Modeling Viscosity and Density of Ethanol-Diesel-Biodiesel Ternary Blends for Sustainable Environment

Luqman Razzaq,Muhammad Farooq,Muhammad Imran,Farooq Sher,A. E. Atabani,M. A. Kalam,Muhammad Tahir Hassan,M. A. Mujtaba,Manzoore Elahi M. Soudagar,Muhammad Farhan

doi:10.3390/su12125186

Abstract

Rapid depletion in fossil fuels, inflation in petroleum prices, and rising energy demand have forced towards alternative transport fuels. Among these alternative fuels, diesel-ethanol and diesel-biodiesel blends gain the most attention due to their quality characteristics and environmentally friendly nature. The viscosity and density of these biodiesel blends are slightly higher than diesel, which is a significant barrier to the commercialization of biodiesel. In this study, the density and viscosity of 30 different ternary biodiesel blends was investigated at 15 °С and 40 °С, respectively. Different density and viscosity models were developed and tested on biodiesel blends soured from different feedstock’s including palm, coconut, soybean, mustard, and calophyllum oils. The prognostic ability and precisions of these developed models was assessed statistically using Absolute Percentage Error (APE) and Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE). The MAPE of 0.045% and 0.085% for density model and 1.85%, 1.41%, 3.48% and 2.27%, 1.85%, 3.50% for viscosity models were obtained on % volume and % mass basis. These developed correlations are useful for ternary biodiesel blends where alcohols are the part of biodiesel blends. The modeled values of densities and viscosities of ternary blends were significantly comparable with the measured densities and viscosities, which are feasible to avoid the harm of vehicles’ operability.

Highlights

The rapid depletion of fossil fuels has been a major concern for many decades, and about 80% of fossil fuels are already exhausted [1,2,3,4,5]
The analytical capacity and precision of the developed density and viscosity models were observed with the help of some statistical tools: Absolute Percentage Error (APE), Mean Absolute Percentage
For the determination of the most suitable model of the density, the APEs were calculated for each value of KED and density model

Summary

Introduction

The rapid depletion of fossil fuels has been a major concern for many decades, and about 80% of fossil fuels are already exhausted [1,2,3,4,5]. Energy demand is increasingly growing due to the rapidly expanding population coupled with the increasing urbanization rate [6,7,8]. Fossil fuels are widely used to compensate this energy demand. Emissions associated with the use of these fossil fuels present another challenge. Biofuels, derived from a variety of natural resources, have recently emerged as an alternative energy source [27,28,29]. Biodiesel is gaining more popularity among alternative energy sources due to its comparable engine performance with reduced emissions [30,31,32,33]. Biodiesel has the potential to replace fossil fuels and eliminate energy crises

Methods

Results

Conclusion