| Thermal Efficiency Boost in Diesel Engines Using Cerium Oxide Nano-additives in Rapeseed and Diesel Fuels and Taguchi Optimization |
| Mehmet Çelik1, Mina Mehregan2, Cihan Bayindirli3, Mohammad Moghiman2 |
1Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Karabük University, Karabük, Turkey 2Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran 3Nigde Vocational School of Technical Sciences, Nigde Omer Halisdemir University, Nigde, Turkey |
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Received: January 8, 2025; Revised: February 21, 2025 Accepted: March 4, 2025. Published online: April 29, 2025. |
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| ABSTRACT |
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The current study aims to analyze how dispersing cerium oxide nanoadditives in diesel and rapeseed biodiesel affects a diesel engine’s performance and exhaust emissions. Two different concentrations of cerium oxide nanoparticles, namely 50 and 75 ppm, were added to rapeseed and diesel. According to the findings, the addition of cerium oxide nanoparticles to diesel and rapeseed fuels led to a decrease in brake-specific fuel consumption and an improvement in brake thermal efficiency. Moreover, the results demonstrate that while the emission of NOx increased, CO and smoke emissions were significantly reduced. When 75 ppm cerium oxide was added to rapeseed, the result was the reduction of brake-specific fuel consumption, and CO and smoke emissions by 5.2%, 21.8%, and 35.5%, respectively, while brake thermal efficiency and emissions of NOx increased by 4.8% and 11.7%, respectively, at engine load of 30 Nm. At the same condition, the results for diesel fuel were the reduction of brake-specific fuel consumption, and CO and smoke emissions by 7.4%, 11%, and 16.2%, respectively, and an enhancement of brake thermal efficiency and NOx emission by 5.5% and 11.9%, respectively. Optimization analysis by the Taguchi method reveals that the optimum performance of the engine is achieved using diesel containing 75 ppm cerium oxide as the fuel under an engine load of 10 Nm. Therefore, with the aid of the Taguchi approach it can be noticed that while rapeseed with cerium oxide nanoadditives exhibit lower emissions, the optimum overall performance belongs to diesel fuel with additives. |
| Key Words:
Rapeseed biodiesel · Cerium oxide nanoparticles · Exhaust emissions · Engine performance · Grey Taguchi method |
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