The Role of Cheap Chemicals Containing Oxygen Used as Diesel Fuel Additives in Reducing Carbon Footprints

Abstract

This study investigates the improvement of combustion performance, engine emissions, energy, exergy, and thermodynamic efficiencies by adding oxygenated additives to diesel/biodiesel blends. Five different fuel mixtures (D100, D80B20, D50B50, D30B50S20, and D30B50G20) were tested in a diesel engine. The positive effects of the additives on engine efficiency became evident. In terms of combustion performance, the maximum in-cylinder pressure was observed with D100; however, a decrease of 11.51% was noted with the D50B50 mixture, while an increase of 7.51% was achieved with the addition of butyl diglycol. The addition of butyl diglycol also increased the heat release rate by 34.36%. Regarding exhaust emissions, the D30B50G20 fuel produced the lowest CO emissions (0.02%), while HC emissions decreased by 80% compared to D100. Smoke opacity was also found to be lower with D30B50G20. However, these additives led to a 2.65% decrease in certain performance metrics. On the other hand, the sustainability analysis revealed that the most efficient fuel mixture was D30B50G20.