Exhaust Emissions Reduction from Neat Biodiesel Operated Diesel Engine Using Catalyst Coated Piston and Antioxidant Additive

The limited work has been done so far using neat biodiesel in the diesel engine since it drastically reduces the brake thermal efficiency and emitting higher amount of oxides of nitrogen. Hence in the present investigation an attempt has been made to use neat biodiesels in DI diesel engine on par with diesel fuel with some alternate methods that have to be incorporated to improve the efficiency and to reduce oxides of nitrogen emission. The biodiesels used for the present investigation are nerium, mahua and calophyllum. The top of the piston is coated with ZrO₂ catalyst in order to improve the performance of the engine. Further, 200 mg of L-ascorbic acid antioxidant additive is added to the neat biodiesels to improve the oxidation stability and to reduce the oxides of nitrogen emission. Experiments were conducted in a single cylinder four stroke diesel engine to find the performance and emission characteristics. From the experimental investigations, it has been found that among the three biodiesels performance and emission behavior of the nerium biodiesel is superior when compared to that of the other biodiesels. The ZrO₂ coating on the piston has improved the performance and oxides of nitrogen emission. The addition of antioxidants have reduced the oxides of nitrogen emission from the biodiesels.