Dynamic Thermofluid Study of Petrodiesel Droplet Combustion with Variations of Kesambi Biodiesel Composition Accompanied with TiO₂ Catalyst

Abstract

The increasing global energy demand encourages the use of sustainable alternative fuels with combustion performance equivalent to petrodiesel. This study focuses on the droplet combustion characteristics of petrodiesel and biodiesel kesambi blends (B0, B10, B20, B30 B40 and B100), both without and with the addition of 100 ppm TiO₂ nanoparticle catalyst. Analysis was carried out on ignition delay, combustion duration, flame height, peak temperature, and flame visualization patterns. The results show that increasing the biodiesel fraction tends to prolong the combustion time and decrease the peak temperature, while the addition of TiO₂ provides significant improvements in the form of shorter ignition delay, higher peak temperature, and more stable flame. The novelty of this study lies in the use of a droplet approach to explore the role of TiO₂ catalyst in kesambi biodiesel, which is still limited in the literature. Thus, nanoparticle catalysts are proven to have great potential in increasing the efficiency and sustainability of the use of biodiesel–petrodiesel blends.