Improvement of emissions characteristics and exhaust temperature in single cylinder diesel engine fuelled with algae oil additive

An experimental study has been carried out to evaluate the emission characteristics and exhaust gas temperatures of algae oil additive in diesel blends. Diesel fuel (D100) and fuel blends of algae oil at 1% (A1), 2% (A2), 3% (A3) and 4% (A4) concentration were prepared and put to test on an unmodified single cylinder diesel engine. The test was conducted at a constant engine speed of 1500 rpm with varying engine load (0, 2, 4 and 6Nm). The engine performance of exhaust gas temperature and exhaust emissions of carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO₂), and oxide of nitrogen (NO_x) were measured and analyzed. The results showed that the properties of algae oil additive were comparable to diesel fuel and it was successfully used to run the diesel engine. In terms of exhaust emissions, A4 blends exhibited lowest CO and NO_x emission by about 90.9% and 21% lower compared to pure diesel D100 at engine load of 6Nm, respectively. However, A4 blends also exhibited the highest CO₂ percentage emission which is about 31% more than D100 and exhaust gas temperature of 1.22% higher compared to D100 at 4 Nm engine load. (paper)