Water Emulsified Diesel and Its Combustion Characteristics as CI Engine Fuel

In this article, emulsified diesel containing 10% water has been used in a single-cylinder, 4-stroke diesel engine at different loads to investigate the performance and combustion characteristics. A mechanical homogenizer and an ultrasonic machine have been used to prepare the emulsion by adding a 2% surfactant mixture of Tween 80 and Span 80 with a resultant Hydrophil-Lipophile Balance (HLB) value 8. Improved combustion characteristics with respect to cumulative heat release and rate of pressure rise are observed using emulsified fuel produced by ultrasonic machine. For a particular load, the equivalence ratio is minimum for normal diesel and maximum for emulsion produced by mechanical homogenizer (WEDM10). The equivalence ratios at 12 kg of engine load are recorded as 0.483, 0.568, and 0.689 for normal diesel, WEDU10, and WEDM10 respectively. Torque versus fuel consumption rate analysis shows that the conversion rate of chemical energy of fuel into functional mechanical work is greater for WEDU10 than WEDM10.