Experimental investigations on performance improvement and emission control of a single cylinder diesel engine by using trinary blends with nano additives

¹ Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bharath Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
² Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bharath Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
³ Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Jai Shriram Engineering College, Tirupur, India.
⁴ Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Siddharth Institute of Engineering & Technology, Puttur, Andhrapradesh- 517583
⁵ Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bharath Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.

^* Corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published online: 3 March 2026

Abstract

The significant search in exploration of renewable fuel for IC engines is due to energy crisis (rapid exhaustion of fossil fuels), energy security, and increasing cost of fuel, environmental degradation and CO₂ emission which contribute to rise of global warming. Several researches have been done by researchers with different types of alternate fuels. Eucalyptus oil is one such alternate fuel which is being tried due to its properties. Eucalyptus has low viscous and high calorific value that assists maintenance of stability in diesel – alcohol blends as a fuel in engines. As eucalyptus oil has higher flash point and cetane number with reduced viscosity, it improves the mixture formation and quality of the ignition by reducing delay period. This study investigates the impact of blending diesel with propanol, eucalyptus oil, and 40 ppm of Graphene Oxide nano additives on the performance and emissions of a single-cylinder engine. The addition of GO to various blends of eucalyptus, diesel, and propane with 40 ppm of GO led to an increase in brake thermal efficiency. Meanwhile, the emission of Carbon Monoxide, Hydrocarbon, and Carbon dioxide (CO₂) decreased. However, the addition of GO resulted in an increase in Oxides of nitrogen compared to diesel fuel.