Analysis on fuel properties of cerium oxide additive in algae biodiesel by using optimization tools / Nurul Nabilah Khairul Salleh

In recent years, biodiesel fuels have drawn a lot of attention as one of the promising energy sources that are similar to fossil fuels. The depletion of fossil fuel, particularly diesel, has led the researchers to explore on biodiesel as alternative fuel due to benefits offered such as environmentally-friendly, non-toxic characteristics, biodegradability and low net carbon cycle. Algae have attracted attention as one of the potential feedstocks as it has relatively high oil content, besides rapid biomass production. Biodiesel from algae serves lower environmental impact than crop- derived biodiesel and does not compete with food supplies. Hence, biodiesel from algae is one of the most promising alternative fuels to substitute fossil fuels in the future. Biodiesel from algae contributes to a reduction of carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbon (HC), and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions compared to diesel emissions. However, the nitrogen (NOx) emission stemming from algae biodiesel is higher due to the presence of oxygen content. As a result, the addition of fuel additives such as nanoparticles play a major role in increasing biodiesel performance and improve the properties of the biodiesel upon reducing the nitrogen (NOx) emission, and improving the engine performance and combustion characteristics. This research mainly presents the analysis on the properties of algae biodiesel with the addition of cerium oxide as fuel additive in terms of dynamic viscosity and calorific value. The values obtained from the fuel properties analysis were used as inputs into the Design of Expert (DOE) software to optimise the blend of algae biodiesel with cerium oxide. Analysis of the final optimum blend by the software showed that the dynamic viscosity obtained through this research was significant and the calorific value was conformed to the biodiesel standard. Thus, it proves that cerium oxide as fuel additives assists in