Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 59 (2016) 1338–1348

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rser

Effect of nanofluid additives on performances and emissions

of emulsified diesel and biodiesel fueled stationary
CI engine: A comprehensive review
Vivek W. Khond n, V.M. Kriplani 1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, G.H.Raisoni College of Engineering, CRPF Gate No 3, Hingna Road, Nagpur 440016, India

art ic l e i nf o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This research paper reports the results of various researches carried out up to 2015 on the performance
Received 31 December 2014 and emission characteristics of compression ignition (CI) engine using nano particles additives in diesel,
Received in revised form biodiesel and water emulsified fuels. There are two methods of reducing the exhaust gas emission of the
10 January 2016
CI engine. First method is to reduce the emissions by using exhaust gas treatment devices like catalytic
Accepted 13 January 2016
converter, diesel particulate filter. However, use of these devices affects the performance of CI engine.
Second method to reduce emissions and improve performance of CI engine is the use of fuel additive.
Keywords: Main pollutants of CI engine are oxide of nitrogen (NOx) and particulate matter (PM). However, it is
Performance difficult to control NOx and PM simultaneously. Many researchers report that the best method to control
Emission
the emissions and improve the performance is the use of nano particles additives and water emulsified
Nanofluid
fuels. This research paper also reports the biodiesel fuel as an alternative to diesel fuel by using various
Emulsified fuel
nano particle additives. Comparative studies of effects on various properties of diesel and biodiesel fuels
without/with water contents and nano particles additives by previous researchers are done. Most of the
researchers reported improved performance and reduction in emission characteristics with dosing of
nano particles additives in diesel and biodiesel.
& 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1339
1.1. Objectives of review paper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1339
2. Nanofluid additives for CI engine fuel application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1339
3. Effect of nanofluid additives on fuel properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1340
3.1. Effect on density, flash point and viscosity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1340
3.2. Effect on cetane number and calorific value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1341
4. Engine performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1341
4.1. Effect on brake specific fuel consumption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1341
4.2. Effect on brake thermal efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1342
5. Emission characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1344
5.1. Effect on NOx emission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1344
5.2. Effect on hydrocarbon (HC) emission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1345
5.3. Effect on carbon monoxide (CO) emission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1345
5.4. Effect on Smoke emission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1345
6. Effect on combustion and evaporation characteristics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1346
7. Other approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1346
8. Problems related with nano fuel additives and further scope of studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1346

n
Corresponding author. Tel.: þ 91 9860253228.
E-mail addresses: vivek.khond@raisoni.net (V.W. Khond), vilayatrai.kriplani@raisoni.net (V.M. Kriplani).
1
Tel. þ91 9373750759.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.01.051
1364-0321/& 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 V.W. Khond, V.M. Kriplani / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 59 (2016) 1338–1348
9. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1347
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1347
1. Introduction
The day by day increase in the use of diesel engine in various
applications particularly in the field of agriculture and power
generation increases the demand of diesel, due to which prices of
diesel fuel are rising, and creating a challenge to Indian economy.
Also a stringent regulation on emission of diesel engine promotes
the use of alternative fuels and emission reduction technology.
After treatment technology such as diesel particulate filters and
selective catalytic reduction will help to reduce particulate emis-
sion and NOx emission in diesel engines but lead to a fuel con-
sumption penalty. One way to save diesel fuel is to improve CI
engine performance and emission or use of alternative fuels pre-
pared from non-edible oil seeds to reduce the burden on Indian
economy. India imports 70% petroleum fuels costing about Rs.
80,000 crores / year hence blending 5% bio-diesel fuel to the
present diesel fuel can save about Rs. 4000 crores / year [1].
Keeping in view the need to reduce consumption of petroleum
products and simultaneously implement stringent engine emis-
sion norms in all over the country, the Government of India has
taken a major policy decision to use the biodiesel prepared from
non-edible oil seeds as blends with diesel [2]. Sunflower, safflower,
soybean, cotton, winter rape, canola, and peanut are the most
predominant oil bearing crops considered as fuel substitutes. India
has vast amounts of waste land that government agencies and
other non-government organizations are using for the cultivation
of non-edible oil seeds, fire wood, and fuel wood species for eco-
nomic as well as environmental benefits, among the non-edible oil
species, Karanja, Neem, Jatropha, and Mahua are the prominent
trees [3]. Global warming can be reduced by blending biodiesel
fuel with diesel because the carbon emissions produced during the
combustion of biodiesel are the ones, which are absorbed from the
atmosphere by the plant in the process of photosynthesis; there-
fore the combustion of biodiesel does not increase the global
balance of CO2 [4–6]. Several experimental investigations have
been carried out by researchers around the world to evaluate the
CI engine performance of different biodiesel blends. Researchers
reported that the use of biodiesel and its blends in CI engine
results in loss of torque, power, and also increased in bsfc was
reported [5]. Another side, it was beneficial to use the biodiesel
and its blends to reduce exhaust gas emission particularly HC, CO
and PM, Only NOx emissions have been reported to increase due to
the oxygen content of the biodiesel [6]. The advances in biodiesel,
emulsified diesel and artificial chemical additives are driven by
consumer demand to save energy and reduce emissions from
diesel engines. In order to achieve low emissions and high com-
bustion efficiency from diesel engines, combining emulsion and
additive has been considered as promising alternatives [7]. The
burning of diesel or biodiesel fuel in compression ignition engine
is resulted in high temperature inside the combustion chamber. As
a result of high temperature, NO is formed, which is hazardous gas
to the environment because NO can react with oxygen present in
the combustion chamber which result in the formation of NO2.
When NO and NO2 reacts, which result in formation of NOx. Water
in diesel emulsion is promising technology to reduce the NOx
emission. In water–diesel emulsion, water is present in dispersed
phase, and small size water droplets are vaporized, when heated
in the combustion chamber due to volatility difference between
water and diesel. The vaporization of water resulted in micro
explosion phenomenon. The Micro explosions improved the better
1339
fuel air mixing which result in the atomization of fuel. Hence, the
improvement in combustion of fuel results in the reduction of fuel
consumption [8]. The main shortcoming of emulsified fuel is a
long ignition delay due to much heat absorption and temperature
decrease in chamber for water evaporation [9]. Use of 2–30% water
by volume in diesel and biodiesel is reported in earlier research
[8–15]. Imdadul et al. [46] reviewed the various researches on
different fuel additives and reported that an increased in heat
release rate, cylinder gas pressure and peak pressure with early
start of combustion and reduced ignition delay. They also com-
mented that adding nano particles gives extra oxygen for com-
bustion. However, very little information was observed about the
effect of nano particles on CI engine. Shaafi et al. [47] reviewed
twenty five research papers on nano additives and concluded that
optimum concentration of nano particles should be estimated for
different nano particles. They also reported that long term inves-
tigation is necessary to find life of engine. The emphasis was given
to explore more nano additives for combustion application. They
found that properties are depends upon shape and size of nano
particles. They commented on lack of agreement among the
results of various authors. However, recent researches with new
nano additives should be explored. Hence water addition in fuel
with nano particles additives can be effectively used to improve
the performance and emission of CI engine.
Up to date no comprehensive review reports were published on
the effect of nano fluid additives on the performance and emission
of CI engine fueled with or without water emulsified diesel or
biodiesel. Hence this review paper reports the effect of nanofluid
additives on physio-chemical properties of diesel/ biodiesel with
or without water contents, also reports effect of nano fuel addi-
tives on performance and emission characteristics of CI engine.
1.1. Objectives of review paper
The main objective of this paper is to distribute the knowledge
and information among budding engineers, industry people,
research scholars and students who are interested in the field of
nano fuel additives for CI engine fueled with diesel, biodiesel and
water emulsified fuels. The paper reports the impact of potential
nano fuel additives on properties of fuel, engine performance,
exhaust emissions, combustion and evaporation characteristics at
different operating condition. This review paper provides the
information about the effect of concentration of nano fuel addi-
tives. A good number of research papers and literatures from
highly rated index journals are reviewed including the most recent
publications up to 2015.
2. Nanofluid additives for CI engine fuel application
Nano particles as a fuel additive in CI engine used by
researchers and scientists are presented in this section. Nanosize
material includes metals like, Al, Mg, Zr, Ti, Ni, boron (a metalloid),
and metal oxides [16,36]. Recently, nanosized silicon powders and
nanoporous silicon wafers were considered for energetic applica-
tions [35]. Basha et al. [21] prepared the samples of alumina
nanofluid with concentration of 25, 50 and 100 ppm in 15% water
and jatropha biodiesel emulsion fuel as a base fuel and used in CI
engine. The experiments were conducted at a constant speed of
1500 rpm using nano alumina blended water diesel emulsion fuel
1340 V.W. Khond, V.M. Kriplani / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 59 (2016) 1338–1348

Nomenclature WCPBD Waste Cooking palm biodiesel

Zr Zirconium
BSFC Brake specific fuel consumption Mg Magnesium
BTE Brake thermal efficiency TiO2 Titanium dioxide
bsec Brake specific energy consumption Co3O4 Cobalt oxide
PM Particulate matter Ni Nickel
CI Compression ignition Fe3O4 Iron oxide
CO2 Carbon dioxide CNT Carbon nano tube
NOx Oxide of nitrogen AN Aluminum nanofluid
NO2 Nitrogen dioxide CuO Copper oxide
NO Nitrous oxide MnO Manganese oxide
HC Hydrocarbon CoCl2 Cobalt chloride
CO Carbon monoxide Al2O3 Aluminum oxide
WC Water cooled CuSO4 Copper sulphate
NA Naturally aspirated Al-Mg Magnalium
IL Inline CeO Cerium oxide
AC Air cooled CuCl2 Copper chloride
DI Direct injection TiO Titanium oxide
TC Turbo charged FeCl3 Ferric chloride
W Water n-Al Nano aluminum
D Diesel AO Aluminum oxide
JBD Jatropha biodiesel A Aluminum
D80PSWB20 80%Diesel 20% Pomoplion stearin wax biodiesel Al Aluminum
JME2S15W Jatropa methyl ester 2%surfactant 15% water Ti Titanium
emulsion n-Si Nano silicon
JME2S5W Jatropa methyl ester 2%surfactant 5% water ppm Parts per million
emulsion Si Silicon
TE60 60% tall oil methyl ester/40% diesel fuel mg/lit Milligram per liter

with a mass fraction of 25 ppm, 50 ppm and 100 ppm [15]. Fang-
suwannarak et al. [17] investigated 0.20% nano TiO2 in diesel fuel
and 5% palm oil and 95% diesel as base fuel . The nano zinc oxide
particles about 5 ppm to about 60 ppm was used by Tock et al.
[18]. Karthikeyan et al. [43] studied zinc oxide nano particles of 50
and 100 ppm in blends of diesel–pomoplion stearin wax biodiesel
as a base fuel. Sajeevan et al. [19] experimentally investigated nano
cerium oxide with concentration of 5–40 ppm on a single cylinder
CI engine fueled with the diesel and cerium oxide blended diesel.
Sajith [20] investigated cerium oxide nanoparticles with dosing
level varied from 20 to 80 ppm in a base fuel as a jatropha bio-
diesel on a single cylinder, WC, 4-stroke CI engine. Selvan et al.
[27] used 25 ppm cerium oxide nanoparticles as additive in neat
diesel and diesel–biodiesel–ethanol blends. Ganesh et al. [22] used
nano Cobalt oxide (Co3O4) and Magnalium in jatropha biodiesel a
base fuel for CI engine. Nano CuO, CuCl2, CoCl2, FeCl3 and CuSO4
can be used as a catalyst for CI engine. These metal base additives
were used with dosing 5–50 mmol by Kannan et al. [23]. Shafil
et al. [24] used ferrofluid (Fe3O4 ) having 0.4% and 0.8% volumetric
proportions in diesel and conducted the experiment on four-
cylinder, in-line, four-stroke, compression ignition, water cooled
engine. Sarvestany et al. [44] examined the effect of the magnetic
nanofluid fuel (Fe3O4) in diesel with concentration of 0.4 and 0.8%
by volume on the compression ignition engine. Nanometal oxide
of manganese oxide (MnO) and copper oxide (CuO) with dosing
200 mg/l in diesel was used by Lenin et al. [28]. Balamurugan et al.
[35] used Soya bean biodiesel with nano-copper particle as a fuel
additive with concentration of 1.5%. Basha et al. [42] prepared
emulsion of Jatropha methyl ester and carbon nano tube with
dosing of 25, 50 and 100 ppm. Selvan et al. [40] investigated
mixture of cerium oxide and carbon nano tube additives in diesel–
biodiesel–ethanol blend with dosing of 25, 50 and 100 ppm each.
The combination of 25 ppm alumina and 25 ppm CNT blended
biodiesel were prepared and tested by Basha [25]. Kao et al. [26]
used the aluminum nanofluid (AN) additive with concentration
varied from 30 cc to 50 cc per liter in diesel. Luman et al. [37]
prepared several combinations by dosing nano-sized aluminum
particles and ultra-fine boron particles. It was found that the
addition of nano-sized aluminum particles can enhance the pro-
pellant burning rate.
3. Effect of nanofluid additives on fuel properties
Several researchers tested the properties of nano additive
blended fuel and studied its effect on various properties like
viscosity, calorific value flash point density, cetane no etc. Sona-
wane et al. [38] experimentally investigated the thermo-physical
properties and the heat transfer rate of Al2O3/aviation turbine
nanofluids. Thermal conductivity, viscosity and heat transfer rate
enhance due to the addition of nanofluid. Table 1 shows summary
of various properties of nanofluids used in engine application by
various researchers.
3.1. Effect on density, flash point and viscosity
Effect of nano additives on fuel properties are presented here.
Density and kinematic viscosity of nanoemulsion fuels increased
marginally probably due to the presence of water [41]. No sig-
nificant effect on properties like density, viscosity and flash point
was observed with the addition of zinc nano particles in diesel–
pomoplion stearin wax biodiesel blends [43]. Fangsuwannarak and
Triratanasirichai [50] prepared the blends of palm oil biodiesel by
increasing concentration from 2–100% in diesel and then added
nano-TiO2 with dosing concentration of 0.1% and 0.2% by volume
and tested the physical properties of fuel samples using ASTM
standard procedure. They observed that kinematic viscosity was
reduced by increasing concentration of nano-TiO2 as compared to
 V.W. Khond, V.M. Kriplani / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 59 (2016) 1338–1348 1341

Table 1
Various Properties of nanofluids used in engine application.

Reference Fuel Properties

Viscosity (cst) Flash point (°C) Calorific value (MJ/kg) Density (kg/m3) Cetane no

[15] Diesel 2.1 50 42.3 830 46

D2S15W100AO 5.01 66 39.9 859.6 50
[17] Diesel 2.21 68 – 823 –
D0.2TiO 3.28 71 – 825 –
[19] Diesel 2.5 47 – – –
D40CeO 2.6 48 – – –
[23] Waste Cooking palm biodiesel 4.56 170 38.03 866 66
WCPBD50FC 4.57 165 38.43 865.8 69.6
[25] JBD 5.25 85 38.88 895 53
JBD50CNT 5.33 81 39.78 897.9 57
JBD25AO25CNT 5.36 81 39.99 895.2 57
[45] Diesel – 54 43.42 830 -–
D50CEO – 62 43.58 832 –
[41] WD 2.85 – 42.93 832 50.83
WDA 2.53 – 42.92 834 49.6
WDSi 2.55 – 42.94 832 51.37

without additive. However, the calorific value was increased with Table 2
increasing concentration of additives. Arockiasamy and Anand [52] Effect of dosing level of nano fluid additives on performance of CI engine by various
researchers.
used 30 ppm cerium oxide and alumina nano particles additive
separately in jatropha biodiesel to prepare blend for testing Reference no. Base fuel Nano Composition BSFC (kg/ BTE (%)
properties and found that slightly increase in viscosity with the additive (ppm) kW h)
addition of both nano particles in jatropha biodiesel. They also
observed that reduction in calorific value and flash point as [43] D80PSWB20 ZnO 50 0.278 28.8
100 0.272 29.96
compared to neat biodiesel. [42] JME2S5W CNT 25 0.315 27.89
50 0.308 28.13
3.2. Effect on cetane number and calorific value 100 0.301 28.45
[21] JME2S15W Al2O3 25 0.33 27.1
50 0.32 28.2
Researches on the effect of nanofluid additives on cetane
100 0.31 29.4
number and calorific value are presented here. Most of researchers [45] Diesel CeO2 0 0.280 –
reported that addition of nano particles in diesel and biodiesel 50 0.260 –
improves cetane number and calorific value. Higher cetane indices [27] Diesel CeO2 0 0.393 25.66
25 0.3586 23.63
were obtained for nano aluminum (n-Al) and nano silicon (n-Si) in
water–diesel emulsion as compare to diesel which ascertains
better combustion quality [41]. The improvement in calorific value leading to smooth and efficient operation . Zhang et al. [49] used
and cetane index was observed with the addition of zinc nano nanoceria in diesel and obtained reduction in fuel consumption
particles in diesel-pomoplion stearin wax biodiesel blends [43]. about 12% as nanoceria concentration increases. Basha [21] found
Singh and Bharj [55] reported that as concentration of CNT that the brake specific fuel consumption was improved for the
increases, cetane index increases. Aalam et al. [59] also observed
nanoparticles blended biodiesel emulsion fuels due to the enhance
that the addition of iron oxide nano particles enhance the calorific
surface area/volume ratio and shorten ignition delay character-
value and cetane number of blends.
istics of nanoparticles, sufficient mass of fuel could have collected
in the combustion chamber to obtain a possible catalytic effect in
the unit volume of the fuel during the combustion . Biodiesel
4. Engine performance
emulsion with 100 ppm alumina nanoparticles blended fuels was
shown lower brake specific fuel consumption of 0.31 kg/kW h at
This section reports the results of various research papers on
full load. As calorific value of jatropha biodiesel is lower compared
different nanofluid additives used in diesel engine and its effect on
to diesel for the same power output of engine excess amount of
performance characteristics particularly bsfc, bsec and brake
thermal efficiency. Effect of variation of dosing level of nanofluid fuel consumed during pure biodiesel operation. Hence, brake
additives on performance characteristics at full load are shown in specific energy consumption (bsec) was increased. However, the
Table 2. Most of researchers investigated that brake thermal effi- addition of nano Cobalt oxide (Co3O4) and Magnalium was shown
ciency was improved and brake specific fuel consumption was 2% and 3% reduction in bsec as a result of oxidation reactions in
lowered with increase in dosing rate of nanofluid additives. fuel, which improves the combustion rate of fuel at half and full
loads respectively [22]. Jelles [29] studied the effect of cerium,
4.1. Effect on brake specific fuel consumption iron, and copper base metal additives with and without platinum.
The copper additive was resulted in 5% increase in fuel con-
Brake specific fuel consumption is a measure of utilization of sumption due to delayed combustion caused by the copper addi-
fuel supplied to engine for developing brake power. BSFC is tive. Keskin et al. [30] observed maximum reduction in the specific
defined as the mass flow rate of fuel per unit brake power fuel consumption values with 16 μmol/l Mn additives due to the
developed. Sajith et al. [20] investigated that the addition of cer- catalyst effect of metallic based additives. The Mn based additive is
ium oxide reduces brake specific fuel consumption because the more effective than Mg based additive. The diesel fuels with
presence of cerium oxide oxidizes carbon deposit from engine metallic based additives were burned well in the cylinders than
1342 V.W. Khond, V.M. Kriplani / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 59 (2016) 1338–1348
diesel fuel without metallic-based. The additives also lead to
shorter ignition delay period and slightly greater heat release rates
during portions of the expansion stroke which improve power and
specific fuel consumption values. Keskin et al. [32] dosed Mn and
Ni based additives at the rate of 8 μmol/l and 12 μmol/l in the
mixtures of 60% tall oil methyl ester and 40% diesel fuel (TE60) to
prepare test fuel samples. In comparison with diesel fuel, higher
specific fuel consumption values were measured with biodiesel
fuels. This is because of the lower calorific value of biodiesel fuels
result in increase in specific fuel consumption with biodiesel fuels
ranged from 3.22% to 6.00%. Zhu et al. [33] investigated that brake
specific fuel consumption decreased with increasing the catalyst
dosing ratio under the tested engine conditions. However, the
brake specific fuel consumption did not decrease linearly with the
catalyst dosing ratio. Test samples were prepared by adding a
combustion catalyst by varying volume concentration from
1:20,000 to 1:5000. Ganesh et al. [22] used Magnalium and cobalt
oxide nanofluid additives and determine the performance char-
acteristics of Jatropha biodiesel (JBD) in a single cylinder, AC, DI
engine. The lower brake thermal efficiency and higher brake
specific consumption were obtained due to lower calorific value of
JBD,. However, the addition of Magnalium and cobalt oxide
improves BTE significantly as compared to without additives. An
improvement in BTE for magnalium additive compare to JBD
without additive was about 1%. Mehta et al. [41] prepared stable
nanoemulsion adding maximum 0.1% concentration of nano alu-
minum (n-Al) and nano silicon (n-Si) in water–diesel. Performance
test was carried out at a constant speed of 1500 rpm on a single
cylinder, 4-stroke, DI diesel engine under varying load condition
from 0 to 20 kg. Brake specific fuel consumption was reduced by
21% and 37% for nano aluminum (n-Al) and nano silicon (n-Si)
blended water–diesel emulsion as compare to diesel. Hydrogen
released during the reaction with water emulsified diesel, n-Al and
water emulsified diesel, n-Si result in reduction of bsfc. The
addition of carbon nanotube in jatropha methyl ester reduces the
brake specific fuel consumption at full load. Jatropha methyl ester
with 100 ppm concentration of carbon nano tube additive shown
lower brake specific consumption of 0.301 kg/kW h as compare to
0.346 kg/kW h of jatropha methyl ester without carbon nano tube
[42]. The lower specific fuel consumption was observed at
100 ppm concentration of each additive which is 0.36 kg/kW h as
compare to 0.39 kg/kWh without additives at bmep of 0.44 MPa.
Because the cerium oxide provides oxygen for the combustion and
carbon nano tube enhanced the reaction rate [40]. The experi-
mental investigation carried out at constant speed of 1500 rpm
under varying load condition from 0–100% on single cylinder, four
stroke, air cooled diesel engine found that brake specific fuel
consumption was decreased as dosing concentration of zinc oxide
increased from 50 ppm to 100 ppm [43]. Saraee et al. [48] used
silver nano particles of 30–40 nm size concentration ranging from
10–40 ppm in diesel with surfactant of sorbitan monooleate for
stability purpose. The test was carried out on six cylinders, DI, Air
cooled engine under varying speed. The fuel containing 10 and
20 ppm silver nanoparticles have lowest fuel consumption and
about 2% reduction of fuel consumption observed in silver nano
particles containing fuel as compared to diesel due to the increase
in fuel jet momentum and penetration rate inside the cylinder
responsible for uniform distribution of air fuel mixture in the
cylinder. The power of engine was also increased up to 20 ppm
concentration of silver nano particles and thereafter no significant
improvement. Maximum growth obtained is 7–8%. The maximum
increase of brake power was 1.6% at the speed of 1500–3000 rpm
for pure biodiesel with 0.1% nano-TiO2. However, Fangsuwannarak
[50] reported that the 0.1% nano-TiO2 blended fuel has lower brake
specific fuel consumption as compared to 0.2% nano-TiO2 .
Arockiasamy and Anand [52] reported that the fuel containing
30 ppm cerium oxide and alumina nano particles have about 1.7%
higher brake thermal efficiency as compared to neat biodiesel,
which is the result of high surface to volume ratio promoting
complete combustion . Shaafi and Velraj [53]reported that the
BSFC was higher at load below 50% but reduction in bsfc above
75% load was observed. BSFC value for Alumina nano particle
containing fuel blend shows about 12% reduction at full load. At
75% and full load, BSEC was reduced due to lower viscosity as
compared to 25% load. Santhanamuthu et al. [54] investigated
polanga oil–diesel blends with varying composition of polanga oil
from 10–30% by weight and iron oxide nanoparticles concentra-
tion ranging from 100–300 ppm on single cylinder, 4-s, vertical
water cooled DI engine. They reported that below 60% load, BSEC
was maximum up to 26 MJ/kW h, but as load increases above 60%,
BSEC reduced to 13.5 MJ/kW h. Singh and Bharj [55] prepared
emulsion containing 83% diesel, 15% water and 2% surfactant with
dispersion of CNT concentration varying from 50, 100 and
150 ppm. The prepared emulsions were used in single cylinder
diesel engine coupled with eddy current dynamometer to
obtained performance, emission characteristics. The reduced trend
of BSFC was obtained with increasing in concentration of CNT. The
minimum BSFC was 0.27 kg/kW h for 150 ppm concentration CNT
blended fuel compared to 0.31 kg/kW h for neat diesel due to the
water present in fuel rapidly evaporates results in finer spray and
also catalytic activity of CNT promotes evaporation rate. Man-
ibharathi et al. [58] used pongamia biodiesel as base fuel with
rhodium oxide (Rh2O3) nano particles and tested on single cylin-
der, 4S, air-cooled CI engine to find performance and emission
parameters. They prepared the rhodium oxide using ball mill
method and obtained size of nano particle about 100 nm. They
obtained significant reduction of BSEC about 3% with addition of
Rh2O3 nano particles and reported the reduction of physical delay
results in lower fuel consumption.
4.2. Effect on brake thermal efficiency
Researchers studied the effect of nanofluid additives on brake
thermal efficiency and reported that nanofluid additives are a
promising alternative for improvement in brake thermal efficiency
of CI engine. Sajith et al. [20] carried out an engine tests with the
modified biodiesel at different dosing levels (20–80 ppm) of cer-
ium oxide nanoparticles additive showed an improvement in the
BTE of the engine. An improvement of 9%, 4%, and 2% in brake
thermal efficiency was observed at higher loads for aluminum,
iron and boron nanofuel respectively, as compare to diesel due to
enhancement in the calorific values and also promotes complete
combustion due to higher evaporation rates, reduced ignition
delay, higher flame temperatures and prolonged flame sustenance
by Mehta et al. [39, 41]. The CNT added emulsion fuel shown about
2% higher BTE compared to diesel [55]. The carbon nano tube
blended jatropha methyl ester emulsion fuel shows improvement
in brake thermal efficiency as compare to jatropha methyl ester
due to intensive secondary atomization. Jatropha methyl ester
with 100 ppm concentration of carbon nano tube additive has
shown maximum brake thermal efficiency of 28.13% as compare to
24.8% of jatropha methyl ester at full load [42]. The brake thermal
efficiency for cerium oxide and carbon nano tube added diesel–
biodiesel–ethanol blend with 100 ppm concentration each was
increased by 8.05% [40]. Higher brake thermal efficiency was
observed with the addition of zinc nano particles in blends of
diesel–pomoplion stearin wax biodiesel as compare to without
additives [43]. Banapurmath et al. [51] prepared the fuel samples
containing 50 mg graphene, silver and multiwalled carbon nano-
tubes respectively in one liter Honge oil methyl ester (HOME).
Samples was tested on single cylinder, 4stroke DI engine under
various load to find performance and emission characteristics.
Table 3
Work carried out by various researchers on engine performance and emissions using nanofluid additives in diesel and biodiesel.

Base fuel Engine Operating condition Nano fluid Composition Performance results Emission results Reference
additive

Jatropha biodiesel 1-Cylinder, AC, NA, 1500 rpm, different load, Aluminum oxide 25, 50, 100 ppm Increased BTE, lower BSFC Lower NOx, HC, smoke opacity Slightly [15]
Water emulsion 4 stroke, DI constant injection timing (Al2O3) higher CO,

V.W. Khond, V.M. Kriplani / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 59 (2016) 1338–1348
Diesel 4-Cylinder, WC, TC, 1000–3000 rpm Titanium oxide 0.20% Higher BP, lower BSFC Lower NOx, CO and CO2 [17]
4 stroke, DI (TiO2)
Diesel 1-Cylinder, WC, NA, 1500 rpm, different load Cerium oxide 5–40 ppm Increased BTE Lower NOx, HC [19]
4 stroke, DI
Jatropha biodiesel 1-Cylinder, WC, NA, 1500 rpm, different load Cerium oxide 20–80 ppm Improved BTE Reduced HC, NOx, Slightly reduced CO [20]
4 stroke, DI
Jatropha biodiesel 1-Cylinder, AC, NA, 1500 rpm, different load, Aluminium oxide 25, 50, 100 ppm Increased BTE, lower BSFC Lower NOx,HC, smoke opacity slightly [21]
Water emulsion 4 stroke, DI constant injection timing (Al2O3) higher CO
Jatropha biodiesel 1-Cylinder, AC, NA, Load 25, 50, 75, 100% Magnalium (Al– 100 mg/l Reduction in BSEC, improvement in BTE Reduced HC, NOx and CO [22]
4 stroke, DI Mg)
Cobalt oxide
(Co3O4)
Waste cooking 1-Cylinder, WC, NA, 220, 280 bar IP, 230°, Ferric chloride 5–50 mmol/l Lower BSFC, BSEC Higher BTE Higher CO, NOx lower HC, smoke opacity [23]
palm oil 4 stroke, DI 25.5° Btdc IT, Load 25, 50, (FeCl3)
75, 100%, 1500 rpm
Diesel 4-Cylinder, WC, IL, 2200 rpm Ferrofluid (Fe3O4) 0.4%, and 0.8% by Decreased BSFC and increased BTE Reduction in NOx Higher CO [24]
4 stroke, DI volume
Jatropha biodiesel 1-Cylinder, AC, NA, 1500 rpm, different load, Aluminium oxide 25, 50 ppm Decreased BSFC and increased BTE Lower HC, CO, NOx smoke opacity [25]
4 stroke, DI, 215 bar IP constant injection timing (Al2O3)
26°bTDC Carbon nano-
tube (CNT)
Diesel 1-Cylinder, WC, NA, 40–15 N-m Torque 1200– aluminum nano- 30–50 cc Lower BSFC at 1200 and 1800 rpm but no change at Lower NOx ,smoke at 1200 and 1800 rpm [26]
4 stroke, DI, 17° IT 2400 rpm particles(Al) 2400 rpm. but no change at 2400 rpm.
Diesel-biodiesel- 1-Cylinder, 4 stroke, At 19 CR,0.44 MPa, Cerium oxide 25 ppm Lower BSFC, improvement in BTE Lower CO, HC and smoke higher NOx [27]
ethanol blends Variable Compression 1500 rpm
ratio, WC
Diesel 1-Cylinder, AC, NA, 25–100% load, 1500 rpm Manganese oxide 200 mg/l Increased BTE Lower NOx CO, HC.Manganese oxide better [28]
4 stroke, DI (MnO) than Copper oxide
Copper oxide
(CuO)
Diesel 1-Cylinder, WC, NA, 1500 rpm, different load, Aluminum 0.5 wt% Marginal increase in BSFC at lower load in Al and CO and HC increased for Al and iron at [39]
4 stroke, DI Iron Boron. No variation in Iron. Drop in BSFC at higher lower loads and reduced at higher loads.
Boron load for Al. Rise in exhaust gas temperature for all. Boron showed same trends as diesel.
Better BTE at all loads. Higher NOx and soot for Al and iron
Diesel–biodiesel– 1-Cylinder, 4 stroke, 0–100% load and Cerium oxide 25, 50, 100 ppm Decreased BSFC and increased BTE Higher concentration decreased NOx, HC [40]
ethanol blends variable compression 1500 rpm Carbon nanotube 25, 50, 100 ppm and smoke and increased CO
ratio, NA, WC
Water–diesel 1-Cylinder, WC Various load and nano-silicon (n-Si) 0.1% Lower BSFC and Higher BTE Higher NOx, HC and lower CO at lower load [41]
emulsion 4 stroke, DI 1500 rpm nano-aluminum

1343
1344 V.W. Khond, V.M. Kriplani / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 59 (2016) 1338–1348

They compared the brake thermal efficiency and found that gra-
phene containing biodiesel have more BTE than MWCNT due to its
higher thermal conductivity. The fuel containing nano particles
have more BTE than pure Honge oil methyl ester. They reported
that the graphene nano additives shows better performance and
emission characteristics due to its higher thermal conductivity and
higher surface area result in improvement in catalytic activity. BTE
was increased in alumina nano particle containing fuel blend
about 18% as compared to neat diesel at full load condition due to
the micro explosion phenomenon of primary droplet in presence
of alumina nano particle results in enhance the evaporation rate,
responsible for complete release of heat energy leads to increase in
BTE [53]. Venkatesan [56] mixed 1 g and 1.5 g nano alumina
powder in a one liter of diesel and prepared mixture using soni-
cator to distribute particles uniformly and reported improvement
in BTE up to 6% for 1.5 g alumina concentration. Aalam et al. [59]
investigated the iron oxide nano particles at 25–50 ppm con-
centration in diesel on a CRDI engine and observed that presence
of iron nano particles improves the combustion efficiency due to
more surface area and chemical reactivity, which results in
improvement of about 2% BTE in 50 ppm nano iron oxide
blended fuel.
5. Emission characteristics
The control of emissions from diesel engine is more concerned
in present environmental norms. Diesel engine emits NOx, HC, CO
and smoke emission. This section critically reviewed latest
research papers on the effect of nano fuel additives to control
diesel engine emissions. Summary of performances and emissions
by previous authors and comparisons are shown in Tables 3 and 4.
5.1. Effect on NOx emission
Reports from researchers on effect of nano additives on NOx are
presented in this section. The components of NOx are nitric oxide
(NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) which generated during com-
bustion process. Hence, to improve the quality of diesel fuel, var-
ious metal additives such as nanometal oxide of manganese oxide
(MnO) and copper oxide (CuO) have been selected and doped with
diesel for reaching more complete fuel combustion and reducing
the amount of exhaust gases [28]. NOx emission was reduced
when the platinum/cerium additive used up to 20% [30]. NOx
emissions were found at relatively higher with the metallic-based
additives probably due to the catalyst effect of metallic additives in
the combustion process [30]. NOx emission values are relatively
higher with the biodiesel of Mn additives compared to biodiesel
with Ni additives. This higher NOx value is probably because of the
Mn additives having more catalyst effect on combustion causing
increase in the maximum temperature [32]. Mehregan et al. [34]
dosed 2.5% Al in decane and ethanol, results in a change in eva-
poration behavior of the base fluids causing reduction in NOx
emission. Cerium oxide nanoparticles are a thermally stable oxi-
dation catalyst to promote oxidation of hydrocarbon fuel. When
using as a fuel additive in CI engine reduces NOx emission [20].
However, rate of NOx emission was increased about 28% for 10 fold
nanoceria concentration [49]. NOx emission was increased by 5%
and 4% for nano aluminum (n-Al) and nano silicon (n-Si) in water–
diesel emulsion respectively due to higher burning temperatures
[41]. The CNT blended water emulsion fuel shown significant
reduction in NOx emission as a result of water addition and
reduced ignition delay [55]. Carbon nano tube added jatropha
methyl ester shown lower NOx due to enhance combustion reac-
tion and an improvement in the homogenization of air fuel

Table 4
Comparisons of performance and emission characteristics at full load.

Reference Nano additives/base fuel Concentration (ppm) BSFC BTE (%) NOx (ppm) HC (ppm) CO (%) SMOKE

[48] Silver/Diesel 10 3%↓ – – – –

20 – – 250 – – –
40 – – 22 1.4
[51] Silver/HOME 50 – 25 790 90 0.51 72 HSU
MWCNT/HOME 50 – 25.5 710 82 0.45 70 HSU
Graphene/HOME 50 – 26 700 80 0.4 69.5 HSU
HOME 0 – 22.5 900 110 0.7 85 HSU
[63] Silver/HOME 25 – 22.65 800 91 0.6 –
50 – 25 780 80 0,53 –
[58] Rhodium oxide/Pongamia biodiesel – 3%↓ 27.6 21 g/kW h 0.15 g/kW h 6.25 g/ –
kW h
Pongamia biodiesel – – 27.1 32.5 g/ 0.55 g/ 10 g/kW h –
kW h kW h
[55] CNT/Water emulsified diesel 50 0.3 kg/kW h 28.9 305 43 0.1 56%
100 0.27 kg/kW h 30 250 40 0.09 55%
150 0.27 kg/kW h 30.5 245 37 0.08 46%
0 0.3 kg/kW h 28.6 370 42 0.11 63%
[54] Iron oxide/Polanga oil–diesel blends 100 13 MJ/kW h 25.2 900 45 0.5 69HSU
200 12.5 MJ/kW h 25.3 410 42 0.35 65HSU
300 11 MJ/kW h 25.5 400 62 0.21 60HSU
0 13.1 MJ/kW h 25 800 78 0.6 83HSU
[64] Cerium oxide on amide-functionalized MWCNT/ 30 0.261 kg/kW h – 5.22 g/ 0.13 g/kW h 5.74 g/kW h 0.55 g/kW h
WCO kW h
60 0.258 kg/kW h – 4.7 g/kW h 0.06 g/ 5.42 g/ 0.5 g/kW h
kW h kW h
90 0.250 kg/kW h – 4.26 g/ 0.04 g/ 4.15 g/kW h 0.42 g/kW h
kW h kW h
0 0.262 kg/kW h – 5.25 g/ 0.14 g/kW h 6.78 g/ 0.6 g/kW h
kW h kW h
[65] Cerium zirconium mixed oxide/Jatropha–diesel 5 – 30.5 650 13.5 – –
blend 10 – 31 646 13.6 – –
15 – 32 644 21 – –
0 – 30 700 14 – –
 V.W. Khond, V.M. Kriplani / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 59 (2016) 1338–1348
mixture.Jatropha methyl ester blended with 100 ppm carbon nano
tube shown maximum reduction of 372 ppm as compared to
jatropha methyl ester at full load [42]. No effect was observed on
NOx emission with the addition of zinc oxide in blends of diesel–
pomoplion stearin wax biodiesel [43]. The Increase in NOx emis-
sion was observed for lower concentration on other hand decrease
trend was observed for higher concentration [40]. NOx emissions
dramatically reduced even at 0.4% concentration of the Fe3O4
nanoparticles additives [44]. The NOx emission was reduced by 9%
and 7% for alumina and cerium oxide nano particles respectively
due to fast evaporation rate. Reduced exhaust gas temperature
confirmed the reduction of the NOx emission [52]. Santhanamuthu
et al. [54] reported that the presences of iron oxide nano particles
reduced the soot oxidation temperature and also take part as a
catalyst for reaction of hydroxyl radicals result in reduced amount
of NOx emission for blends above 80% load. Babu and Raja [57]
used alumina nano particles dosing level varying from 25–75 ppm
in diesel. The 2D IC engine model was prepared using ANSA CFD
software and tested. The aim of the study was to find the trends of
NOx emission using experimental and simulation. They found that
variation in results was about 4.5–13.2%. NOx emission effectively
reduced up to 38% due to oxygen donating capacity of rhodium
oxide [58].
5.2. Effect on hydrocarbon (HC) emission
The literatures on effect of nano particles on HC emission are
reviewed and discussed in following section. Hydrocarbon emis-
sion is due to incomplete combustion of fuel. Most of researchers
reported that hydrocarbon emission was reduced by the addition
of nano fuel additives. It was observed that the exhaust gas from
engine showed an increase in HC by 4% and 9% with nano alu-
minum (n-Al) and nano silicon (n-Si) in water–diesel emulsion
respectively [41]. The addition of carbon nanotube in jatropha
biodiesel result in secondary atomization which reduces the HC
emission slightly. Also, carbon nano tube with 100 ppm con-
centration showed 57 ppm HC emission level as compared to
59 ppm HC emission level without additives [42]. Cobalt oxide and
magnalium additive shown a 75% reduction in HC emission at 75%
load [22]. Zinc nano particles in blends of diesel–pomoplion
stearin wax biodiesel result in the reduction of HC emission as
compare to without additives due to improved ignition char-
acteristics [43]. The lowest hydrocarbon emission was observed as
166 ppm for the 50 ppm concentration of cerium oxide and carbon
nanotube additive, whereas it was 176 ppm for the diesel–bio-
diesel–ethanol blends at the bmep of 0.44 MPa [40]. The reduction
of hydrocarbon emission up to 33% and 28% was observed for
alumina and cerium oxide dosed biodiesel fuel [52].
5.3. Effect on carbon monoxide (CO) emission
The literatures on effect of nano particles on CO emission are
reviewed and discussed in following section. The lower value of
CO emission was obtained at higher concentration of Mn based
additives because the diesel fuels with metallic based additives
were burned well in the cylinders than diesel fuel without
metallic-based additives [30]. Guru et al. [31] investigated MgO,
CuO, MnO2 and CaO additives and observed that the CO was
decreased when the Mn additive was dosed to the diesel fuel. It is
clearly seen that CO emission concentration of biodiesel fuel
decreased with Mn and Ni based additives. When comparing Ni to
Mn based additive, the relatively lower CO emission was measured
with Mn based additive. It was reported that catalyst effect of
these additives improve combustion efficiency [32]. Mehregan
et al. [34] numerically investigated that CO emission was reduced
by the addition of 2.5% Al in decane and ethanol due to change in
1345
evaporation behavior of the base fluids. CO emission was increased
due to irregular rise in temperature as well as chamber pressures
due to burning of liberated hydrogen [41]. Carbon nano tube
blended jatropha biodiesel was shown improvement in combus-
tion due to shortened ignition delay result in the reduction of CO.
However, the maximum reduction of CO emission was observed in
100 ppm dosed carbon nano tube jatropha biodiesel fuels [42]. The
addition of zinc nano particles in blends of diesel–pomoplion
stearin wax biodiesel results in the reduction of CO emission as
compare to without additives due to improve ignition character-
istics [43]. Zhang et al. [49] observed that the reduction in carbon
dioxide emission for 1 and 10 fold concentration of nanoceria is
about 6% and 12% respectively. The CO2 emission shows same
trend as that of CO. The combine effect of cerium oxide and carbon
nanotube addition in diesel–biodiesel–ethanol blend shows 0.54%
CO emission as compared to 0.42% without additives [40]. CO
emission was noticeably increased with increasing the dosing level
of nanoparticles [44]. The silver nano particle containing fuel
reduces the equivalence ratio due to improve atomization and
distribution of air–fuel mixture causing reduction in carbon
monoxide emission [48]. The maximum reduction of CO emission
was found about 29% in 0.1% nano additive added 20% palm bio-
diesel blend. Also the reduction of CO2 emission was observed by
Fangsuwannarak with adding nano-TiO2. Because the addition of
nano-TiO2 results in higher oxidation of carbon promoting com-
plete combustion [50]. The highly energetic Rh2O3 nano particles
take part in combustion process and burned. The hexagonal cor-
undum structure was converted into an orthorhombic structure
above 800 °C to enhance the mobility of oxygen for oxidation of
CO and results in reduction of CO upto 45% [58].
5.4. Effect on Smoke emission
A brief review of effect of nano additives on smoke emission is
presented here. Mn based additives are more effective in reducing
the smoke level than Mg based additives. The reduction in smoke
level was probably due to reduction of ignition temperature with
the metallic-based additives during the combustion [30]. Keskin
[32] investigated that the catalyst effect of metallic based additive
shown lower smoke opacity with biodiesel fuels as compare to tall
oil. Basha et al. [21] found a significant reduction of smoke emis-
sions for the biodiesel emulsion. The alumina nanoparticle blen-
ded biodiesel emulsion fuels also shown a similar characteristic
trend as that of biodiesel emulsion fuel, with a further reduction of
smoke emissions. The dosing of nanoparticles to the biodiesel
emulsion fuel has results in higher evaporation rate, shorter
ignition delay time, and enhanced ignition characteristics. Due to
shorter ignition delay time, more fuel is collected the inside
combustion chamber before ignition which results in improve-
ment in air fuel mixing and then better combustion causing
reduction in smoke emission. Basha et al. [42] observed that rapid
evaporation of water vapor in the fuel-rich regions due to which
increased spray momentum and enhancement in the OH radicals
causing oxidation of soot results in reduction in smoke opacity.
Better air fuel mixing results in low smoke emission with the
addition of zinc nano particles [43]. Smoke emission was
decreased at higher loads with the addition of cerium oxide and
carbon nano tubes in diesel–biodiesel–ethanol blends. The lowest
smoke absorption coefficient was observed as 1.2 for the 50 ppm
concentration of cerium oxide and carbon nanotube additive. The
smoke absorption coefficient was decreased by 47.6% at bmep of
0.44 MPa [40]. Smoke opacity was noticeably increased with
increasing the dosing level of magnetic (Fe3O4) nanoparticles [44].
Banapurmath et al. [51] found that graphene nanoparticle as a best
performing additive compared to silver and multiwall carbon nano
1346 V.W. Khond, V.M. Kriplani / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 59 (2016) 1338–1348

tube (MWCNT) in terms of smoke emission and hydrocarbon Table 5

emission. Combustion characteristics with nano fuel additives.

Reference Additives/ Concentration Heat Cylinder Ignition

base fuel (ppm) Release pressure delay
6. Effect on combustion and evaporation characteristics rate (J/ (bar) (deg.
deg) crank
The literatures related with effect of nano particles on com- angle)

bustion and evaporation characteristics are discussed here. Shaafi [55] CNT/Water 50 55 4 –
and Velraj [53] prepared blend of diesel, soyabean oil and ethanol emulsified 100 70 6.25 –
dosing 100 mg/l alumina nanoparticles. The isopropanol was used diesel 150 65 6 –
as a surfactant to improve the suspension stability of blend. An 0 80 6.5 –
[53] Alumina/Die- 100 ppm 62 64.61 15
investigation was carried out on 4-S, 1 cylinder air cooled DI
sel–Soyabean 0 51.6 63.03 13
engine to study performance, emission characteristics under biodiesel–
varying load from 0% to 100%. The higher cylinder pressure was ethanol
obtained in alumina nano particle blended fuel due to the high blend
surface area of nano particle and also presence of oxygen in soya [63] Silver/HOME 25 58 52 –
50 70 55 –
bean biodiesel results in better air fuel mixing causing fast com- 0 45 50 –
bustion reaction. The presence of alumina nano particle in fuel Diesel – 90 65 –
helps to increase the heat release rate compare to other fuel
blends and enhancing the combustion rate result in complete
combustion. Ignition delay was higher at lower load due to higher leads to complete combustion of CO and HC. The addition of nano
viscosity of fuel blend but, presence of nano particle enhances the particles also act as a lubricant reducing friction between moving
air fuel mixing at lower load. However, at higher load, the ignition part result in reduction of fuel consumption. Sajith and Mohamed
delay decreases due to elevated temperature inside the combus- [65] studied the mixture of cerium oxide and zirconium oxide
tion chamber result in lower viscosity. Aalam et al. [59] observed nano particles in diesel–jatropha biodiesel blends with dosing
that increase in concentration of nano iron oxide results in higher level of nano particles varying from 5 to 15 ppm. Zeta potential
cylinder pressure of 74 bar and heat release rate of 169 kJ/m3 deg was used to measure the suspension stability of emulsion fuel. The
of crank rotation. Gan and Qiao [60] studied evaporation rate of density of 15 ppm cerium–zirconium oxide added fuel was
aluminum nano particles in n-decane and ethanol as a base fluid increased slightly up to 0.5%, no effect was found in 5 ppm and
and obtained reduce evaporation time. Javed et al. [61] experi- 10 ppm concentration added fuel. No variation in viscosity of
mentally studied n-heptane evaporation characteristics with cerium–zirconium oxide nanoparticles blended fuel was obtained.
adding varying concentration of aluminum nano particles and the Flash point was increased with addition cerium–zirconium oxide
enhancement in evaporation rate at higher temperature with nano particle up to 3%, which is beneficial for storage, transpor-
increased concentration was obtained. Gan and Qiao [62] used tation and handling of fuel. The highest improvement in efficiency
multiwalled carbon nanotubes in ethanol to study evaporation are 16% in 10 ppm cerium–zirconium oxide added fuel due to
characteristics and found higher evaporation rate than pure oxygen donating capacity and catalytic reaction of nano particles
ethanol. Table 5 provides summary of combustion characteristics. result in complete combustion. The reduction of NOx was observed
up to 22.8% in 10 ppm concentration added fuel. Cerium oxide
donates oxygen for oxidation of hydrocarbon giving product as
7. Other approaches cerous oxide which again re-oxidized into cerium oxide reducing
the NOx emission. Hydrocarbon emission also was reduced by 25%
Researchers investigated the effect of mixed nano fuel additives for 15 ppm cerium–zirconium oxide nano particle blended fuel.
as well as swirl effect on performance and emission character-
istics. A brief review of their findings is reported here. Bana-
purmath et al. [63] investigated swirl effect with nano silver 8. Problems related with nano fuel additives and further scope
additive blended fuel for proper distribution and mixing of air of studies
inside the combustion chamber. They made tangential grooves on
the combustion chamber. They observed that combined effect of The addition of nano particles in base fuel of CI engine have
swirl and silver additive produce better performance due to proper many advantages like distributed ignition, promoting secondary
mixing of air results in complete combustion. The addition of slots atomization, reduction of emissions, improvement in perfor-
on combustion chamber to produce swirl effect improve the brake mances, ignition delay, higher evaporation rate, combustion rate
thermal efficiency and reduced the CO, HC and NOx emission and smooth working of engine, though following problems to be
compared to silver blended fuel samples. They also observed that addressed before commercialization.
increased dosing level of silver from 25 ppm to 50 ppm results in
higher performance. Mirzajanzadeh et al. [64] investigated the  The search for cost-effective nano fuel additives and also
cerium oxide nano-particles on amide-functionalized multiwall focuses on long term ecological and environmental issues
carbon nanotubes (MWCNT-amide) adding concentration from should be addressed.
30–90 ppm in steps of 30 ppm in diesel-waste cooking oil bio-  The problem of injector choking and piston oil ring sticking
diesel (WCO) blends as a base fuel. The performance was carried should be investigated before long term utilization of nano fuel
out on 6 cylinder vertical inline DI engine by varying speed from additives.
1000–2200 rpm at full load. The characterization of nano particles  The nano particles traces in exhaust gas should be investigated
was done using FTIR spectrum and SEM. They observed that power critically to avoid environmental damage.
obtained was proportional to the concentration of nano particles.  The addition of nano fuel additives slightly increases the density
The brake specific fuel consumption was reduced as concentration and viscosity of fuel which can have influence on atomization,
of nano particles increased. The overall improvement in results of air fuel mixing rate and spray angle, hence parameters of fuel
performance parameter was attributed to oxygen providing ability injection system should be investigated.
 V.W. Khond, V.M. Kriplani / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 59 (2016) 1338–1348
 The major issues of suspension quality can be addressed effec-
tively to avoid the agglomeration of particles in base fuel.
 The efforts to be made to investigate the effect of thermal
properties of nano fuel additives on combustion.
 More studies are needed to investigate evaporation character-
istics of nano particles blended base fuel.
 More investigations are needed to find the effect of different
nano particles in the same base fuel.
 The effects of oxidation of nano fuel additives on the perfor-
mance and emission characteristics should be addressed in
future research.
 Further investigations are needed to study the effects of same
nano fuel additives in different biodiesel to select appropriate
biodiesel-nano particles combination.
 Further researches are needed to investigate the effect of nano
additives on the exhaust after treatment devices.
 The optimum combination of concentration and size of nano
particles are needed to study in future.
 Computational fluid dynamics of injector spray of fuel con-
taining nano particles can be further research of investigation.
 The effect of nano particles on unregulated emission are to be
investigated in future.
 Future studies are needed to investigate the effect of water on
quality of nano particles in water emulsified fuels.
 The characterization of nano particles are needed to investigate
the effect of nano additives.
9. Conclusions
According to analysis of above research papers, it can be con-
cluded that broad range of nano fluid additives can be used as
additives in diesel and biodiesel due to increased surface area to
volume ratio, increased in catalytic activity in nano size metal
oxides and metals. Nano fluid increases better combustion due
micro explosion phenomenon. Following conclusions can be
drawn from the analysis of above literatures
 It can be concluded that addition of nano particles improves the
calorific value and cetane number of diesel and biodiesel fuel.
However viscosity, flash point and density of fuel are slightly
increased.
 It is evident from literatures that nano fluid enhances com-
bustion of fuel due to improvement in heat transfer, catalytic
activity, air fuel mixing rate.
 The results showed that brake specific consumption decreases
with dosing of nano particles additive due to enhanced calorific
value, catalytic oxidation and complete combustion of fuel.
 It is evident from the literatures that the higher brake thermal
efficiency was obtained using nano fluid additives by promoting
complete combustion. The results showed that increasing dos-
ing level of nano fluid additives increases the brake thermal
efficiency.
 Most of the additives showed reduction in NOx due to higher
cetane number and reduction in HC due to higher evaporation
rate and catalytic oxidation.
 Lower smoke emission was observed by most of the authors
due to higher evaporation rate, reduced ignition delay.
 Some authors observed increase in CO emission and some
authors observed decrease in CO emission due to improved
ignition characteristics with nano fluid additives. At higher
concentration of nano fluid additives, the higher CO emission
was observed.
 It can be concluded from few studies that increase in cylinder
pressure and heat release rate using nano particles was
1347
obtained. Also, higher evaporation rate was obtained in
researches.
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