Jeya Jeevahan

Various strategies for reducing Nox emissions of biodiesel fuel used in conventional diesel engines: A review

ABSTRACT Energy demand, decreasing fossil fuel reserves, and health-related issues about pollutants have led researchers to search for renewable alternative fuels to either partially or fully replace fossil fuels. Among many alternative fuels, biodiesel became one of the most popular choices due to similar properties to that of conventional diesel. Biodiesel produces slightly lower brake thermal efficiency compared to that of conventional biodiesel, but has an advantage of reduced emissions of CO2, CO, HC, and smoke. However, biodiesel shows higher NOx emission which, when used in increased biodiesel market, may become a serious problem. Various strategies were attempted by different researcher to reduce NOx emissions. In this paper, various strategies, adapted for reducing NOx emissions of biodiesel fuel used in diesel engines for automobile applications, are reviewed and discussed. The strategies are grouped into three major groups, namely combustion treatments, exhaust after-treatments, and fuel treatments. Among various strategies discussed, fuel treatments, such as low temperature combustion, mixing fuel additives and reformulating fuel composition, reduce NOx emission without compromising other emission and performance characteristics and they seem to be promising for future biodiesel fuel.

Enhancement of uniform temperature distribution during casting solidification by methoding process

ABSTRACT The main purpose of this study was to adapt proper methoding models to improve the cast ability and reduce the defects in casting. According to many researchers, 90% of the defects in casting are due to the wrong design of gating and riser systems and 10% due to casting defects. Here we are improving the runner and riser placement through methoding process. In the present work, to validate the advantages of methoding, we have selected casting model with and without methoding, temperature distribution over various positions have been analysed and it is found that casting model with methoding provides uniform temperature distribution.

Effect of the addition of 1-pentanol on engine performance and emission characteristics of diesel and biodiesel fuelled single cylinder diesel engine

ABSTRACT Bioalcohols have recently become one of the promising alternate fuels. Lower alcohols exhibit some problems like phase separation, stability issues, storage problems, corrosion etc. Hence, the addition of higher alcohols is regarded least-problematic and the concept of using higher alcohols as fuel blends is relatively new. In this article, the effects of the addition of higher alcohol (1-pentanol) on engine performance and emission characteristics are discussed. Two reference fuels (diesel and biodiesel derived from waste cooking oil) and two test fuels (blends of 20% of 1-pentanol and 80% of either diesel or biodiesel) are tested in a single cylinder compression ignition diesel engine for six load conditions (0, 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20 kg) at a constant speed of 1200 rpm. The engine performance and emission characteristics are determined and discussed.

Surface roughness and corrosion characterisation of multi-walled carbon-nanotube-reinforced zirconium composite coated over SS316L

ABSTRACT Zirconium is the excellent material used for corrosion resistance and wear resistance properties. In this paper, the deposition of multi-walled carbon nanotubes reinforced with zirconium oxy-chloride composite over SS316L by spin coating method has been discussed. The coated samples were taken for surface roughness, micro hardness and corrosion resistance examinations. It has been observed that coated samples exhibit more surface roughness and hardness values when compared to uncoated samples. Surprisingly, the corrosion behaviour of the coated sample has less resistance to the corrosion than uncoated sample in simulated body fluid solution of electrochemical test. The surface morphology characters of the samples were examined by scanning electron microscope and atomic force microscope.

Optimisation of process parameters for electroless nickel plating on SS316L for refrigeration systems

ABSTRACT Nowadays, refrigeration systems are important for industrial and domestic applications. The coefficient of performance of a vapour compression refrigeration system can be improved if a reduction in the work of compression can be achieved by a suitable technique for a specified heat removal rate. The present study investigates the effect of material coating of electroless nickel (EN) plating. The friction and wear experiments were performed using a four-ball machine tribo tester. Controlling the EN plating parameters plays an important role in the quality of coating. It depends on the wear scar rate of the coated material. So it is necessary to optimise the process parameters of EN plating. The experimental studies have been conducted under varying pressure, load and time on quality characteristics. In this paper, optimisation of process parameters using response surface methodology technique for EN plating was discussed.

Effect of Intake Air Oxygen Enrichment for Improving Engine Performance and Emissions Control in Diesel Engine

ABSTRACT Stringent emission regulations and health awareness about air pollution have led researchers to find alternative means of minimising emissions in diesel engines. In this article, the influence of oxygen enrichment is discussed to determine the effect on diesel engine performance, emission characteristics and combustion characteristics. Normal diesel and oxygen-enriched diesel are used in this experiment. The increase in oxygen concentration led to complete combustion, producing higher thermal efficiency and low harmful emissions. From the results, it is noted that oxygen-enriched diesel fuel showed reduction of CO, HC and smoke emissions, while NOx emission increased. Abbreviations/Nomenclature DI: direct injection; NOx: oxides of nitrogen; O2: oxygen; HC: hydrocarbon; PM: particulate matters; CO: carbon monoxide; CO2: carbon dioxide

Comparative study of performance of the DI diesel engine using custard apple biodiesel

ABSTRACT Rising prices, depletion of fossil fuels and insufficient supply have created great interest on alternative sources of energy and fuels, for example biodiesel. Vegetable oils have been investigated as potential source for biodiesel, but they bring burden on food supply. Biodiesels obtained from non-edible sources are getting much interest now-a-days. This article deals with performance and emission study of biodiesel extracted from custard apple seeds that is non-edible. The custard apple biodiesel is obtained through the tranesterification process and different blends (B10, B20, B30 and B40) are prepared by mixing them with the conventional diesel fuel. The experiments are conducted on a four-stroke DI diesel engine at a compression ratio of 17.5, and performance and emission characteristics are evaluated. The study revealed that custard apple biodiesel has the potential to be used as an alternative source without any modifications in the engine.

Waste into Energy Conversion technologies and conversion of food wastes into the potential products: a review

One third of the food produced globally for human consumption is either lost or wasted every year. These food wastes, if not handled with care, lead to public health problems and environmental poll...

Influence of Diethyl Ether on Engine Performance and Emissions Characteristics of Blends of Butanol, Pentanol or Biodiesel (Neem Oil Methyl Ester) in a Single Cylinder Diesel Engine

ABSTRACTBiodiesel has become a promising alternative biofuel that exhibits problems like high cost of feedstock, poor atomisation due to high viscosity, stability issues, poor flow properties and h...

Comparative investigation of the effects of lower and higher alcohols/bio-diesel blends on engine performance and emissions characteristics of a diesel engine

ABSTRACT The use of lower alcohol (such as methanol and ethanol) blends in diesel engines shows problems like phase separation, miscibility, higher NOx emissions etc. The addition of higher alcohols with either diesel or biodiesel is relatively new and only a little information is available on the effects of higher alcohols. In this work, the engine performance and emissions characteristics were compared between the lower and higher alcohol blended with biodiesel. Conventional diesel and biodiesel are considered as the reference fuels. Three lower alcohols (methanol, ethanol and propanol) and three higher alcohols (butanol, pentanol and octanol) of each 50% by volume were mixed with biodiesel of 50% by volume. Experiments were conducted on a single cylinder compression ignition diesel engine by varying the load conditions at a constant speed. Engine performance and emissions of CO, CO2, NOx and HC were determined. The results are discussed.