Energy, exergy, and sustainability assessments of a compression ignition diesel engine fueled with Pongamia pinnata oil − diesel blends and nanoparticles

The poor engine performance of a biodiesel-diesel fueled diesel engine can be avoided by dispersing nano additives in biodiesel-diesel fuel samples. In the current investigation, a novel nanoparticle (including Titanium dioxide (TiO₂), Graphene oxide (GO), and Graphene nanoplatelets (GNP)) are dispersed in B20 blend (20% volume of Pongamia pinnata methyl ester mixed in 80% volume of diesel) fuel blend and tested on a 1-cylinder, 4-stroke, water cooled diesel engine. This investigation is aimed to determine energy, exergy, and sustainability assessment through energy, and exergy distributions employing first and second law of thermodynamics for the tested fuels such as D100, B20, B20Ti60, B20GO60, and B20GNP60. The engine operating parameters including compression ratio, speed, and Injection timing are kept constant at 17.5, 1500 rpm, and 23˚ bTDC respectively. The inclusion of nanoparticles in B20 blend results in improved energy efficiency, exergy efficiency, sustainability index (SI), and Exergy Performance Coefficient (EPC) by 11.1, 13.7, 16.6, and 11.5%, while energy loss and exergy destruction is reduced by 40.5, and 7.40% for B20GNP60 blend at maximum Brake Power (BP). out of all tested fuel samples, the B20GNP60 sample outperformed when compared to the remaining samples. Energy, exergy, and sustainability offer significant details about the overall engine performance and its effects on the engine. Adopting biodiesel enriched with nanoparticles is not just a promising substitute in the quest for more efficient and sustainable forms of energy. This study recommends additional research and development in the fields of engine optimization, emergence of sustainable energy solutions.