Author : Narinder Singh and R S Bharj

CNT-emulsified fuel is used in a single cylinder water cooled four stroke diesel engine. CNT: Carbon nano tubes are produced by indigenous flame synthesis method. Water diesel emulsion prepared in the proportion of 83% diesel, 15% water and 2% surfactant is used. Tween 80 and Span 80 are used as surfactants with a HLB balance of 8. CNT in the mass fraction of 50ppm, 100ppm and 150ppm are blended in the water diesel emulsion. CNT are dispersed in the water for 35 minutes with the help of ultrasonicator set at frequency of 40 kHz and ultrasonic power of 120 W. Dispersed CNT are subsequently added in mixture of diesel and surfactant to produce CNT blended water diesel emulsion. A mechanical homogeniser is used to produce emulsion at the speed of 3000 rpm for 25 minutes. The experiment is conducted on a single cylinder diesel engine coupled with eddy current dynamometer and equipped with data acquisition system. Exhaust emissions are measured by AVL Di-gas analyser and AVL smoke opacity meter. Experiment is carried out at a constant speed of 1500 rpm from no load to full load for all fuel specimens. Effect of CNT-emulsified fuel on the characteristics such as rate of pressure rise, net heat release in the cylinder , brake specific fuel consumption ,brake thermal efficiency, and emissions i.e. NOx, CO, HC, CO2 are analyzed. The results have shown significant improvement in the engine performance, combustions attributes and reduction in emissions using CNT-emulsified fuel.

Keywords: Diesel engine, Carbon nano tubes, Water-diesel emulsion, Performance, emission

Article published in International Journal of Current Engineering and Technology, Vol.5, No.1 (Feb-2015)