Effect of Algae-Derived Biodiesel on Ignition Delay, Combustion Process and Emission

Abstract

Algae oil methyl esters produced from algae oil were blended with diesel at various volumetric percentages to evaluate the variations in the fuel properties. Microalgae biodiesel production has received much interest in an effort for sustainable development as the microalgae seem to be an attractive way to produce the biodiesel due to their ability to accumulate lipids and their very high actual photosynthetic yields. Correlations between fuel properties, including the calorific heat, density, kinematic viscosity, and oxidation stability of the Algae oil-diesel blends, and the blending ratio of the algae biodiesel have been established. As a result, low blending ratio of the Algae oil with diesel was recommended up to 2vol % in comparison with other type of biodiesel-diesel blends. The objective of this research is to investigate effect of biodiesel blending ratio on ignition delay, combustion process and emission for different type of biodiesel. The combustion tests of the Algae-Derived biodiesel blends were performed in a Rapid Compression Machine (RCM). The combustion tests were carried out at injection pressure of 130 MPa and ambient temperature were varied between 750 K and 1100 K. The result from the experiment is compared with Palm-Oil biodiesel which are varied in biodiesel percentage from 5vol% to 15vol% and jatropha biodiesel. Higher ignition delay period were clearly observed with higher blending ratio. It seems that increasing blending ratio exhibits relatively weakens in fuel ignitibility and therefore prolongs the ignition delay of algae biodiesel. A2 had the lowest ignition delay period when compared with J2, B5, B10 and B15 due to lower density that present in A2 molecules.The concentration of carbon dioxide and nitrogen monoxide in the exhaust gas increased with higher blending ratio while the concentration of carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon decreased.