Performance, combustion, and emission characteristics of a diesel engine fueled with Jatropha methyl ester and graphene oxide additives

The present experimental study aims at investigating the impact of adding graphene oxide nanoparticles (GO) to neat Jatropha Methyl Ester (JME) on a single cylinder air cooled direct injection four stroke diesel engine. The nano-fuels have been prepared from 25, 50, 75 and 100 mg/l concentrations of graphene oxide with neat Jatropha biodiesel through ultrasonication process. The graphene oxide nanoparticles crystallite size, morphology, and the chemical structures were examined using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), respectively. The compression ignition engine characteristics were investigated by the four JME-GO blends, and their results were compared with neat JME under various engine loads at a constant engine speed of 2000 rpm. The results indicate that the diesel engine operated by JME-GO nano-fuels enhanced the brake thermal efficiency by 17% compared to neat JME fuel. Furthermore, the peak cylinder pressure, the highest rate of pressure rise, and maximum heat release rate were also increased by 8%, 6%, and 6%, respectively. The CO and UHC emissions were decreased significantly by 60% and 50%, respectively, for JME-GO blends compared to pure JME fuel. At high engine load, the NOx emission was reduced by 15% for JME-GO blends compared to pure Jatropha biodiesel. The results also illustrated that the concentration of 50 mg/L had the optimum improvement in the overall characteristics of engine performance and emissions.