ABSTRACT
Dwindling of fossil fuels and the global climate change has prompted civilization to look into alternate energy sources. This has led to explore inexhaustible and sustainable resources in the domain of renewable energy. Among all sources renewable energy, biofuel produced from biomass has great prospect for energy security as well as environmental safety over fossil fuels. The present work tries to explore the performance attributes and emission characteristics of a CI engine utilizing spirulina microalgae biodiesel blend comprising of 20% algae biodiesel blended with 80% diesel. This blend is tested in a diesel engine at varying engine load conditions of 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100% at variable injection timing of 20°, 23°, 25°, and 28° bTDC, respectively at compression ratio of 18. Based on experimental results, the peak brake thermal efficiency for injection timing of 20°, 23°, 25°, and 28° bTDC at 100% engine load were observed to be 26.79%, 23.77%, 24.77%, and 25.09%, respectively for the biodiesel blend in comparison to 27.76% of diesel mode whereas the emissions levels were found to minimum at 20° bTDC. On the part of emission, the average drop in CO emissions for injection timing of 20°, 23°, 25°, and 28° bTDC were found to be 53.46%, 43.71%, 44.34%, and 50.31%, respectively for biodiesel blend as compared to diesel mode. For the same setting, in comparison diesel mode, the average fall in HC emissions were found to be 42.32%, 34.13%, 30.37%, and 37.54%, respectively, and the rise of NOx emissions were found to be 8.06%, 5.55%, 3.51%, and 3.04%, respectively. Response surface methodology was applied for optimization of operating parameters of the algae biodiesel blend run diesel engine. The desirability based study revealed that at 85.19% engine load and injection timing of 20° bTDC were optimal operation settings which resulted in engine performance of 25.44% brake thermal efficiency. The emission level at this setting was observed to be reduced to 27.68 ppm CO, 1.60% CO2, 24.65 ppm HC, and 182.15 ppm NOx.
ABSTRACT
Biodiesel has long been recognized as a viable alternative energy source. In order to enhance the quality, and performance of biodiesel-diesel fuel blends while reducing air pollution from combustion, additives must be employed. The present research aims to focus on the addition of SiO2 novel nanoparticles (at a concentration of 30, 60, and 90 mg/L) in the ternary fuel (TF) blend (75% of Diesel+ 15% of Sea Mango Methyl Ester (SMME15) + 10% of iso-Butanol on a volume basis) to determine engine performance, combustion, and emission characteristics of a 1-cylinder, direct injection, liquid-cooled, diesel engine. In addition to this, a stability analysis for the prepared samples was also carried out as per the ASTM standard. From the investigation, it was observed that, when the nanoparticles mixed with ternary fuel (i.e., TFSi60), the brake thermal efficiency (BTE), In-cylinder pressure (ICP), and net heat release rate (NHRR) were improved by about 10.09, 17.4, and 10.73 % respectively. Whereas the brake-specific fuel consumption (BSFC) (19.13%) and hazardous pollutants like carbon monoxide (CO) (20.06%), unburnt hydrocarbons (UHC) (13.9%), nitrogen oxides (NOx) (11.3%), and smoke (11.2%) were significantly decreased. From the above observations, it is concluded that using a ternary fuel blend with nano additives improves engine performance and combustion while lowering toxic emissions.
ABSTRACT
The present investigation focuses on the fabrication of Copper-High Entropy Alloy (HEA) surface Metal Matrix Composite (MMC) using the solid-state Friction Stir Process (FSP) and the characterization of wear characteristics. Higher hardness values at the level of 770HV were the cornerstone in its selection, in addition to identifying several appropriate considerations for combining the AlCoCrCuFe HEA in Cu-HEA surface MMCs. Because of the combination of FSP and HEA, the produced composite had a fine microstructure and increased hardness. The wear test is carried out using pin-on-disc equipment for all conceivable parameter combinations to thoroughly analyze wear qualities, with velocity, load, as well as sliding distance chosen as input parameters. The wear rate decreases dramatically with HEA additions and rises with sliding velocity, load, and sliding distance. The impact of HEA addition on the Coefficient of Friction (CoF) during a dry sliding wear test is opposed to its influence on wear rate. The wear parameters such as load, sliding speed, and sliding distance possess a positive correlation with the wear rate and a negative correlation with a coefficient of friction. The applied load has a severe effect on wear rate and CoF when compared to other wear parameters considered. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) micrographs of the worn surface were utilized to analyze the wear process, which clearly showed that the copper's wear resistance improved with the addition of HEA.
ABSTRACT
A solar water heater has been developed to convert solar radiation into heat for use in residential and commercial settings. The collector makes up the bulk of a solar water heating system. The solar energy is captured by the collector and transferred to the tube that delivers the working fluid, water. In addition to the collector's tube, which carries the working fluid, researchers have focused on the design of the collector's tube. This paper examines the performance of a parabolic plate solar water heater that uses a copper dimpled tube with aluminum-coated tube channels. During the test, the flow rate of base fluid was in the range of 1.0 to 3.0 kg/min in steps of 0.5. The performance of the solar water heater was also evaluated and verified using CFD. The test data such as friction factor, Reynolds number, uncertainty analysis, Nusselt number, solar collector efficiency, coefficient of convective heat transfer, linear dimpled tube velocity analysis, achieving maximum energy efficiency and thermal efficiency have been used to generate parametric values for parabolic plate solar water heaters. The results suggest that the best outcomes can be achieved with a mass flow rate of 2.5 kg/min and the overall thermal efficiency was raised to 31.85%, which is 11% greater than that of the plain tube with base fluid. At mass flow rates of 2.5 kg/min, the pressure drop was found to be 6.24% higher than that of 3.0 kg/min. The experimental results were analyzed and compared with the CFD results, and the overall deviation was ± 3.24% which is in the acceptable range.
