Performance Investigation of a Four Stroke Diesel Engine, Using Water-Based Ferrofluid as an Additive

Abstract

In this experimental study, a four stroke diesel engine was conducted to investigate the effect of adding water-based ferrofluid to diesel fuel on engine performance. To our knowledge, Magnetic nanoparticles had not been used before. To this end, emulsified diesel fuels of 0, 0.4, and 0.8 water-based ferrofluid/Diesel ratios by volume were used as fuel. The ferrofluid used in this study was a handmade water-based ferrofluid prepared by the authors. The results show that adding water-based ferrofluid to diesel fuel has a perceptible effect on engine performance, increasing the brake thermal efficiency relatively up to 12%, and decreasing the brake specific fuel consumption relatively up to 11% as compared to diesel fuel. In addition, the results indicate that increasing ferrofluid concentration will magnify the results. Furthermore, it was found that magnetic nanoparticles can be collected at the engine exhaust using magnetic bar.