Experimental investigation of the effect of fuel oil, graphene and HHO gas addition to diesel fuel on engine performance and exhaust emissions in a diesel engine

Abstract

Today, research for alternative fuels continues due to the increasing energy demand, exhaust emission restrictions, and depletion of fossil fuels. It is important to use diesel engines for the opening of new oil fields in Turkey and for the utilization of fuel oil to be produced in these oil fields. In this study, pure diesel (D) diesel 60% and fuel oil 40% (DF40) were supplied by volume with an ultrasonic mixer. 50 (DF4050 N) and 100 ppm (DF40100 N) graphene have been added to eliminate fuel oil's adverse combustion effects by keeping the fuel oil constant. In addition, HHO gas was added to improve the combustion even more with a flow rate of 5 (DF4050N5H and DF40100N5H) and 10 (DF4050N10H and DF40100N10H) lt/min into the intake manifold by using the HHO generator. Experiments were carried out at 3000 RPM constant speed at 3.2, 6.4, 7.9, and 12.8 Nm engine torque without any modification on the diesel engine. The effects of these mixtures on combustion performance and exhaust emissions were investigated. Exhaust gas temperature and emissions were measured in the experiments. According to the measurements, thermal efficiency, brake specific energy consumption (BSEC), HC, CO, CO2, particle emission, and NOx emission values are given. Brake specific energy consumption (BSEC), CO, HC, and particle emissions decreased, and thermal efficiency, NOx, CO2, and exhaust gas temperature increased with the engine torque value increased as a result of the experiments. Thermal efficiency and CO2 emission decreased, and BSEC, exhaust gas temperature, HC, CO, NOx, and particulate emissions increased by adding fuel oil to diesel fuel. The thermal efficiency was increased by adding graphene and HHO gas from the intake manifold to DF40 fuel. The thermal efficiency improved, and emissions decreased with the more addition of graphene and HHO gas. Adding HHO gas improved thermal efficiency significantly at the 12.8 Nm engine load. With the addition of graphene and HHO gas to DF40 fuel, the BSEC value was improved at high torque values. The effect of improving thermal efficiency is also understood from the decrease in CO emissions and the increase in CO2 emissions. HC and PM emissions decreased with the addition of graphene and HHO gas. It was observed that NOx and exhaust gas temperature increased with increasing thermal efficiency. © 2023 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC