The influence of TiO2 nanoparticles on the performance, combustion, and emissions on ternary blends of n-heptane, mahua biodiesel and diesel-fuelled engine using response surface methodology

Abstract

The purpose of this work was to evaluate the performance of diesel engines using ternary blends of n-heptane, biodiesel, and diesel using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The current study is an optimisation of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles (NPs) on the various load conditions (25 %–100 %) in Diesel engines such as TiO2: 0–75 ppm; ternary blends (n-heptane: 0–10 % v/v; biodiesel: 0–30 % v/v; and diesel) in various load conditions. Results revealed that optimized values at a load of 76.8 %, NPs concentration of 57.6 ppm, biodiesel content of 25.6 % v/v, and n-heptane content of 9.5 % v/v serve to achieve the performance. The engine's optimized parameters comprise a 77.54 bar cylinder pressure (CP), 64.65 kJ of heat release rate (HRR), 35.12 % brake thermal efficiency (BTE), 0.2265 (Kg/kw-hr) brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC), 0.0647 % volume of carbon monoxide (CO), 52.11 ppm of hydrocarbons (HC), 816.04 ppm oxides of nitrogen (NOx), and 37.34 % smoke. Validation of the optimized parameters is conducted through actual engine experimental trials with errors falling within permissible limits of less than 5 %. The results suggest that ternary blends will serve as a feasible alternative for diesel engines. Actual engine experimental trials are used to validate the optimal conditions and errors are within allowed limits of less than 5 %. These findings indicated that viable alternatives for diesel engines will be ternary blends.

Keywords

• Mahua biodiesel
• n-heptane
• Ternary blends
• Fuel properties
• RSM optimisation of engine parameters
• Performance