Impacts of NOx reducing antioxidant additive on performance and emissions of a multi-cylinder diesel engine fueled with Jatropha biodiesel blends

Energy requirements are increasing rapidly due to fast industrialization and the increased number of vehicles on the road. The use of biodiesel in diesel engines instead of diesel results in the proven reduction of harmful exhaust emissions. However, most researchers have reported that they produce higher NOx emissions compared to diesel, which is a deterrent to the expansion of the market for these fuels. Several proposed pathways try to account for NOx formation during the combustion process. Among them, the Fenimore mechanism explains that fuel radicals formed during the combustion process react with nitrogen from the air to form NOx. It could be proposed that if these radical reactions could be terminated, the NOx formation rate for biodiesel combustion would decrease. An experimental study was conducted on a four-cylinder diesel engine to evaluate the performance and emission characteristics of Jatropha biodiesel blends (JB5, JB10, JB15 and JB20) with and without the addition of N,N′-diphenyl-1,4-phenylenediamine (DPPD) antioxidant. For each tested fuel, the engine performance and emissions were measured at engine speeds 1000–4000 rpm at an interval of 500 rpm under the full throttle condition. The results showed that this antioxidant additive could reduce NOx emissions significantly with a slight penalty in terms of engine power and Brake Specific Fuel Consumption (BSFC) as well as CO and HC emissions. However, when compared to diesel combustion, the emissions of HC and CO with the addition of the DPPD additive were found to be nearly the same or lower. By the addition of 0.15% (m) DPPD additive in JB5, JB10, JB15 and JB20, the reduction in NOx emissions were 8.03%, 3.503%, 13.65% and 16.54% respectively, compared to biodiesel blends without the additive under the full throttle condition. Moreover, the addition of DPPD additive to all biodiesel blend samples reduced the exhaust gas temperature.