Performance, combustion and emission analysis of castor oil biodiesel blends enriched with nanoadditives and hydrogen fuel using CI engine

Abstract

An experimental study has been performed to determine the effects of biodiesel blends and hydrogen in the compression ignition engine. The series of test conducted in the water-cooled, single cylinder and constant speed engine at various loading condition. Throughout the entire process, the hydrogen was included at the constant fraction of 25% along with the biodiesel blended castor oil. In addition to the hydrogen and blends, the nanoparticles were added at the concentration of 25 ppm and 50 ppm to ensure higher combustion and reduced emissions. Experimental study revealed addition of the hydrogen increases the combustion performance of the CI engine by reporting superior brake thermal efficiency. Further, the brake specific fuel consumption and the exhaust gas temperature of the test samples were drastically improved due to the presence of hydrogen and oxygen molecules. Increasing the concentration of the nanoparticles effectively enhanced the brake thermal efficiency and reduced the emission of pollutants such as CO, CO2 and HC. Nevertheless, there is a marginal decrease in NOx observed at 75% engine load condition for the castor oil without nanoparticles. On the whole, addition of the hydrogen improved both combustion and emission rate, which is mainly due to the absence of the carbon atoms due to the increase in the hydrogen content in the fuel.