The increasing cost of fossil fuels as well as increasing environmental pollution has attracted research in alternative fuels and additives for improving the performance and reducing emissions of diesel engines without costly engine modifications. In the present article, an exhaustive analysis of the performance and emissions of oxygenated ternary fuel blends is done through modeling and experimental investigation to determine the optimal blending ratio of additives for reduced emissions. The Nitromethane-n-butanol -diesel blend is termed as bio-oxygenated fuel. Baseline data were generated by using diesel and a blend of 20% (v/v) n-butanol with diesel (B20). Ternary blends of Nitromethane (NM) and B20 containing 1-3% NM by volume were prepared and experiments were conducted. It was observed that 1% of Nitromethane by volume (NM1B20) gives best results for emission reduction. The overall effect of this ternary blend was reduction in smoke and nitrogen oxides (NOx) by 61.85% and 8.07%, respectively, as compared to diesel. Moreover, the performance of ternary blend was also found to be better than the base fuels. It was thus concluded that Nitromethane-n-butanol diesel blends can be highly effective alternatives in reducing emissions in diesel engines with a little improvement in the overall performance characteristics. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.