Effects of Water-Diesel Emulsion on the Emission Characteristics of Single Cylinder Direct Injection Diesel Engine - A Review

Diesel engines generate undesirable emissions during the combustion process.Various control methods have been developed to reduce nitrogen oxides (NOx) andparticulate matter (PM) emissions from diesel engines so that the strict emission regulationscan be fulfilled. Oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) are the mainpollutants from diesel engines and it has been proven that the method of introducing waterwith fuel to be a powerful and economical technique for reducing these pollutants. Water-Diesel emulsion is a new type of fuel which can be used in place of diesel fuel for thepurpose to get the reduction in emissions of diesel engines.Many studies have been done on emulsion fuels and have concluded that this technique hasthe potential to significantly reduce the formation of NOx and PM and improve combustionefficiency. The emulsified fuel contains water and diesel fuel with some suitable surfactantsto stabilize the system. An important aspect pertaining to water-diesel emulsion as a fuel fordiesel engines is that it can be used without any modification in the existing engine. Thispaper presents an overview of recent progress in research of using water-diesel emulsion forthe purpose of improving emission characteristics of a single cylinder direct injection dieselengine.