Combustion performance and emission characteristics of aloevera diesel-emulsified fuel in a DI diesel engine

Nowadays, mankind is very particular about the usage of energy in the most effective manner by keeping the view of less adulterating the atmosphere, which are the key aspects of many scientists all around the world. In this particular study, the aloevera diesel has been chosen as the primary fuel, and studies have been conducted on emission pollutant characteristics by choosing an appropriate diesel engine. Furthermore, stable emulsions have been produced by using aloevera, and the same was mixed with diesel at the ratio of 5% and 10% as the compound. Moreover, span 80 and tween 80 are used as the surfactant with an HLB balance of 9.95. Similarly, the emulsions are prepared with the help of a mechanical stirrer for exact duration of 30 min. In order to carry out the experimental investigation process, a single-cylinder diesel engine was used with a data acquisition system. The entire analyses are carried out with two sets of methods such as no load and full load. The performance and combustion characteristics such as heat release, combustion pressure, thermal efficiency (B5 - 6.303%↑, B10 - 3.789%↑), and specific fuel consumption of the brake (B5 - 4.2%↑, B10 - 5%↑) were measured. Likewise, emission parameters such as CO (B5 - 0.02%↓, B10 - 0.04%↓), HC (B5 - 1 PPM↓, B10 - 5 PPM↓), NO_x (B5 - 20 PPM↓, B10 - 89 PPM↓), and CO₂ (B5 - 0.3%↑, B10 - 0.4%↑) are measured by using AVL Di-gas analyzer. It was noticed that increased peak cylinder pressure and greater heat release rate were on account of a longer ignition delay period. Additionally, an increase in engine performance and the corresponding reduction in exhaust emission have also been observed upon using aloevera-emulsified diesel fuel.