E-learning is currently a rapidly growing trend which attempts to provide an infrastructural configuration that integrates and encompass learning content, services and tools as a single solution which can generate and deliver educational contents and training effectively, efficiently and cost-effectively. In advanced technical education, laboratories are essential learning spaces. Providing laboratory facilities at universities with limited funds and technical know-how is difficult due to the high expenses of installation and upkeep. In order to tackle these obstacles, "virtual laboratories" have been established. Through remote access, virtual laboratories make it possible for users to conduct experiments similar to genuine systems. Consequently, resources of laboratories can be shared across a wide community of geographically dispersed customers while restricting operational expenses and initial set-up to one single institution. This article reviews the virtual laboratory for engineering education. Three distinct e-learning resource methods are discussed. The intrinsic objectives of animation are also explained. Lastly, the conclusion is provided along with recommendation for future studies.

In comparison to ethanol biofuel, butanol is considerably less corrosive, permitting the utilization of existing infrastructures used to ship gasoline or diesel for its distribution. Less corrosive also means that butanol can be utilized with no engine alteration. If butanol is mixed with water, it is less likely to split from the main fuel, thus facilitating the storage and distribution of blended fuels. Butanol also comprises a comparable energy content to petrol fuel, with 25% more energy density/liter as opposed to ethanol. All these excellent qualities have led to higher engine performance, enabling the vehicles to achieve higher mileage using butanol with no significant issue. Several challenges and future research directions are discussed and in the last section of this review article, we emphasize the importance of an optical engine to diagnose engine combustion in more detail. The consequence of using butanol on spark ignition engine on cold start and knock phenomena are also worth investigating. Results on the spray, the pressure inside the cylinder, rate of heat release, and detonation are thus required.

Global emission of gases has increased rapidly due to higher combustion of fossil fuels arising from increasing world population which has led to a greater number of manufacturing industries and ”˜on-road vehicle (ORV)”™ users. Researchers have attributed cause of global warming to gases emissions which correspondingly lead to climate change with devastating repercussions. Currently, climate change is a general issue and world leaders have been tasked to cut down emissions of gases that directly affect the ecosystem and influence climate change. Biodiesel which is an alternative to fossil fuels face many challenges and to tackle some limitations with biodiesel researchers blends biodiesels in various proportional ratio to diesel fuel. This paper, therefore, concentrates on reviewing the use of additives specifically nano-additives by researchers recently to alter and boost desired characteristics in diesel-biodiesel fuel; it also examines the synthesis of nano-additives; challenges, and advances made. This paper further analysed, reviewed, and compared recent results from nano-additive use with respect to emissions, fuel consumption, brake thermal efficiency, and engine power, establishes the merits and demerits of diverse nano-additives, and finally presents a conclusive opinion on nano-additive usage with diesel fuels in diesel engines.

This paper investigates impact of magnetite dispersed in butanol and added to two varied blends of palm biodiesel and diesel (B20 and B30). The developed fuel samples were characterized and tested on single cylinder diesel Yanmar engine (L70N) to observe engine behavior for emissions and performance. Results are compared with two reference fuels: YF50 fuel contains 50 ppm magnetite in B20 and B_n10Y90 contains 10% butanol with 90% B20. Addition of magnetite and butanol depletes emissions levels and improve performance compared to ordinary B20 and B30 however; samples with higher dosage of magnetite (150 ppm) yielded better results in performance and emission compared with lower dosage (75 ppm). The best sample was C10Z90 which entails 150 ppm magnetite in butanol added at 10% to B30. Brake thermal efficiency (BTE) at highest brake power (BP) point for C10Z90 was 37.28% compared to others (32.88%, 35.22% and 35.96%). Additionally, brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) of C10Z90 was at least 8.29 g/Kw.hr and at most 84.52 g/Kw.hr less than other samples at highest BP point. Results indicated C10Z90 was lower in carbon-monoxide, hydrocarbon and smoke except for oxides of nitrogen. Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model successfully predicted BTE, BSFC and emissions of the dual fuel application.

The development of diesel engines faces challenging targets to satisfy stringent emissions regulation. To address this issue, the use of alcohol biofuels such as methanol and ethanol has attracted numerous attention due to their physicochemical properties and the possibility to be produced from renewable sources and agricultural waste material. Compared to ethanol, longer carbon alcohol such as butanol has higher energy density and lower latent heat, hygroscopicity, aggressivity, and toxicity. It can also be produced from biomass. Yet, despite its noticeable advantages, the use of butanol in the internal combustion engine is hindered by its low production efficiency. If Acetone-Butanol-Ethanol (ABE) is further distilled and purified, pure butanol and ethanol can be acquired, but this involves an energy-intensive process, thus increasing the production cost of butanol. To solve this problem, the direct use of ABE as a biofuel is considered a promising strategy. The idea of using ABE directly in internal combustion engines is then proposed to solve the economic issue of high butanol production costs. A scoping literature review was performed to screen and filter previously published papers on ABE by identifying knowledge gaps instead of discussing what is already known. Therefore, repeated and almost identical studies were eliminated, thus reporting only the most significant and impactful published papers. In terms of the objective, this article aims to review the progress of ABE as a promising biofuel in regard to the engine performance, combustion, and emission characteristics. Focus is also given to ABE”™s physicochemical properties. Despite their considerable importance, the fuel properties of ABE are rarely discussed. Therefore, this review article intends to analytically discuss the physicochemical properties of ABE in terms of their calorific value, density, kinematic viscosity, and distillation. In general, it is concluded that engine emissions such as NOx and Particulate Matter (PM) could be reduced considerably with the use of ABE. Yet, the BSFC was found to increase due to the relatively lower calorific value and density of ABE blends as opposed to gasoline or diesel fuel, thereby increasing its fuel consumption. In terms of ABE”™s fuel properties, in general, ABE can be used due to its satisfying physicochemical properties. However, it should be noted that the ABE-gasoline/diesel blends are greatly influenced by each of its component ratios (acetone, butanol, ethanol).

Conventional gasoline engines suffer from low performance and NOx emissions. Controlled auto-ignition (CAI), sometimes referred to as homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI), is a promising concept to solve such problems. CAI has the potential to improve spark ignition (SI) engine fuel economy while at the same time solving the trade-off of NOx-soot emissions found in compression ignition (CI) engines. The CAI engine can reach a fuel economy comparable to that of a conventional diesel engine with ultra-low NOx and negligible soot emissions. However, controlling auto-ignition remains the biggest difficulty that hinders the implementation of CAI as a commercial engine. Research towards a cleaner and more efficient engine is driven by the progressively stringent emission regulation imposed worldwide. Therefore, the CAI was developed to meet the emissions target while maintaining engine performance. CAI works on the principle of lean mixture and auto-ignition. To obtain CAI combustion, the temperatures in the cylinder must be sufficient to initiate auto-ignition. Without the use of a spark plug or injector, the CAI suffers from a direct control mechanism to start the combustion. The most practical approach to controlling the initiation of auto-ignition in CAI is diluting the intake charge by either trapping the residual gas or recirculating the exhaust gas. Both approaches enable the engine to achieve CAI combustion without requiring significant modifications to control the onset of CAI combustion phase.