Study on di diesel engine substituted with grooved piston and powered using nano additive biodiesel

Economic and social transformation of people is leading to urbanization of a country. It becomes necessary to have good transportation facilities for a better life of the people in urban areas. Majority of transport vehicles in the transportation sector are equipped with the diesel engines due to their high efficiency. Dependency and utilization of these vehicles is increasing, as such the demand for petroleum products is also on high. On the other side because of high emissions from the diesel engines, strict regulations are laid by the governments to the engine manufactures to reduce emissions and save the environment from the pollution. Researchers are always in the processes of finding a suitable alternate fuel such as biofuels produced from Jatropha oil, Pongamia oil, Rice bran oil, Corn oil, Neem oil etc. Jatropha biodiesel properties are near similar to that of diesel fuel. With or without minor changes in the diesel engine, Jatropha biodiesel can be used as an alternate fuel in existing diesel engine. One of the major drawbacks of Jatropha biodiesel is its flow characteristics, to overcome this problem nano additive (Aluminum oxide) is added to the Jatropha biodiesel to enhance the flow properties of the biodiesel. In the present work, the performance and emissions of diesel engine are investigated with biodiesel 20% by volume (B20) added with the Nano additive in quantities of 50 ppm, 100 ppm and 150 ppm. B20 biodiesel blend with 100 ppm nano additive showed better performance compared to diesel. Performance of the diesel engines depends upon the formation of homogeneous mixture and turbulence inside the combustion chamber. To investigate on this, engine is fitted with piston consisting of grooves that are created on its crown to enhance turbulence of biodiesel fuel in the combustion chamber. Diesel engine showed better performance fitted with rhombus grooved piston (RGP) fuelled with B20 blend biodiesel added with 100 ppm aluminum oxide Nano additive.