Enhancement of combustion effect leading to improved performance and exhaust emissions of an SI engine with ferrous oxide and graphite nanoparticles.

The present study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of new, less toxic, less harmful, and nonmetallic graphite (G) and metallic iron oxide (Fe2O3) nanofuel additives by analyzing experimentally their consequences on exhaust emissions and performance of an air cooled, single cylinder, 4-stroke gasoline engine. Fe2O3 and graphite nanoparticles at 40, 80, and 120 mg/l of gasoline concentrations were mixed with gasoline by means of a magnetic stirrer. Brake power (BP), brake-specific fuel consumption (BSFC), torque (T), brake thermal efficiency (BTE), nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions were the investigated parameters. Experimental results indicated that G-blends showed a higher rise in brake power, brake thermal efficiency and torque and a greater reduction in the brake-specific fuel consumption as compared to that of Fe2O3 fuel blends. Moreover, the G-blends produced less NOx and CO2 than Fe2O3 blends but produced more emissions of CO and HC than that of Fe2O3 blends. On average, G-blends produced 0.46%, 0.71%, and 1.71% more torque, power, and BTE and 2.43%, 1.87%, and 13.39% less brake-specific fuel consumption (BSFC), NOx, and CO2 than Fe2O3 blends, respectively. So, in terms of the eight parameters, four performance parameters (i.e., T, BP, BSFC, BTE), and four engine emission exhaust indicators (i.e., CO, NOx, HC, CO2), graphite nanoparticles showed more positive results for 6 parameters (T, BP, BSFC, BTE, NOx, CO2), while two parameters HC and CO showed negative results with graphite as compared to that of Fe2O3 nanoparticles. So, overall, we conclude that nanoparticles of graphite are more engine and environment friendly than that of iron oxide fuel additives.