Abstracto

Development of Stable Cerium Zirconium Mixed Oxide Nanoparticle Additive for Emission Reduction in Biodiesel Blends

Sajith V, Mohamed Jihad PM

Harmful emissions associated with the use of biodiesel is a serious issue and various fuel additives are being used for the reduction of emissions as well as for the improvement of engine performance. Use of cerium oxide nanoparticles as fuel additive is one of the methods for the reduction of emissions, due to its peculiar redox functionality and oxygen buffering capability. Doping of ceria with transition metals such as zirconium improves its Oxygen storage capacity and thermal stability, thereby enhancing simultaneous oxidation and reduction reactions. The present work focuses on the development of cerium zirconium mixed oxide nanoparticle based additive for the reduction of emissions from diesel engine fuelled with biodiesel - diesel blends. Cerium zirconium mixed oxide was synthesized by means of co precipitation method. The stability of the nanofluids was improved by the addition of surfactant, namely Oleic acid. The optimum concentration of surfactant was determined based on estimation of critical micelle concentration, by means of standard tests. Stability of catalytic nanoparticle in fuel was evaluated from the measurement of Zeta potential. Various properties were determined as per ASTM standards to investigate the effect of the nanoparticles on fuel properties. Addition of catalytic nanoparticle in diesel - biodiesel blends does not significantly affect the fuel properties. Engine performance and emission tests were conducted on single cylinder diesel engine to assess the potential of synthesized nanofuel and 15% average reduction of NO emissions was observed for B5 and B10 blends with 15 ppm of catalytic nanoparticle concentration.