Zinc Oxide Nanoparticle Fuel Additives for Improved Efficiency and Emissions of Internal Combustion Engines

摘要

Harmful emissions from Spark Ignition (SI) engines and their less efficient consumption/combustion of fuel(s) arises a dire need for a new breed of fuel additives that not only improves the combustion efficiency of the fuels used but also substantially reduces the harmful emissions (CO, NO_x, UHCs, etc.) up to the minimum possible level which would help to sustain a cleaner, greener and pollutant free environment. This paper is an attempt to analyse the performance of a 4-stroke Multi Cylinder engine carried out using self-synthesised ZnO nanoparticles and its petrol blends. The experimentations have been carried out with an aim of obtaining comparative measures of fuel consumption rate, brake thermal efficiency and exhaust gas temperature. The attained results show that blend containing up to 50 ppm ZnO nanoparticles performed successfully in engine without any design modifications. Improved thermal efficiency up to 6.8% along with a decrease in fuel consumption to 6.20% are reported.