Abstract
This study relates to developing future alternative fuels and focuses on the effects of a fuel’s molecular structure on its properties and performance in advanced propulsion systems. The tribological performance of various biomass-derived oxygenated alternative fuels, including butanol, pentanol, cyclopentanol, cyclopentanone, and gasoline and their blends with diesel, was investigated. Lubricity tests were conducted using a high-frequency reciprocating rig (HFRR). Cyclopentanone-diesel and cyclopentanol-diesel blends result in smaller wear scar sizes compared to using their neat forms. A lower steel disc contaminated with the alternative fuels during the HFRR tests resulted in worn surface roughness values lower than those of the neat diesel by up to 20%. It is believed that these reductions are mainly due to the presence of the hydroxyl group and the carbonyl group in alcohols and ketones, respectively, which make them more polar and consequently helps the formation of the protective lubrication film on the worn moving surfaces during the sliding process. Overall, the results from this study indicate that environmentally friendly cyclopentanol and cyclopentanone are practical and efficient fuel candidates for future advanced propulsion systems.
Highlights
Integrating alternative fuels with advanced combustion and aftertreatment systems in various propulsion systems, including electric vehicles [1], will improve vehicles’ fuel economy and mitigate emissions formation and their environmental impact [2]. Advanced combustion strategies such as gasoline compression ignition (GCI) have shown great potential for future internal combustion engines with higher efficiency and lower fuel consumption compared with using gasoline spark ignition (SI) [2,3]
As next-generation promising alternative fuels, some bio-alcohols and bio-ketones are produced from biomass-derived waste or lignocellulosic materials, such as agricultural wastes, forest residues, sewage and municipal wastes and used oils [6,7]
The current work comprehensively investigates the effects of diesel blending with bio-alcohols and a bio-ketone with different molecular structures (C4 and C5 ) and gasoline-diesel blends on the fuels’ properties and tribological performance
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. As next-generation promising alternative fuels, some bio-alcohols and bio-ketones are produced from biomass-derived waste or lignocellulosic materials, such as agricultural wastes, forest residues, sewage and municipal wastes and used oils [6,7] Their life cycle greenhouse gas emissions can be considerably lower than that of conventional fuels, depending on production [8,9]. In the molecular structure of fuels, sulphur, a high unsaturation degree, a long alkyl chain length, polyaromatic, nitrogen, polar oxygen-containing compounds and fatty acid contents enhance fuel lubricity [20]. The current work comprehensively investigates the effects of diesel blending with bio-alcohols (i.e., butanol, pentanol and cyclopentanol) and a bio-ketone (i.e., cyclopentanone) with different molecular structures (C4 and C5 ) and gasoline-diesel blends on the fuels’ properties and tribological performance. The friction properties, wear scar size, deposits and surface roughness of the tested specimens were further analysed using a 3D microscope, a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS)
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