Performance, combustion and emission reduction characteristics of Metal-based silicon dioxide nanoparticle additives included in ternary fuel (diesel-SMME-iso butanol) on diesel engine

Biodiesel has long been recognized as a viable alternative energy source. In order to enhance the quality, and performance of biodiesel-diesel fuel blends while reducing air pollution from combustion, additives must be employed. The present research aims to focus on the addition of SiO2 novel nanoparticles (at a concentration of 30, 60, and 90 mg/L) in the ternary fuel (TF) blend (75% of Diesel+ 15% of Sea Mango Methyl Ester (SMME15) + 10% of iso-Butanol on a volume basis) to determine engine performance, combustion, and emission characteristics of a 1-cylinder, direct injection, liquid-cooled, diesel engine. In addition to this, a stability analysis for the prepared samples was also carried out as per the ASTM standard. From the investigation, it was observed that, when the nanoparticles mixed with ternary fuel (i.e., TFSi60), the brake thermal efficiency (BTE), In-cylinder pressure (ICP), and net heat release rate (NHRR) were improved by about 10.09, 17.4, and 10.73 % respectively. Whereas the brake-specific fuel consumption (BSFC) (19.13%) and hazardous pollutants like carbon monoxide (CO) (20.06%), unburnt hydrocarbons (UHC) (13.9%), nitrogen oxides (NOx) (11.3%), and smoke (11.2%) were significantly decreased. From the above observations, it is concluded that using a ternary fuel blend with nano additives improves engine performance and combustion while lowering toxic emissions.