Biobutanol Research Articles

Effect of diesel fuel blend with n-butanol on the emission of a turbocharged common rail direct injection diesel engine

Abstract The objectives of this study are to investigate the effect of diesel fuel blend with n-butanol on the emission of turbocharged common rail direct injection (CRDI) diesel engine and to compare the results with the neat diesel fuel operation case. The blends considered here were blends of diesel fuels with 10% and 20% (by volume) n-butanol. Engine performance and emission characteristics were measured by the European Stationary Cycle (ESC) test. Emissions of HCs, CO, NOx, HCHO, HCOOH and NH 3 were measured by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). Size and number distribution of particulate matter (PM) were measured by the Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer (SMPS). From the results, for the n-butanol blend, NOx emission increased compared with the neat diesel fuel case. At the case of 20% butanol, both THC and CO emissions increased significantly, and both HCHO and HCOOH increased modestly under the low loading of ESC 7, 9 and 11 mode compared with the neat diesel fuel case. Higher blending ratio (>20%) of butanol fuels could contribute to the precursor of PAHs formation such as toluene and benzene in diesel combustion. BU5 blend could be a better option to reduce the PM mass and the emissions of nanosized PM under 50 nm.

ENERGY CROPS FOR BIO FUEL AND FOOD SECURITY

In light of the recent rise in global food p rices, much of the publications on crop - based biofuel production focus on the potential impacts on food security. The bio fuels include bio ethanol, bio butanol, biodiesel, vegetable oils, bio methanol, pyrolysis oils, biogas, and bio hydrogen. There are two global biomass based liquid t ransportation fuels that might replace gasoline and diesel fuel. These are bioethanol and biodiesel. About 60 % of global bioethanol production comes from sugarcane and 40 % from other crops. The central policy of biofuel concerns job creation, greater eff iciency in t he general business environment and protection of the environment. The use of biofuels decreases the external energy dependence, promotion of regional engineering, increased R and D, decrease in impact of electricity production and transformati on; increases the level of services for the rural population, creation of employment, etc. There is considerable controversy about the impact of biofuels on food security in developing countries. A major concern is that biofu els reduce food security by inc reasing food prices. In this paper we use survey evidence to assess the impact of castor production on poor and food insecure rural households in Ethiopia. About 1/3 of poor farmers have allocated on average 15 % of their land to the production of castor b eans under contract in biofuel supply chains. Castor production significantly improves their food security: they have fewer months without food and the amount of food they consum e increases. Castor cultivation is beneficial for participating households’ fo od security in several ways: by generating cash income from castor contracts, they can store food for the lean season; castor beans preserve well on the field which allows sales when farmers are in need of cash (or food); spillover effe cts of castor contra cts increases the productivity of food crops. Increased food crop productivity offsets the amount of land used for castor so that the total loc al food supply is not affected.

Characterisation of flame development with ethanol, butanol, iso-octane, gasoline and methane in a direct-injection spark-ignition engine

Research into novel internal combustion engines requires consideration of the diversity in future fuels that may contain significant quantities of bio-components in an attempt to reduce CO2 emissions from vehicles and contribute to energy sustainability. However, most biofuels have different chemical and physical properties to those of typical hydrocarbons; these can lead to different mechanisms of mixture preparation and combustion. The current paper presents results from an optical study of combustion in a direct-injection spark-ignition research engine with gasoline, iso-octane, ethanol and butanol fuels injected from a centrally located multi-hole injector. Methane was also employed by injecting it into the inlet plenum of the engine to provide a benchmark case for well-mixed ‘homogeneous’ charge preparation. Crank-angle resolved flame chemiluminescence images were acquired and post-processed for a series of consecutive cycles for each fuel, in order to calculate in-cylinder rates of flame growth and motion. In-cylinder pressure traces were used for heat release analysis and for comparison with the image-processing results. All tests were performed at 1500 RPM with 0.5bar intake plenum pressure. Stoichiometric (ϕ=1.0) and lean (ϕ=0.83) conditions were considered. The combustion characteristics were analysed with respect to laminar and turbulent burning velocities obtained from combustion bombs in the literature and from traditional combustion diagrams in order to bring all data into the context of current theories and allow insights by making comparisons were appropriate.

Enhancement of Biobutanol Production by Butyric Acid Addition Using Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum N1-4 (ATCC 13564)

Enhancement of Biobutanol Production by Butyric Acid Addition Using Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum N1-4 (ATCC 13564)

Obtaining of new biobutanol producers

Obtaining of new biobutanol producers

Evolution of size distribution of nascent soot in n- and i-butanol flames

The impact of fuel bound oxygen on the sooting behavior of butanol fuels was examined by following the evolution of the particle size distribution function (PSDF) of nascent soot produced in atmospheric pressure burner stabilized stagnation (BSS) flames of n-butanol and i-butanol. Similar experiments were carried out for i-butane and n-butane flames to better understand the influence of fuel structure and the presence of the alcohol group on detailed processes of soot nucleation and growth. In terms of fuel structure, the branched chain functionality has the most observable effect on soot formation. The onset of soot nucleation is faster in the branched fuels in comparison to the straight-chain counterparts. Under the same C/O ratio, however, the butanol flames were found to nucleate soot earlier and have higher soot volume fraction than the butane flames. A combustion reaction model for i-butanol and n-butanol was used to explore the precursor chemistry. Similar to the measured PSDF, benzene is computed to rise earlier in flames of the branched fuels than the straight-chain fuels.

Biotechnology and effective strains – producers of biobutanol

Biotechnology and effective strains – producers of biobutanol

Biobutanol: Biofuel of second generation

Biobutanol: Biofuel of second generation

The measurement of high-speed unlubricated metallic friction : K. Williams, Second Convention on Lubrication and Wear, 1964, Paper 1. To be published in the Proc. Inst. Mech. Engrs., London, 1964/1965; 7 figs., 13 refs.

In-cylinder air flow structures are known to play a major role in mixture preparation and engine operating limits for spark-ignition engines. In this paper PIV measurements were undertaken in an optical spark-ignition at 1500 RPM, part-load with 0.5 bar intake plenum pressure. One of the PIV planes was vertical, cutting through the centrally located spark plug (tumble plane). The other plane was horizontal 1 mm below the spark plug ground electrode (swirl plane). The effect of engine head temperature was also examined by using engine-head coolant temperatures of 20 °C and 80 °C. The flow field was examined late in the compression stroke at typical ignition timing. The study was conducted under air-only motoring engine conditions but also under fuelled conditions in the early intake stroke using direct injection of gasoline, iso-octane, ethanol and butanol fuels. The flow field under air-only motored conditions showed velocities between 3 and 5 m/s predominantly from intake to exhaust. Little differences were observed between hot and cold engine-head temperature; typically ∼10% larger mean velocity and turbulent kinetic energy was seen on the intake side. Integral length scales were on the tumble plane between 2 and 4.5 mm in the vertical and 4–7 mm in the horizontal direction. The swirl view showed scales between 4 and 10 mm, larger at cold than at hot engine-head conditions. The vertical length scales appeared to be limited by the clearance height, scaling typically by about 10–15%. The horizontal components scaled to the cylinder bore diameter by about 5–12%. The fuel injection process in the early intake stroke led to little differences in the general mean flow structure at ignition timing, except for a small increase in the maximum velocities, ∼10%. The turbulent kinetic on the tumble plane was highest towards the exhaust side of the engine under non-fuelled engine conditions but fuel injection resulted in highest values on the intake side. The integral length scales with fuel injection were of the same order of magnitude to those of air only measurements on the tumble plane, but showed distinctly larger areas with length scales up to 9 mm on the swirl plane. Differences between fuels for their fuel specific injection duration were small, with average length scales between 4 and 6 mm. Ethanol exhibited typically largest scales and butanol smallest.