High-rise in the air pollution levels due to combustion of the fossil fuel gives us the opportunity to discover environmentally friendly and clean fuels for the engines. Biodiesel originated from cashew nut shell oil through transesterification process can be blended or used as a neat fuel in unmodified engines. This work investigates the effect of alumina nanoparticles on emission and performance characteristics of cashew nut shell biodiesel. Neat cashew nut shell biodiesel prepared by conventional transesterification is termed as BD100 and biodiesel prepared by modified transesterification with the addition of alumina nanoparticles is termed as BD100A. Experimental results on unmodified diesel engine revealed that emission parameters such as CO, HC, NOx, and smoke were decreased by 5.3%, 7.4%, 10.23%, and 16.1% for BD100% and 8.8%, 10.1%, 12.4%, and 18.4% for B100A, respectively, compared to diesel fuel. At full load conditions, compared to diesel fuel, the BTE dropped by 1.1% and 2.3%, whereas the BSFC increased by 3.8% and 5.1% for B100A and B100 correspondingly.

Carbon nanotubes are one of the major research areas in the field of nanotechnology, due to its mechanical and electro-conductive properties in the field of engineering and medical sciences. This paper focuses on preparation of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) for the mass production using thermal catalytic chemical vapour deposition method. The synthesis of MWCNTs was made by breakdown of acetylene (C₂H₂) gas and Fe/MgO acting as catalyst. The surface morphology and structure of MWCNTs were characterised by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Also phase identification and crystalline size of the nanopowder were determined by XRD. The particle size of MWCNTs was verified by SEM analysis and it was in the range of 20–30 nm and elemental analysis was carried out through energy dispersive analysis X-ray. Furthermore, thermal decomposition of the material property was studied by thermogravimetric analysis.

This study is intended to examine the ignition characteristics of a cashew nut shell biodiesel (C100) along with ethyne (acetylene) as a dual fuel in a diesel engine. Cashew nut shell oil is employed in this study owing to non-toxic nature, free from sulphur, biodegradable, and free of aromatics. Ethyne gas was introduced at different flow rate of 2, 4, 6 litres per minute (lpm). Experimental results revealed that duel fuelling ethyne gas to base fuel (C100) at 6 lpm reduce 18.1% CO, 9.7% HC, 6.87% Smoke with 11.1% increase in NO_x emissions. Higher thermal efficiency was observed for ethyne–biodiesel mixture than neat biodiesel in all flow rates. Furthermore, the heat release and peak pressure were enhanced by duel fuelling ethyne gas to base fuel (C100).

This work aims to investigate the effect of the addition of water to corn oil biodiesel (BD) (COBD) in a diesel engine to view its effect on performance and emission characteristics. Two fuel samples were prepared using a novel surfactant Span 80 (MilliporeSigma, Burlington, MA), with different concentrations (94 % corn oil + 4 % water + 2 % Span 80 (COBDE1) and 90 % corn oil + 8 % water + 2 % Span 80 (COBDE2)). Experimental results showed that the water samples of COBD had higher brake thermal efficiency and lower brake-specific fuel consumption than that of neat COBD at all engine brake power. In addition, smoke and nitrogen oxide emissions are reduced by 4–11 % and 6–10 % using corn oil–water samples compared to neat COBD. Furthermore, the introduction of COBD-water emulsions in a diesel engine reduces the unburned hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions considerably.

This study emphasis on a novel fabrication technique to fabricate hybrid cermets using Al 6061 alloy with nano sized SiC, Al₂O₃ and TiO₂ as reinforcements. During the fabrication process, the melted pool was ultrasonicated to disperse nanoparticles at 20 kHz for 5 min and pressure of 50 MPa was applied to eliminate voids. The influence of nanoparticles on physical, thermal and mechanical properties were evaluated by tensile, wear and thermal studies. Cermets with Al₂O₃ reinforcements showed higher mechanical performance compared to Al alloy. This enhancement could be related to the uniform distribution of Al₂O₃ with refinement in grain size of Al alloy which was observed via surface analysis. The morphological studies provided justifiable evidence of homogeneous distribution, nominal cluster along with agglomeration and cavities shrinking on the cermets. The agglomeration of nanoparticles along with SiC protected the cermet in corrosion and abrasive wear by ~ 97% and ~ 71%. The study evidenced the novel fabrication method using ultrasonic rheo-squeeze casting led to improvement in mechanical and thermal properties of the hybrid cermets. Graphical