Rice husk as nanoadditive in diesel–biodiesel fuel blends used in diesel engine

The fossil fuels are gradually reducing due to the increase in energy users and prices. In India the biodiesel is one of the best available renewable energy sources to satisfy the energy demand and environmentally friendly nature. In the present work, non-edible feedstock of pongamia pinnata seed oil is used for biodiesel production. The biodiesel was prepared by transesterification method with methanol in the existence of KOH as catalyst, and in addition of rice husk (RH) nano-organic additive is used in biodiesel production. The RH nanoparticles are characterized by using scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction and the CHNS elemental analysis. TEM results confirm that the RH nanoparticle has size of around 20 nm. The pure diesel, 20% biodiesel 80% diesel and 20% biodiesel 80% diesel with 0.1% RH nanoparticles are used as fuels in the diesel engine. The performance and emission characteristics of the IC engine are studied. The results showed that the RH nanoparticles added with pongamia seed oil methyl ester improve the brake thermal efficiency, reduced CO, HC emissions and lowered the NO x emissions.