Performance, emissions and carbon deposit characteristics of diesel engine operating on emulsion fuel

Little is known about the effects of using emulsion fuel for extended operation hours. Emulsion fuels comprise of water, low grade diesel fuel (D2) and surfactant in the ratio of 10:89:1 v/v% (E10) and 20:79:1 v/v% (E20). The characteristics of carbon deposits from an engine after a run of 200 h were examined. The carbon deposit analysis performed were macroscopic/microscopic photographs, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), metal element analysis (MEA) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR). Increasing water in emulsion fuel decreased particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides (NO x ) altogether. TGA results observed that carbon deposit of E10 engine differed from E20 and D2 engines in terms of its characteristics, which includes darker colour of carbon deposit and the higher volatile content, while the MEA results observed that the elemental metal concentration in the carbon deposit was reduced with increasing water content. The intensity of the spectrum from C–H group for the carbon deposit E10 engine was higher compared to carbon deposit D2 and E20 engine respectively due to a complete combustion. Therefore, it was observed that 10% or less water content delivered better fuel consumption, emissions, and carbon deposit

Performance, emissions and lubricant oil analysis of diesel engine running on emulsion fuel

Emulsion fuel is one of the alternative fuels for diesel engines which are well-known for simultaneous reduction of Particulate Matter (PM) and Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) emissions. However lack of studies have been conducted to investigate the effect of emulsion fuel usage for long run. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effect of lubricant oil in diesel engine that operated using emulsion fuels for 200 h in comparison with Malaysian conventional diesel fuel (D2). Two emulsion fuels were used in the experiment comprising of water, low grade diesel fuel and surfactant; with ratio of 10:89:1 v/v% (E10) and 20:79:1 v/v% (E20). Engine tests were focused on fuel consumption, NOx, PM, Carbon Monoxide (CO), Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Oxygen (O2) and exhaust temperature. Parameters for the lubricant oil analysis measured were included kinematic viscosity, Total Acid Number (TAN), ash, water content, flash point, soot, wear metals and additive elements. The findings showed the fuel consumption were up to 33.33% (including water) and lower 9.57% (without water) using emulsion. The NOx and PM were reduced by 51% and 14% respectively by using emulsion fuel. Kinematic viscosity, TAN, ash, water content, flash point and soot for emulsion fuel were observed to be better or no changes in comparison to D2. The emulsion fuel did not cause any excessive amount of metals or degraded the additive. The average percentage of wear debris concentration reduction by emulsion fuel were 8.2%, 9.1%, 16.3% and 21.0% for Iron (Fe) Aluminum (Al), Copper (Cu) and Lead (Pb) as compared to D2 respectively