Environmental and enviroeconomic researches on diesel engines with diesel and biodiesel fuels

Abstract

In this paper, the environmental and enviroeconomic analyses are applied to the specific biodiesels [BD-I (soybean oil methyl ester) and BD-II (high-oleic soybean oil methyl ester)] and standard diesel (SD) fueled diesel engine for the comprehensive environmental assessment. Environmental and enviroeconomic analyses are developed by the author and used for many thermodynamic systems, and this is the first time to apply them on a diesel engine to open a new way to assess diesel engines with an alternative point of view. This study shows that the generated powers of the diesel and biodiesel fueled engines are close to each other. Also, the fuel consumptions of the fuels are close too (3.05–3.40 g/s). The diesel and biodiesel fuels’ CO2 emission rates and prices are different due to the different properties of the fuels and small changes in the fuel consumption (fuel consumption: BD-I > BD-II > SD). According to environmental analysis, the BD-I fuel is worse than (average: 59.63 t CO2/y) SD and BD-II fuels. In addition, the BD-II biodiesel fuel is the best environmental fuel among the fuels used in the diesel engine. The difference on environmental results of the fuels are not too much, but the important issue is determining the best environmental fuels among these specific fuels used for this 4-stroke, 4-cylinder diesel engine. The enviroeconomic analysis results show that the BD-II fuel causes less CO2 emission payment, while the BD-I fuel has maximum CO2 emission price (average: 864.67 $/y). So, the genetically modified biodiesel fuels, such as BD-II, can be used into the diesel engine for better environmental and economic results.