Desulfurization of diesel-like fuel produced from waste lubrication oil and its utilization on engine performance and exhaust emission

Abstract

In this study, desulfurization of diesel-like fuel (DLF) produced from waste lubrication oil, and the effects of desulfurized fuel on engine performance and emissions were investigated experimentally. Firstly, the DLF was produced by using a fuel production system and applying pyrolitic distillation method. After producing the DLF, oxidative desulfurization (ODS) method was applied at a temperature of 50 °C in order to decrease the amount of sulfur in the DLF. The sulfur level of the DLF was decreased from 3500 to 420 ppm after the application of ODS method. It was observed that temperature had an important effect on decrement of sulfur content of the DLF. Secondly, characteristic tests such as density, kinematic viscosity, heating value and flash point, sulfur content and distillation tests for the desulfurized fuel named as low sulfur diesel-like fuel (LSDLF) are performed. Finally, the LSDLF and a commercial diesel fuel were used in a diesel test engine to examine their effects on engine performance and emission parameters. In each test, performance and emission parameters for the fuels were measured using the test engine and exhaust gas analyzer. The performance and emission test results indicated that torque, mean effective pressure and brake thermal efficiency for the LSDLF were slightly higher while brake specific fuel consumption, exhaust temperature and emissions of SO2, CO and NOx appeared to be lower than those of the commercial diesel fuel. It was concluded that the LSDLF could be used in diesel engine without any problems in terms of physico-chemical parameters, distillation and performance tests.