A tribological characteristics and experimental analysis of novel chlorella biodiesel blends on engine performance

Abstract

The present work proposes an investigation to assess the viability of novel mineral-based biodiesel developed from chlorella emersonii, a species of green algae. A single-cylinder, water-cooled, the four-stroke diesel engine was used in the experiments. Among the different biodiesel blends that were investigated for their tribological and engine performance characteristics, the B40 chlorella emersonii biodiesel blend exhibited the least coefficient of friction and while B40 and B100 blends offered enhanced performance characteristics. Comparatively, the remaining test fuel blends attained higher steady-state coefficient rates of friction: B10 (30.8%), B20 (16.21%), B60 (7.7%), B90 (18.2%), and mineral diesel (39.44%). B100 fuel blend exhibited the highest Flash temperature parameter of 83 oC while mineral diesel exhibited the lowest at 58.4 oC. These values were inversely proportional to their respective wear scar diameters with mineral diesel showing the highest wear scar diameter at 0.768 mm. The diameter of the wear scar yielded minimal wear for fuel blends from B40 to B100 and mineral diesel. The corrosion physiognomies of the test fuel blends were investigated, and the B40 fuel blend demonstrated lower corrosion characteristics with a steady-state coefficient of friction of 0.081 when compared to the other fuel blends. The investigated gasoline blends (B40 and B100) were tested on a diesel engine, which demonstrated reduced brake thermal efficiency and a wider range of brake-specific energy consumption under peak load circumstances. The B40 fuel blend exhibited better emissions performance during testing where the unburnt hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and smoke emitted were 10.94%, 15.7%, and 23.4% less than mineral diesel.