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The present work emphasized overall viability study of using waste transformer oil (WTO) and its combinations on a diesel engine. To accomplish this fuel samples were divided into three sets with different volumetric proportions. Each set of fuel is compared with the others and finally, the reference fuel is regular diesel. After thorough characterization and utilizing spectroscopic methods like CHNS analysis and FTIR, the performance and emission evaluation was done on a one-cylinder diesel engine. It has been discovered that the flash point, calorific value, and viscosity of WTO blends are more than regular diesel fuel. The WTO blends have higher carbon content than diesel but higher Sulphur content than diesel fuel. WTO and its blends have some similar functional groups as diesel fuel. According to the performance and emission evaluation, the diesel engine is capable of operating even when fueled with raw WTO. Among all the samples tested, WTO20 BD10D70 shows the most satisfactory result. The brake thermal efficiency of WTO20BD10D70 was almost similar to diesel fuel, while BSFC and BSEC were found to be only 4.73% and 3.46% higher than diesel fuel, respectively. The exhaust gas temperature was 8% lower than diesel. However, HC emission of WTO20BD10D70 was 20% more than diesel fuel, while CO and NOx emissions were 14% and 4.75% lower than diesel fuel. So, the sample code with WTO20BD10D70 can be recommended as a substitute for regular diesel fuel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work deals with the study of various properties of aluminum (Al)- incorporated diamond-like carbon (DLC) thin films synthesized using the atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (APCVD) technique by varying the deposition temperature (Td) and keeping the N2 flow rate constant. Surface morphology analysis, resistance to corrosion, nanohardness (H), and Young's modulus (E) of the coatings were carried out using atomic force microscopy (AFM), corrosion test, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and nanoindentation test, respectively. SEM results showed a smoother surface morphology of the coatings grown at different process temperatures. With an increase in process temperature, the coating roughness (Ra) lies in the range of 20-36 µm. The corrosion resistance of the coating was found to be reduced with a consecutive increase in the deposition temperature from 800°C to 880°C. However, above 880°C, the resistance increases further, and it may be due to the presence of more Al weight percentage in the coating. The nanoindentation result revealed that H and E of the coating increase with an increase in the CVD process temperature. The elastic--plastic property indicated by H/E and H³/E², which are also indicators of the wear properties of the coating, were studied using the nanoindentation technique. The residual stresses (σ) calculated using Stoney's equation revealed a reduction in residual stress with an increase in the process temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar air heaters are extensively being used to heat air, but has low thermal efficiency because of poor heat transfer between the solar absorber plate and the air in transient through it, and also due to availability of solar radiation only during the day time and an increase in demand during the night. In the present study, the thermal performance of a solar air heater with pin fin absorber plate with pin immersed in paraffin wax as phase change material has been investigated experimentally. The proposed solar air heater has been designed, fabricated and tested under the weather conditions of Dhanbad, Jharkhand, India (latitude 23° 65'N and longitude 86° 47'E). The effects of varying the mass flow rate of air on the performance of the solar air heater have been further analysed. Experimental investigation shows that the average daily efficiency of the proposed solar air heater increases with an increase in the mass flow rate of air. Also, pin fin absorber plate with pin immersed in paraffin wax further enhances its performance with an increase in heat transfer rate from the absorber plate to Phase Change Material (PCM) bed during charging, and also from the PCM to the absorber plate during discharging, resulting an increase in the performance of the solar air heater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]