International Journal of Ambient Energy

ISSN: 0143-0750 (Print) 2162-8246 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/taen20

Effect of TiO2 and nozzle geometry on diesel

emissions fuelled with biodiesel blends

P. Gunasekar, S. Manigandan, N. Ilangovan, S. Nithya, J. Devipriya & W. S. R.

Saravanan

To cite this article: P. Gunasekar, S. Manigandan, N. Ilangovan, S. Nithya, J. Devipriya & W. S.

R. Saravanan (2017): Effect of TiO2 and nozzle geometry on diesel emissions fuelled with biodiesel
blends, International Journal of Ambient Energy, DOI: 10.1080/01430750.2017.1410229

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/01430750.2017.1410229

Accepted author version posted online: 01

Dec 2017.
Published online: 13 Dec 2017.

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMBIENT ENERGY, 2017
https://doi.org/10.1080/01430750.2017.1410229

Effect of TiO2 and nozzle geometry on diesel emissions fuelled with biodiesel blends
P. Gunasekara , S. Manigandan a , N. Ilangovanb , S. Nithyaa , J. Devipriyaa and W. S. R. Saravanana
a Department of Aeronautical Engineering, Sathyabama University, Chennai, India; b Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bharath University,
Chennai, India

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

In this present study, the compression ignition engine was designed to run on CIME (Calophyllum ino- Received 7 November 2017
phyllum methyl ester) biodiesel with nanoparticles. The TiO2 nanoparticle is added to the biodiesel in the Accepted 19 November 2017
form of nanofluid at concentration levels of 100 ppm whereas ethanox is added at levels of 100, 200 and KEYWORDS
500 ppm. The nanoparticle and the ethanox are dispersed by the ultrasonication process. The addition of Biofuel; alternative fuel;
nanofluid reduces the particulate emission like nitrogen oxide (NOx ) at 100% load. The efficiency is better diesel engine; emissions
and emission is reduced owing to the influence of explosion of water molecules present in the biodiesel.
We found ethanox to be a superlative nanofluid to reduce the emission of toxic gas at appreciable levels.
We have witnessed a 20% reduction in emission of NOx and 10% reduction of other particulate emission.
In addition, the exit geometry of exhaust is modified from a circular shape to an elliptical one and the
consequence of the geometry is calculated.

1. Introduction
Being a limited resource, petroleum products are decreasing
across the globe and the cost of the petroleum products is
steadily increasing. Hence, finding a suitable alternative is very
important. Many researches are carried out to find a suit-
able alternate for fossil fuels. Several findings concluded that
biodiesel is the best alternate to fossil fuels since they are
environmental-friendly and due to their availability. However,
first-time users fear to use biodiesel instead of diesel due to the
emission characteristics. Early studies concluded that biodiesel
emits high toxic gases compared to diesel. Several researches
are reported using Calophyllum inophyllum methyl ester (CIME)
biodiesel for piston engine application. Rahman et al. (2015)
studied the CIME B5, B10, B20 blends at different speed condi-
tions. They reported that the brake power and the brake effi-
ciency are lower for all tested fuels compared to diesel. In addi-
tion, they noticed that the emission of CO (carbon monoxide)
and HC (hydrocarbon) is lower. Furthermore, they also observed
that the emission of nitrogen oxide (NOx ) is higher than diesel.
Atmanli (2016) studied the effects of combustion fuelled with
biodiesel. They studied the effects of piston geometries using
biodiesel blend. They tested blend B20 for emissions such as
CO, HC and NOx . They noticed B20 reports better combustion
and emissions than diesel with a modified piston. Ahmad et al.
(2014) and Choi and Jiang (2015) investigated the cetane num-
ber of B10 blends, which is higher than all blends and the diesel
fuel contributes to a shorter delay ignition period and gives a
higher combustion efficiency to produce a lower HC emission.
Also, they reported that the percentage of oxygen content in
biodiesel is the main cause to reduce HC emission. Canakci et al.
(2009) studied the effect of biodiesel, found that biodiesel pro-
duces 20% higher HC compared to other fuels. They found that
the main properties for achieving lower emission are density
and viscosity (Campos-Fernandez et al. 2013). As the value of
the density varies, they have a higher influence on HC emis-
sions. High viscosity and density lead to a higher fuel droplet
size. Demirbas (2016) found that increased unburned fuel in
the engine emits HC emissions and other particulate emissions.
There are few notable works done on nanoparticles to reduce
the emission of the biodiesel fuel on the diesel engine (Gonca
and Dobrucali 2016; Tsai et al. 2007; Wang et al. 2015).
2. Fuel preparation
The vegetable oil is extracted from the seeds of the Calophyllum
inophyllum plant by the transesterification process. The seeds
are processed and converted as fuel to power the compression
ignition (CI) engine. During the transesterification process, the
glycerine content and the impurities are removed from the oil.
The triglyceride is converted to alkyl ester by the acid-catalysed
esterification and alkali-catalysed esterification processes. Dur-
ing the acid process, the CI oil is mixed with methanol at a molar
ratio of 12:1. In addition, 2% of sulphuric acid is added to obtain
a clear solution. The solution is heated up to 65°C for 30 min.
During the heating process, the acid content present in the oil
is reduced to 3–4 mg KOH/g oil. After the above process, the oil
undergoes an alkali-catalysed esterification process to remove
the fatty acid content in the vegetable oil. The oil is mixed with
methanol at 7:1 ratio and it is heated up to 65°C and allowed to
cool. The solution is kept intact for 20 h. After 20 h, the glycerine
present in the oil settles down in the bottom of the bud vase. The
oil is filtered after two stages. The trace of the methanol present
in the oil is removed and it is washed with distilled water. The oil
is heated above 80°C to get a final yield.

CONTACT S. Manigandan manisek87@gmail.com

© 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

2 P. GUNASEKAR ET AL.

Table 1. Diesel engine specification/test condition.

Parameter Specification
Engine model Simpson 217
Type/configuration Vertical, inline, four-stroke diesel engine
Cylinder Multi 2
Cooling Water
Ignition Compression
Compression ratio 18.5:1
Displacement volume 1670 cc
Injection timing 23° CA bTDC
Injection pressure 200 bar
Fuel pump MICO Bosch Inline Pump
Combustion system Direct injection
Eddy current dynamometer SCHENCK & E 50
Dynamometer power Maximum Power 75 kW @6000 rpm
Test conditions Speed from 700 to 1500 RPM/50% and 80% of
the engine full load

3. Preparation of nanoparticle
The titanium dioxide nanoparticle is nonsoluble in biodiesel. The
nanoparticle is converted into nanofluid by the ultrasonication
process. TiO2 is dispersed in distilled water at the concentration
levels of 100 ppm by ultrasonication of the liquid at 70 kHz. The
5% of nanofluid and CIME are mixed using a mechanical stirrer at
1500 rpm to form emulsified fuel. The 2% of span 80 is added to
the biodiesel to increase the hydrophilic lipophilic balance. The
antioxidant ethanox is blended with neat biodiesel as per the
ASTM standard. The ethanox prepared at concentration levels of
500 ppm is mixed with pure CIME fuel. The samples are stirred for
45 min using a mechanical stirrer at room temperature.
4. Engine test set-up
Figure 1. Emission of HC for tested fuel samples.
5. Hydrocarbon emission
The HC emission of diesel and other tested fuels is given in
Figure 1. From the figure, it can be noted that the emission of
HC is inferior during lower engine speed. As the engine load
is augmented, the HC content increases. From the figure it is
apparent that the emission of CIMET-E300 produces less HC than
other tested fuels. CIME fuel produces lower emission due to the
viscosity and density of the fuel. The emission of CIMET-E300
produces nearly 35% less HC content which is agreeable. Simi-
lar to the CIMET-E300, the other tested fuel produces lesser HC
content except CIME.

A four-stoke water-cooled CI engine is used to calculate the

combustion and emission characteristics of CIME biodiesel. The
specifications are mentioned in Tables 1 and 2. The fuel is tested
at different speeds and engine loads. The engine load is varied
by means of a dynamometer. The eddy current dynamometer
is connected to the closed-loop controller. The fuel consump-
tion monitoring system is placed to measure the intake of fuel.
Similarly, air consumption is also monitored. The exit of the
exhaust nozzle is changed from a circular to elliptical one, since
an elliptical jet has better mixing efficiency than a circular jet.
The emission of exhaust gases such as HC, CO and NOx is mea-
sured using the AVL gas analyser. EGT (exhaust gas temperature)
is measured using a thermocouple. The values such as cylinder
pressure, crank angle and piston position are obtained using a
data acquisition system. The exhaust pipe is made of Kevlar fibre
and a thin-walled metallic inner layer. Kevlar fibre is used for its
high strength and low weight. The geometry of the exhaust pipe
nozzle is modified based on the literature (Gunasekar et al. 2016;
Manigandan et al. 2016).
6. Carbon monoxide
The CO emission of diesel and other tested fuels is reported in
Figure 2. The emission of CO is lower when the engine speed
is minimum. From the figure it is obvious that the emission
of CIMET-E300 produces less amount of CO. The value of CO
is higher in CIME neat biodiesel. When the load is raised, the
CO content increases. CIMET-E300 produces 10–15% less lower
emission of CO which is extensive. Analogous to CIMET-E300,
other fuels also produce satisfactory value of CO except CIME.
7. Oxides of nitrogen
The NOx emission of diesel and other tested fuels is shown in
Figure 3. As seen from Figure 3, the emission of NOx is lower
when the engine speed is low. As the engine load is increased,
the NOx content increases. From the figure it is evident that the
emission of CIMET-E300 produces less NOx and the higher NOx is

Table 2. Properties of diesel, vegetable oils and their biodiesel fuels.

Test properties Test method Diesel CIME CIMET-100 CIMET-E100 CIMET-E200 CIMET-E300
Density (kg/m3 ) ASTMD4052 815 870 872 902 904 910
Viscosity (mm2 /s) ASTMD4052 3.1 5.1 4.7 4.6 4.8 5
Cetane number ASTMD613 45 52 56 58 59 60
Calorific value (MJ/kg) ASTMD4052 43 38 38 39 39.2 39.25

Figure 2. Emission of CO for tested fuel samples.
Figure 3. Emission of NOx for tested fuel samples.
witnessed in CIME neat biodiesel. CIME performs poorly in emis-
sion due to the viscosity and injection timings. The emission
of CIMET-E300 produces nearly 20% less NOx content which is
appreciable. Similar to CIMET-E300, other fuels also produce less
NOx content except CIME.
8. Smoke
The smoke emission of diesel engines is a major concern for all
first-time users. The diesel and other tested fuels are analysed
using a gas analyser and variations are represented in Figure 4.
The emission of soot is lower when the engine is running at an
ideal speed or low speed. As the engine load is higher, the emis-
sion of the smoke is high. From the figure it can be seen that the
emission of CIMET-E300 has less smoke not in the high level but
only marginally. The main reason for the development of smoke
opacity is incomplete burning of particulate gases in the diesel
and other tested fuels. The presence of oxygen content is also
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMBIENT ENERGY 3
Figure 4. Variation of smoke intensity to load.
Figure 5. Effect of HC emission on exit geometry.
one of the vital reason in reducing the smoke emissions. Over-
all, biodiesel diesel blend CIMET-E300 has a lower soot formation
and reduced smoke opacity.
9. Effect of exit geometry
The first contact point of exhaust after combustion is the exhaust
pipe. These are usually made of heavy cast manifolds. The
exhaust pipe intakes high toxic gases such as CO, HC and NOx
and emits less toxic content using catalytic converters to the
atmosphere. This paper investigates how the exit geometry of
the exhaust pipe modifies the performance. As the diameter of
the exhaust pipe increases, the exhaust gas passes without any
restriction. Here, the circular outlet was modified to an ellipti-
cal outlet. From Figures 5–8, it can be noted that the ellipti-
cal exit performs superior compared to the circular outlet. The
elliptical jet produces 4% less emission than the circular exit.
Many notable studies proved that the elliptical nozzle provides
a higher performance than the circular nozzle (Manigandan and
Vijayaraja 2017a, 2017b, 2017c). The exhaust pipe is made of
the composite pipe compromising three distinct layers of Kevlar
4 P. GUNASEKAR ET AL.

fibre and a thin-walled metallic inner layer. Introduction of the

composite will reduce the noise and the weight of the system is
reduced. Kevlar is used as the lamina since it has a high strength
to weight ratio (Manigandan 2015a, 2015b; Gunasekar et al.
2017).

10. Conclusion
CIME is chosen as the biodiesel. The transesterification process is
used to extract the oil from the CIME. Diesel and other biodiesel
were tested in multicylinder water-cooled engines. The biodiesel
is tested for all types of loads in the direct engine injection sys-
tem to evaluate the emission characteristics of all tested fuels.
The blend of TiO2 and ethanox gives the most excellent com-
bustion performance and reduced exhaust emissions compared
to diesel fuel. The emission of the CO, HC, NOx and smoke is
reduced due to the enhanced combustion process. The oxy-
Figure 6. Emission of CO on exit geometry.
gen content present in the nanoparticles reduces the amount
of unburned exhaust gas. To be particular, we concluded that
CIMET-E300 biodiesel can be used as an effective alternative
fuel in diesel engines with 20% reduced emission than diesel.
Furthermore, we also studied the effect of exit geometry and
noticed that modifying the exhaust geometry reduces the emis-
sion by up to 4%.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID
S. Manigandan http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2039-3393

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