Abstract
In the present work, the effectiveness of the nanocrystalline CuO-ZnOas a lubricant additive to reduce the frictional losses of a VCR engine is studied. Reducing friction by lubrication is one way to enhance the life of the components, which can be achieved by improving the lubrication properties. The properties of lubricants can be changed by the addition of chemical additives. NanocrystallineCuO-ZnO was prepared by the homogeneous precipitation method. The nanoparticle powder was dispersed uniformly in the SAE 20W40 engine oil at different concentrations by using a Probe Sonicator. The nanocrystalline size was found to within 30nm by XRD characterization. Initially, experiments were conducted with the base oil without any addition of nanoparticle and the performance and combustion parameters were calculated. Then, experiments were carried out with the lubricant mixed with various concentrations of nanoparticles at different engine loads and different compression ratios by maintaining a constant engine speed of 1500 rpm. The experimental results lead to the conclusions that there was a decrease in frictional power with the nanolubricant compared to the base oil. This phenomenon was observed to increase when the concentration of nanoparticle increases in the lubricant. Brake specific fuel consumption also decreases with an increase of nanoparticle concentration in the lubricant oil, which is very much pronounced at idle and low engine load conditions. The exhaust gas emission level of HC,CO and CO2 were also decreased with lubricant additives as compared to that of SAE 20W40.
Keywords: CuO-ZnO Nano-particles, Lubricant Additives, XRD,VCREngine