Performance, combustion, and emission characteristics of a diesel engine fueled by biodiesel-diesel mixtures with multi-walled carbon nanotubes additives

Highlights: • Considerable improvements in the combustion of JB20D50MWCNTs compared to pure JB20D. • p_max, dp/dθ_max and dQg/dθ_max increased by 7%, 4% and 4%, respectively. • Brake specific fuel consumption decreased by 15%. • NO_x, CO, and UHC reduced by 35%, 50%, and 60%, respectively. • Significant enhancement in all engine performance was achieved at a concentration of 40 mg/l. - Abstract: In this work, the effects of adding Multi-Walled Carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) to Jojoba methyl ester-diesel blended fuel (JB20D) on performance, combustion and emissions characteristics of a compression-ignition engine were experimentally investigated. The JB20D with 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 mg/l of MWCNTs were examined at different engine loads and speeds. Compared to pure diesel, the use of JB20D without MWCNTs caused a slight decrease in the engine performance and an increase in the engine emissions at most examined conditions. The MWCNTs–B20D blended fuel attained a maximum increase of 16% in the brake thermal efficiency and a decrease of 15% in the brake specific fuel consumption at the dose level of 50 mg/l compared to JB20D. The MWCNTs-JB20D blended fuel also brought about an enhancement in combustion characteristics where the peak cylinder pressure, the maximum rate of pressure rise and the peak heat release rate were increased by 7%, 4%, and 4%, respectively, at the same dose level. According to the measured emissions, a significant reduction of engine emissions was achieved at the dose level of 20 mg/l, where NO_x, CO, and UHC were reduced by 35%, 50%, and 60%, respectively. According to the obtained results, the recommended concentration of MWCNTs in JB20D was concluded to be 40 mg/l, which could give significant improvements in overall the parameters of engine performance and emissions with a good balance between them.