Investigation in compression ignition engine performance using alternative fuels produced from waste packaging materials

Abstract

The present study reports the engine performance of pyro-oil produced from waste plastic material. The properties of the fuel and its blends with commercial diesel have been estimated using American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Method. The properties of the fuel were as follows- density: 0.807 g/cm3, specific gravity: 0.781, °API gravity: 49.66, kinematic viscosity: 2.05 cst, aniline point: ∼59.8 °C, flash point: 51.3, fire points: 53.4 °C, cloud point: 9 °C, pour point: 5 ± 1 °C, calorific value: 48.69–52.93 MJ/Kg. In order to analyze the fuel-burning properties, the carbon residue was determined and it's found to be ∼0.75 wt% which is at par the commercial fuel. The results of Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy, Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and Carbon-13 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (13C NMR) revealed that the liquid products contain different hydrocarbons (viz., paraffin, aromatic, cyclic olefins, and lower hydrocarbons). According to the results of Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (1H NMR), the percentage composition of pyro-oil was 11.13% aromatics (v/v), 21.08% olefins (v/v) and 67.79% paraffin's (v/v). Finally, the blending of pyro-oil has been tested for engine performance and found to be comparable with the commercially available fuels.