Effect of Magnesium Oxide Nanoparticle as Additive with Diesel Karanja Biodiesel Blend on Performance of Diesel Engine

Abstract

The research study was conducted to produce biodiesel from Karanja oil (Pongamia pinnata) to evaluate the performance and compare the efficiency of samples involving conventional diesel, B10(10% biodiesel and 90% conventional diesel), B10MgO5(10% biodiesel, 85% conventional diesel and 5% Magnesium Oxide), and B10MgO10(10% biodiesel, 80% conventional diesel and 10% Magnesium Oxide), tested with the diesel engine. The production process undergoes a two-step transesterification process since the free fatty acid (FFA) percentage is more than 4%. The titration process reduces the FFA by using Ethanol and Potassium Hydroxide (KOH). Apart from that, the pre-treatment of oil for acid and base transesterification use methanol as a reactant with the presence of Sulfuric Acid  and Sodium Hydroxide ((NaOH) as a catalyst. Moreover, Karanja Biodiesel undergoes three characterization tests: Bomb Calorimeter Test, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), and Diesel Engine Performance Testing. From the Bomb Calorimeter test, the highest calorific value was recorded by conventional diesel with 45.5815 MJ/kg, followed by B10MgO10 and B10MgO5. While the smallest value was obtained by B10 with 38.7741 MJ/kg. The inclusion of MgO as an additive increases the calorific value for biodiesel. Throughout FT-IR analysis, four fuel samples were evaluated from the wavelength range from 600  to 4000 . The oxidation process that happens due to the presence of magnesium oxide introduces a new bond at the B10MgO5 and B10MgO10 that is the O-H bond. Meanwhile, the performance of the diesel engine is analyzed at the speed of 1400 rpm until 2200 rpm with an interval of 200 rpm. Conventional diesel has a higher brake horsepower (BHP) value at the speed of 2200 rpm. While Karanja biodiesel with 10% Magnesium Oxide as additives has a greater BHP value among other samples from the speed of 1400 to 1600 rpm. Next, the addition of MgO reduces fuel consumption in the blended Karanja biodiesel samples.