Abstract
There is a recent interest for the utilisation of renewable and alternative fuel, which is regulated by the European Union, that currently imposes a lower limit of 7% by volume of biodiesel fuel blend in diesel fuel. The biodiesel physical characteristics, as well as the percentage of biodiesel blend in diesel fuel, affect the injector nozzle flow, the spray characteristics, the resulting air/fuel mixture, and subsequently the combustion quality and emissions, as well as the overall engine performance. In the present study, two different types of pure biodiesel fuel, namely, methanol-based biodiesel and ethanol-based biodiesel, were produced in the laboratory of Frederick University by chemical processing of raw materials. The two biodiesel fuels were used for blending pure diesel fuel at various percentages. The blends were used for smoke emissions measurements of a diesel internal combustion engine at increasing engine speed and for increasing engine temperatures. From the experimental investigations it was found that ethanol-based biodiesel blends result in higher smoke emissions than pure diesel fuel, while methanol-based biodiesel blends smoke emissions are lower compared to pure diesel fuel.
Highlights
There is recent interest for the utilisation of renewable and alternative fuels by the European Union (EU), which is regulated by Directive 2009/30/EC
The present study examines, experimentally, vehicle diesel internal combustion engines operating with blends of two different types of biodiesel fuels, namely, methanolbased and ethanol-based denoted MB and EB, respectively, in diesel fuel
The experimental setup used for the measurements includes the diesel internal combustion engine where the test fuels were examined and the exhaust emissions were measured, the exhaust gas analyser which was employed for the measurements, the laboratory production of the two types of biodiesel, and the preparation of blends at various percentages
Summary
There is recent interest for the utilisation of renewable and alternative fuels by the European Union (EU), which is regulated by Directive 2009/30/EC. The specifications of biodiesel fuels which can be used for blending diesel fuel are defined by the European standard EN 14214 [1]. The physical properties of biodiesel affect the diesel blends, and the range of density, viscosity, and flash point of biodiesel are specified in EN 14214. Other physical properties of diesel blends including the surface tension coefficient, the fuel vapour pressure, the boiling point, and the latent heat of evaporation affect the injected fuel spray characteristics, the resulting air/fuel mixing, combustion, and the emissions of diesel internal combustion engines (ICE), as well as the engine overall performance. Biodiesel fuels can be produced from rapeseed via cold pressing/extraction and transesterification, known as fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) [3], and are known as first generation biofuels. For second generation biodiesel fuels known as hydrotreated biodiesel, hydrotreatment technologies are used for vegetable oils and animal fat materials [3]
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