Influence of nano-additive on performance and emission characteristics of a diesel engine running on neat neem oil biodiesel

Abstract

This work investigates the experimental study to examine the operation characteristics of a neat neem oil methyl ester (BD100) along with silver oxide nano-particles as a metal-based additive in various mass fractions. Silver oxide nano-particle is mixed into 100% of BD100 at 5 and 10 ppm. The experimental investigation on diesel engine reveals that the addition of silver oxide nano-particles to BD100 resulted in enhancement of brake thermal efficiency (BTE) with a reduction in brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC). The tested emission parameters such as CO, HC, NOx, and smoke were decreased by 12.22, 10.89, 4.24, and 6.61% for BD100+ Ag₂O (5 ppm) and 16.47, 14.21, 6.66, and 8.34% for BD100 respectively when compared to BD100. Overall, improvement in ignition characteristics of the engine was finer by adding 5 and 10 ppm of silver oxide nano-particle to BD100 on account of the enhanced surface area to volume ratio.