
re
CO to get converted to CO2 as illustrated in the following Equation (1-3):
lP

Al2 O3 → Al2O+2O
na

(1)
ur

1
Al2 O → 2Al+ O 2 (2)
2
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O+CO → CO 2 (3)

Addition of nano additives lowers the ignition delay period and thereby

promotes complete combustion discussed by Gumus et al. (2016). Lowered CO

emissions with addition of alumina nano particles were also reported in previous

literatures such as Hosseini et al. (2017); Sivakumar et al. (2018); Prabu et al.

(2016) and Shaafi & Velraj (2015).

Fig. 8 displays the variation of hydrocarbon emissions for all the test

fuels with respect to engine load. It is observed that DF100 exhibits highest HC
28 | P a g e

levels throughout the engine load condition. In comparison to diesel fuel, JB100

as raw fuel tends to lower the HC emissions by 4.74%, 10.59%, 13.41%, 11.66%

and 7.99% respectively at all the engine loads. The profile is similar to CO

emissions where the neat diesel possesses higher emissions in comparison with

JB100. With increase in engine load, the HC emissions increases for all the test

fuels owing to excess available fuel in combustion zone and more mixture

formation in cold quench areas like crevices and wall films. TF possess lowered

of
HC emissions in comparison with JB100 due to the presence of ethanol which

ro
supplies readily available oxygen atoms during combustion, thereby oxidising the
-p
soot precursors followed by complete combustion and lowered HC emissions for
re
TF blend. At full load condition, the HC emission of TF is lower than DF100 and
lP

JB100 by 12.27% and 4.65% respectively.

na
ur

Addition of alumina nano particle in TF blend showed typical

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reductions in HC emissions for all the dosage levels in comparison with DF100

and JB100. The activation energy of alumina nanoparticle tends to burn off the

carbon deposits within the engine cylinder especially at quench layers. Moreover,

the in-built oxygen atoms released by nano additives at higher temperatures

during combustion helps to oxidise the soot precursors thereby promoting

complete combustion and lowered HC emissions. At full load, the HC emissions

of TF10, TF20 and TF30 were lower than TF by 2.44%, 5.69% and 4.07%

respectively. The presence of oxygen buffer in nano additives, lowered viscosity

and increased contact area of fuel-air mixture overall contributes to high heat
29 | P a g e

transfer rate of the fuel. Metal oxide nano additives acts as oxygen donating

catalyst, thereby providing oxygen for oxidation of unburned hydrocarbons and

CO emissions or absorbs oxygen for lowering NOx emissions. To sum up, TF20

blend resulted in lowest HC emission in comparison with other dosage levels.

Lowered HC emissions with alumina nano additives were in good accordance

with previous research findings of Prabu et al. (2016); Rao & Anand (2016);

Sivakumar et al. (2018); Basha & Anand (2011).

of
ro
Fig. 9 shows the variation of nitrogen oxides emissions for all the test
-p
fuels with respect to engine load. From figure, it is observed that, NOx emissions
re
of JB100 were higher than diesel fuel throughout the engine load condition owing
lP

to the presence of O2 molecule which could have boosted the combustion rate and
na

raise the in-cylinder temperatures which were favourable factors for the
ur

formation of NOx. At 100% engine load, the NOx emissions of JB100 were
Jo

higher than DF100 by 10.38%, which could be attributed to higher cylinder

temperatures achieved by JB100 along with higher oxygen content.

With increase in engine load, the NOx emission increases due to more

retained heat inside the combustion chamber from preceding cycles. It is

observed that, the NOx profile of TF is highest among the test fuels ranging about

132ppm, 192ppm, 320 ppm, 560ppm and 756ppm throughout the engine load

condition. This could be attributed to the presence of in-built oxygen molecule in

ternary blends promoting the oxidation rate of biodiesel, followed by increased

30 | P a g e

in-cylinder temperatures and higher NOx profile. From figure 8, it is clear that, in

comparison with TF, NOx emissions of TF10, TF20 and TF30 were lower by

4.89%, 9.29% and 7.67% respectively. This could be attributed to the presence of

alumina nano additives which lowers the soot oxidation temperature and also acts

as catalyst for reduction of hydroxyl radicals resulting in lowered amount of NOx

emissions. Lowered NOx emissions with alumina nanoparticle addition were also

reported in earlier research findings of Basha & Anand (2011).

of
ro
1
Al2O3 + NO → 2AlO+ N2 (4)
2
-p
re
At higher in-cylinder temperatures, Al2O3 nanoparticles reacts with NO
lP

to form 2AlO and ½ N2, thereby lowering the possibility of NOx formation as
na

represented in the equation (4). To conclude with, TF20 exhibits lowest NOx
ur

emissions of about 685ppm at full load condition, which is at acceptable limit in

Jo

comparison with that of other test fuels.

Fig.10 depicts the variation of smoke opacity for all the test fuels with

respect to engine load. It is observed that, DF100 exhibits highest smoke level

throughout the engine load condition. At 100% load, the smoke level of JB100

were lower than DF100 by 13.58%, which could be attributed to the presence of

fuel bound oxygen atoms in JB100, which helps in improving the combustion

rate followed by lowered smoke. Smoke is generally a resultant of incomplete

combustion. In CI engines, the smoke formation can be attributed to deficiency of

31 | P a g e

air in combustion rich zones, poor atomization and excess fuel accumulation in

combustion chamber. Lowered smoke emissions for JB100 can henceforth be

attributed to better oxidation occurring near the fuel rich zones inside the

combustion chamber. Interestingly, in comparison with JB100, the TF blend

possess higher smoke levels till 50% load while the smoke level drops to 52%

and 65% at engine loads of 75% and 100%, respectively. This could be attributed

to the fumigation of ethanol in TF blend which is effective at higher engine loads

of
leading to more complete combustion, especially at higher loads. Addition of

ro
alumina nano particle in TF lowered the smoke emissions nominally as observed

in Fig.10.
-p
re
lP

At 100% load, the smoke emissions of TF10, TF20 and TF30 blends
na

were lower than TF by 5.37%, 6.92% and 6.15%, respectively. Addition of

ur

alumina nano particles in TF resulted in enhanced evaporation rate, lowered

Jo

ignition delay period and improved ignition characteristics. Owing to shortened

ID period, excess amount of fuel is collected inside the combustion chamber prior

to ignition which ensures better air-fuel mixing and higher combustion efficiency

followed by lowered smoke emissions. In comparison with other dosage levels,

TF20 showed major drop in smoke level due to the presence of optimum fuel

viscosity and cetane number characteristics which can possibly influence the

droplet diameter size and fuel spray characteristics which altogether lowers the

smoke emission significantly. Lowered smoke emissions with alumina nano

32 | P a g e

particle addition are in good agreement with the findings of Basha & Anand

(2011); Sadhik Basha & Anand (2011); and Kao et al. (2007).

The word ignition delay or ignition delay period was commonly termed

as a divergence from start of combustion and start of injection of test fuel to the

engine and it also reveals the physical and chemical delay of the fuel. At the

initial stage it indicates the entire pre-combustion process and at the final stage it

of
indicates fuel evaporation and vaporization, better mixing rate of the fuel and its

ro
atomization. Fig.11 displayed the deviation of ignition delay for all the fuel
-p
blends with respect to the engine load. The Fig.11 reveals that the compared with
re
all the fuel blends mineral diesel had higher ID at all the load condition. At lower
lP

load condition the fuel blends TF and TF 10 had closer trend to the mineral diesel
na

fuel and this could be achieved by enhanced fuel mix rate, density and viscosity
ur

nature of the fuel. Next, the blend TF20 had lowered ignition delay spectrum with
Jo

mineral diesel owing to peak cetane number of the test fuel, low compressibility

factor followed by composition of biodiesel. In compared with all the fuel blend

mineral diesel had higher ID whereas as rest of the fuel blends had lowered ID

even the increment of alumina nanoadditives in the ternary fuel blends. This

event would be occurred due to higher calorific range of fuel with superior

surface tension and density yields better-quality atomization which will generate

low ID. Moreover, ethanol and nanoadditives improves the latent heat of fuel

blends and thereby it reduces the carbon chain molecules formation.

33 | P a g e

Fig.12 displays the deviation of MFB with respect to the crank angle for

entire fuel blends. Compared with all the fuel blends the DF100 fuel blend had

inferior range of MFB at entire crank angle due to lack of O2 content in the diesel

fuel with other fuel blends. The blend JB100 had irregular range of MFB at all

the crank angle which would owe increased fuel rich zones with null atomization

effect. But TF and TF blended nanoadditives blend possess customary spectrum

of MFB at all the crank angle can be attained by the influence of ethanol and

of
higher ppm of nanoadditives in the test fuel blends.

ro
-p
Fig. 13(a-d) displays the deviation of particle size diameter for all the
re
fuel blends from 25% to 100% load condition. From the entire plot (a-d) it was
lP

observed that the mineral diesel blend had higher PSD with rest of the fuel blends
na

whereas the blend TF 20 had lowered range of MFB with mineral diesel at all the
ur

load condition. On the other hand, TF, TF 10 and TF 30 fuel blends had
Jo

intermediate trend with mineral diesel and TF 20 owing to supply of O2

molecules and lack of aromatic hydro carbons in the fuel.

5. Conclusion

The current experimental work deals with the influence of alumina

nanoparticle as a fuel borne additive for ternary fuel blend comprising biodiesel,

diesel and ethanol. The key inferences were summarized from this proposed

experimental research work as follows.

34 | P a g e

The suggested alternative ternary fuel (TF) comprised of

20%biodiesel+70%diesel+10%ethanol was shown higher BSEC and NOX

emissions when compared with diesel.

TF20 blend has 7.8% higher BTE and 4.93% lowered BSEC in comparison

with TF, while emissions of HC, CO, NOx and smoke were lower than TF

by 5.69%, 11.24%, 9.39% and 6.92%, respectively at full load condition

of
Most importantly, the engine combustion characteristics of TF 20 blend

ro
have shown remarkable improvements when compared with other tested
-p
fuels, it was due to Higher surface area to volume ratio of alumina nano
re
additives helped in improved catalytic combustion and shortened delay
lP

period which in turn led to better air-fuel interaction.

na

Therefore, the present study showed that the diesel engine characteristics for
ur

ternary fuel blend operation could be improved with dispersion of alumina

Jo

nanoparticle.

5.1 Limitations of the present work

i) Impact of environmental issues when nanoparticles are present in the

exhaust gases. The application of nanoparticles may produce more soot

particles accumulation in diesel particulate filter and may affect the

performance of the engine system.

35 | P a g e

ii) The presence of nanoparticles may cause the engine wear on several

engine components like piston, cylinder, exhaust valve and fuel injector

system and also exhaust pipe corrosion issues.

iii) The main problem with the use of nanoparticles as fuel catalysts is their

stability aspects. These nanoparticles are tending to aggregate and may

chance of clogging of the fuel injection system. Stability analyses of

nanoparticles blended fuels are required.

of
5.2Future scope of work

ro
i)
-p
There is a need of exhaustive study on Emulsifiers/surfactants to the
re
nanoparticles to avoid phase separation and exploration of stability
lP

problems.
na

ii) Investigation is required on diesel engine design parameters such as

ur

pilot injection, nozzle geometry, spray pattern and swirl ratio when
Jo

naoparticles blended fuels are used.

iii) The economic feasibility and the complexity in preparation of

nanoparticles, and public safety should be considered in the future

researches.

iv) Studies to be encouraged to explore the effect of nanoparticles on the

engine components. A further scope of research is needed in the

superficial and interfacial effects, the nanoparticle motion, and the

interactions between the static and flow conditions.

36 | P a g e

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lP

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Table 1 Properties of alumina nanoparticles
Crystal structure with type γ
3
Bulk/ true density (g/cm ) 0.18
Appearance (colour) White
Average particle size (nm) 28-30
2
Surface area (m /g) 224.55
Purity (%) 94.99

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Dislocation density (δ) (line2/m2) 0.4*1014
Micro strain (ξ) 0.086

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Table 2 Main properties of blending stocks -p
TF+
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TF+ TF+
ASTM
Property DF100 JB100 TF 10ppm 20ppm 30ppm
standard
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(TF10) (TF20) (TF30)

Density at 20oC, (kg/m3) D1298 840 874 852 849 848 845
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Kinematic Viscosity at
D445 2.84 4.34 3.18 3.07 3.02 3.1
40oC, (cSt)
Calorific Value, (kJ/kg) D240 44700 42673 43176 43412 43846 43580
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Cetane number D976 48 52.7 48.4 48.6 48.7 48.4

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Flash point (oC) D93 68 130 59 60 63 62

Table 3 Engine specification

Engine make Kirloskar TAF 1
Engine type 4 stroke, vertical diesel engine
No. of cylinders 1
Rated power 4.4kW @ 1500rpm
Bore and stroke 87.5 mm and 110 mm
Compression ratio 17.5: 1
Engine capacity 661cc
Injection timing and Injection pressure 23 deg bDTC (rated) and 200 bar
Combustion chamber geometry Hemispherical chamber
No. of nozzle holes 3
Diameter of nozzle hole 0.3 mm
Table 4 List of devices and its range, accuracy and percentage uncertainties
Device specification Range Accuracy Uncertainties
GAS ANALYZER QRO-402
Carbon monoxide(CO) (0-9.99)% vol +0.02% + 0.2
Carbon dioxide (CO2) (0-19.99)% vol +0.03% + 0.15
Hydrocarbon (HC) (0-10000) ppm + 20ppm + 0.2
Oxides of nitrogen (NO) (0-5000) ppm + 10 ppm + 0.2
SMOKE METER AVL 437C (0-100) HSU + 0.1 HSU +1
Exhaust gas temperature (EGT) (0-900oC) + 1oC + 0.15

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Fuel flow meter 1-30 cc + 0.1 cc +1
Pressure transducer 0-100 bar + 0.1 bar + 0.1

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Crank angle encoder 0-720 CA 0.2CA bTDC + 0.2
Digital tachometer 0-15000 rpm
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(for speed measurement)
Eddy current dynamometer 200-8000 W 15W + 0.3
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 Fuel Injector
Fuel measurement
AVL Smoke meter

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AVL Gas analyzer Diesel Engine
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Eddy current dynamometer
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Fig. 1 Photographic view of test apparatus

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 80

70
DF100
CYLINDER PRESSURE (bar)

JB100
TF
60
TF10
TF20
50 TF30

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30
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20
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10
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0
-40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 100
CRANK ANGLE (degree)
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Fig.2 Variation of cylinder pressure with crank angle at full load

 100

DF100
80 JB100
HEAT RELEASE RATE (J/deg CA)

TF
TF10
60 TF20

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TF30

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40
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20
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-20
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-40 -20 0 20 40 60 80
CRANK ANGLE (degree)
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Fig. 3 Variation of heat release rate with respect to respect to crank angle at full load
 CUMULATIVE HEAT RELEASE RATE (J)

1200

1000

800

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600

DF100
400 -p JB100
TF
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TF10
200
TF20
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TF30
0
-20 0 20 40 60 80
CRANK ANGLE (degree)
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Fig. 4 Variation of cumulative heat release rate with respect to crank angle at full load
 40 DF100
JB100
BRAKE THERMAL EFFICIENCY (%)

35 TF
TF10
30 TF20
TF30

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25

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20

15
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10
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5
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0
25 50 75 100
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ENGINE LOAD (%)

Fig. 5 Variation of brake thermal efficiency with respect to engine load

 35 DF100
BRAKE SPECIFIC ENERGY CONSUMPTION

JB100
30
TF
TF10
TF20
25 TF30

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(MJ/kW-hr)

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20

15
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10
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5
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0
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25 50 75 100
ENGINE LOAD (%)

Fig. 6 Variation of brake specific energy consumption with respect to engine load
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Fig. 7 Variation of carbon monoxide with respect to engine load

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Fig.8 Variation of hydrocarbon with respectto engine load

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Fig. 9 Variation of nitrogen oxides with respect to engine load

 80 DF100
JB100
TF
70
TF10
SMOKE OPACITY (%)

TF20
60 TF30

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50

40 -p
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30
lP

20
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10
0 25 50 75 100
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ENGINE LOAD (%)

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Fig. 10 Variation of smoke opacity with respect to engine load

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Fig. 11 Variation of ignition delay with respect to engine load

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Fig. 12 Variation of mass fraction burnt with respect to crank angle

 DF100
a) 25% engine load TF
TF10
TF20
TF30

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300 400 500 600 700 800
lP

PARTICLE SIZE DIAMETER (nm)

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Fig. 13a Variation of Particle Size Diameter (PSD) at 25% engine load
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 b) 50% engine load DF100
TF
TF10
TF20
TF30

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300 400 500
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600 700 800
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PARTICLE SIZE DIAMETER (nm)
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Fig. 13b Variation of Particle Size Diameter (PSD) at 50% engine load
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 c) 75% engine load DF100
TF
TF10
TF20
TF30

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300 400 500 600 700 800
PARTICLE SIZE DIAMETER (nm)
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Fig. 13c Variation of Particle Size Diameter (PSD) at 75% engine load
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 d) 100% engine load DF100
TF
TF10
TF20
TF30

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300 400 500 600 700 800
PARTICLE SIZE DIAMETER (nm)
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Fig. 13d Variation of Particle Size Diameter (PSD) at 100% engine load
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Highlights
• Influence of alumina nano additives on ternary fuel
• Alumina blended ternary fuel resulted in higher BTE and lowered BSEC
• Emissions like HC, CO, NOx and smoke were lowered with alumina addition
• Cylinder pressure, HRR and CHRR were higher for alumina blended ternary fuel
• 20ppm alumina addition resulted in improved performance and minimized emissions

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Declaration of interests

☒ The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships
that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

☐The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered
as potential competing interests:

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