Volatility criteria and physicochemical properties of the promising dimethyl carbonate-gasoline blends

Abstract

Increased need for energy resources, as well as the urgent need to improve the air quality, have prompted further research to meet these challenges. Great efforts have been directed to reducing the impact of exhaust emissions. In literature, the effect of blending dimethyl carbonate (DMC) into fuel on engine performance and exhaust emissions has been investigated, and the obtained results were promising in decreasing exhaust emissions. In the present work, the effect of blending DMC into gasoline on the physicochemical properties was studied. Six fuel blends were prepared by blending base gasoline (G) with (0%, 2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, and 10%) of DMC. The volatility characteristics of the fuel blends were studied, such as the distillation curve, vapor pressure, and driveability index. The octane rating and the physicochemical properties of the fuel blends were also studied. The results of the study showed interesting findings that encourage refineries to be interested in this promising fuel additive. The results showed that the addition of DMC to gasoline has a very slight effect on the volatility of gasoline, unlike other oxygenated additives like short chain alcohols which cause a significant increase in the fuel volatility. The addition of DMC to gasoline causes an insignificant increase in the vapor pressure as the addition of 10% of DMC increases the vapor pressure by 2 kPa while it does not affect the values of T10, T50, and T90, which are the most important parameters of the distillation curve. The results also showed that its addition causes a remarkable increase in the octane rating. The RON has increased for the G-10DMC blend by about 5 points making the DMC a promising octane booster.