Upgrading the Refinery Diesel by Using Copper Oxide Nanoparticles

Diesel as a fossil fuel is a natural resource being highly consumed in the daily life. As much as this petroleum product benefits the essentials of industrial factors, it highly affects the environmental and health aspects of the human life. In addition, this source of energy is a non-renewable resource which could lead to extinction by long run. Alternative fuels are being developed, analyzed and modified to meet local, international and environmental requirements. The experimental work focuses on the behavior of a refined diesel fuel when nano-particles are added. Copper oxide was blended with diesel to give the nano-diesel being analyzed using a four stroke engine under two loads indicating light vehicles and heavy duty vehicles. The nano-diesel was prepared by the aid of an ultrasonicator and a mechanical homogenizer. The refined diesel was employed by MIDOR® with the standard physico-chemical characteristics of the refined diesel. In addition, copper oxide nano-particles were supplied by NanoTech Egypt for Photo-Electronics. A base diesel was taken as a reference to distinguish the affect of the nano-particles on the same diesel.