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14 pages, 4874 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Quantitative Evaluation of the Emissions of a Transport Engine Operating with Diesel-Biodiesel

by Armando Pérez, David Mateos, Conrado García, Camilo Caraveo, Gisela Montero, Marcos Coronado and Benjamín Valdez

Energies 2020, 13(14), 3594; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13143594 - 13 Jul 2020

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2248

Abstract

The present work is about evaluating the emission characteristics of biodiesel-diesel blends in a reciprocating engine. The biodiesel was produced and characterized before the test. A virtual instrument was developed to evaluate the velocity, fuel consumption, temperature, and emissions of O₂, [...] Read more.

The present work is about evaluating the emission characteristics of biodiesel-diesel blends in a reciprocating engine. The biodiesel was produced and characterized before the test. A virtual instrument was developed to evaluate the velocity, fuel consumption, temperature, and emissions of O₂, CO, SO₂, and NO from an ignition-compression engine of four cylinders with a constant rate of 850 rpm. The percentages of soybean-biodiesel (B) blended with Mexican-diesel (D) analyzed were 2% B-98% D (B2), 5% B-95% B (B5), and 20% B-80% D (B20). The biodiesel was obtained through a transesterification process and was characterized using Fourier-Transform Infrared spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Our results indicate that CO emission is 6%, 10%, and 18% lower for B2, B5, and B20, respectively, in comparison with 100% (D100). The O₂ emission is 12% greater in B20 than D100. A reduction of 3% NO and 2.6% SO₂ was found in comparison to D100. The obtained results show 44.9 kJ/g of diesel’s lower heating value, this result which is 13% less than the biodiesel value, 2.8% less than B20, 1.3% than B5, and practically the same as B2. The specific viscosity stands out with 0.024 Poise for the B100 at 73 °C, which is 63% greater than D100. The infrared spectra show characteristics signals of esters groups (C-O) and the pronounced peak from the carbonyl group (C=O). It is observed that the increase in absorbance of the carbonyl group corresponds to an increase in biodiesel concentration. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biofuels for Internal Combustion Engine)

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14 pages, 1147 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Physicochemical Properties of Biodiesel Synthesised from Grape Seed, Philippine Tung, Kesambi, and Palm Oils

by Hwai Chyuan Ong, M. Mofijur, A.S. Silitonga, D. Gumilang, Fitranto Kusumo and T.M.I. Mahlia

Energies 2020, 13(6), 1319; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13061319 - 12 Mar 2020

Cited by 28 | Viewed by 4074

Abstract

The production of biodiesel using vegetable oil is an effective way to meet growing energy demands, which could potentially reduce the dependency on fossil fuels. The aim of this study was to evaluate grape seed (Vitis vinifera), Philippine tung (Reutealis [...] Read more.

The production of biodiesel using vegetable oil is an effective way to meet growing energy demands, which could potentially reduce the dependency on fossil fuels. The aim of this study was to evaluate grape seed (Vitis vinifera), Philippine tung (Reutealis trisperma), and kesambi (Schleichera oleosa) oils as potential feedstocks for biodiesel production to meet this demand. Firstly, biodiesels from these oils were produced and then their fatty acid methyl ester profiles and physicochemical properties were evaluated and compared with palm biodiesel. The results showed that the biodiesel produced from grape seed oil possessed the highest oxidation stability of 4.62 h. On the other hand, poor oxidation stability was observed for Philippine tung biodiesel at 2.47 h. The poor properties of Philippine tung biodiesel can be attributed to the presence of α-elaeostearic fatty acid. Furthermore, synthetic antioxidants (pyrogallol) and diesel were used to improve the oxidation stability. The 0.2 wt.% concentration of pyrogallol antioxidant could increase the oxidation stability of grape seed biodiesel to 6.24 h, while for kesambi and Philippine tung, biodiesels at higher concentrations of 0.3% and 0.4 wt.%, respectively, were needed to meet the minimum limit of 8 h. The blending of biodiesel with fossil diesel at different ratios can also increase the oxidation stability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biofuels for Internal Combustion Engine)

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16 pages, 863 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Experimental Investigation, Techno-Economic Analysis and Environmental Impact of Bioethanol Production from Banana Stem

by Nazia Hossain, Alyaa Nabihah Razali, Teuku Meurah Indra Mahlia, Tamal Chowdhury, Hemal Chowdhury, Hwai Chyuan Ong, Abd Halim Shamsuddin and Arridina Susan Silitonga

Energies 2019, 12(20), 3947; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12203947 - 17 Oct 2019

Cited by 29 | Viewed by 5088

Abstract

Banana stem is being considered as the second largest waste biomass in Malaysia. Therefore, the environmental challenge of managing this huge amount of biomass as well as converting the feedstock into value-added products has spurred the demand for diversified applications to be implemented [...] Read more.

Banana stem is being considered as the second largest waste biomass in Malaysia. Therefore, the environmental challenge of managing this huge amount of biomass as well as converting the feedstock into value-added products has spurred the demand for diversified applications to be implemented as a realistic approach. In this study, banana stem waste was experimented for bioethanol generation via hydrolysis and fermentation methods with the presence of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast) subsequently. Along with the experimental analysis, a realistic pilot scale application of electricity generation from the bioethanol has been designed by HOMER software to demonstrate techno-economic and environmental impact. During sulfuric acid and enzymatic hydrolysis, the highest glucose yield was 5.614 and 40.61 g/L, respectively. During fermentation, the maximum and minimum glucose yield was 62.23 g/L at 12 h and 0.69 g/L at 72 h, respectively. Subsequently, 99.8% pure bioethanol was recovered by a distillation process. Plant modeling simulated operating costs 65,980 US$/y, net production cost 869347 US$ and electricity cost 0.392 US$/kWh. The CO₂ emission from bioethanol was 97,161 kg/y and SO₂ emission was 513 kg/y which is much lower than diesel emission. The overall bioethanol production from banana stem and application of electricity generation presented the approach economically favorable and environmentally benign. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biofuels for Internal Combustion Engine)

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19 pages, 3952 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Effect of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes-Additive in Physicochemical Property of Rice Brand Methyl Ester: Optimization Analysis

by Fitranto Kusumo, T.M.I. Mahlia, A.H. Shamsuddin, Hwai Chyuan Ong, A.R Ahmad, Z. Ismail, Z.C. Ong and A.S. Silitonga

Energies 2019, 12(17), 3291; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12173291 - 26 Aug 2019

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2979

Abstract

Biodiesel as an alternative to diesel fuel produced from vegetable oils or animal fats has attracted more and more attention because it is renewable and environmentally friendly. Compared to conventional diesel fuel, biodiesel has slightly lower performance in engine combustion due to the [...] Read more.

Biodiesel as an alternative to diesel fuel produced from vegetable oils or animal fats has attracted more and more attention because it is renewable and environmentally friendly. Compared to conventional diesel fuel, biodiesel has slightly lower performance in engine combustion due to the lower calorific value that leads to lower power generated. This study investigates the effect of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as an additive to the rice bran methyl ester (RBME). Artificial neural network (ANN) and response surface methodology (RSM) was used for predicting the calorific value. The interaction effects of parameters such as dosage of MWCNTs, size of MWCNTs and reaction time on the calorific value of RBME were studied. Comparison of RSM and ANN performance was evaluated based on the correlation coefficient (R²), the root mean square error (RMSE), the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), and the average absolute deviation (AAD) showed that the ANN model had better performance (R² = 0.9808, RMSE = 0.0164, MAPE = 0.0017, AAD = 0.173) compare to RSM (R² = 0.9746, RMSE = 0.0170, MAPE = 0.0028, AAD = 0.279). The optimum predicted of RBME calorific value that is generated using the cuckoo search (CS) via lévy flight optimization algorithm is 41.78 (MJ/kg). The optimum value was obtained using 64 ppm of < 7 nm MWCNTs blending for 60 min. The predicted calorific value was validated experimentally as 41.05 MJ/kg. Furthermore, the experimental results have shown that the addition of MWCNTs was significantly increased the calorific value from 36.87 MJ/kg to 41.05 MJ/kg (11.6%). Also, the addition of MWCNTs decreased flashpoint (−18.3%) and acid value (−0.52%). As a conclusion, adding MWCNTs as an additive had improved the physicochemical properties characteristics of RBME. To our best knowledge, no research has yet been performed on the effect of multi-walled carbon nanotubes-additive in physicochemical property of rice brand methyl ester application so far. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biofuels for Internal Combustion Engine)

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18 pages, 5228 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Research on the Combustion, Energy and Emission Parameters of Various Concentration Blends of Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil Biofuel and Diesel Fuel in a Compression-Ignition Engine

by Alfredas Rimkus, Justas Žaglinskis, Saulius Stravinskas, Paulius Rapalis, Jonas Matijošius and Ákos Bereczky

Energies 2019, 12(15), 2978; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12152978 - 01 Aug 2019

Cited by 42 | Viewed by 5331

Abstract

This article presents our research results on the physical-chemical and direct injection diesel engine performance parameters when fueled by pure diesel fuel and retail hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO). This fuel is called NexBTL by NESTE, and this renewable fuel blends with a diesel [...] Read more.

This article presents our research results on the physical-chemical and direct injection diesel engine performance parameters when fueled by pure diesel fuel and retail hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO). This fuel is called NexBTL by NESTE, and this renewable fuel blends with a diesel fuel known as Pro Diesel. A wide range of pure diesel fuel and NexBTL100 blends have been tested and analyzed: pure diesel fuel, pure NexBTL, NexBTL10, NexBTL20, NexBTL30, NexBTL40, NexBTL50, NexBTL70 and NexBTL85. The energy, pollution and in-cylinder parameters were analyzed under medium engine speed (n = 2000 and n = 2500 rpm) and brake torque load regimes (30–120 Nm). AVL BOOST software was used to analyze the heat release characteristics. The analysis of brake specific fuel consumption showed controversial results due to the lower density of NexBTL. The mass fuel consumption decreased by up to 4%, and the volumetric consumption increased by up to approximately 6%. At the same time, the brake thermal efficiency mainly increased by approximately 0.5–1.4%. CO, CO₂, NO_x, HC and SM were analyzed, and the change in CO was negligible when increasing NexBTL in the fuel blend. Higher SM reduction was achieved while increasing the percentage of NexBTL in the blends. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biofuels for Internal Combustion Engine)

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17 pages, 4196 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Influence of Emulsified Water Fuel Containing Fresh Water Microalgae on Diesel Engine Performance, Combustion, Vibration and Emission

by Saddam H. Al-lwayzy, Talal Yusaf, Khalid Saleh and Belal Yousif

Energies 2019, 12(13), 2546; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12132546 - 02 Jul 2019

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3683

Abstract

Microalgae is considered as an excellent potential renewable source of fuel in many forms including powder or slurry. A high percentage of emulsified water in the fuel is reported to reduce diesel engines’ emissions such as NO_x, but that will compromise [...] Read more.

Microalgae is considered as an excellent potential renewable source of fuel in many forms including powder or slurry. A high percentage of emulsified water in the fuel is reported to reduce diesel engines’ emissions such as NO_x, but that will compromise the engine output power. Using microalgae powder as an additive to enhance the emulsified water fuel heating value is the main objective of this work. Diesel engine combustion, vibration, performance and emissions were evaluated for pure cottonseed biodiesel (CS-B100), emulsified water 20% (vol.) in cottonseed biodiesel (CSB-E20) and emulsified water 20% (vol.) containing Fresh Water Microalgae Chlorella Vulgaris (FWM-CV) in cottonseed biodiesel (CSB-ME20). The emulsified water fuels showed a reduction in in-cylinder pressure, vibration, brake power, torque, exhaust gas temperature, CO₂ and NO_x, while BSFC and O₂ were higher than the pure biodiesel (CS-B100). CSB-ME20 produced higher power and torque than CSB-E20 due to the presence of microalgae in the fuel that increased the energy content of the fuel. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biofuels for Internal Combustion Engine)

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24 pages, 3987 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Influence of Formulation Ratio and Emulsifying Settings on Tri-Fuel (Diesel–Ethanol–Biodiesel) Emulsion Properties

by M. Mukhtar N. A., Abd Rashid Abd Aziz, Ftwi Y. Hagos, M. M. Noor, Kumaran Kadirgama, Rizalman Mamat and A. Adam Abdullah

Energies 2019, 12(9), 1708; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12091708 - 06 May 2019

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3724

Abstract

In this study, an alternative fuel for compression ignition (CI) engines called tri-fuel emulsion was prepared using an ultrasonic emulsifier. The objective of the study is to investigate the effect of emulsifying settings and formulation ratio on the physicochemical properties of tri-fuel emulsions. [...] Read more.

In this study, an alternative fuel for compression ignition (CI) engines called tri-fuel emulsion was prepared using an ultrasonic emulsifier. The objective of the study is to investigate the effect of emulsifying settings and formulation ratio on the physicochemical properties of tri-fuel emulsions. Design of experiment (DOE) with the two-level factorial design was employed to analyze the effect of emulsifying settings such as time, amplitude, and cycle along with the variation ratio of tri-fuel emulsion components as control factors. Numbers of responses identified were important parameters that may contribute to microexplosion phenomenon in CI engine. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was carried out for each response, and the results indicated that density, dynamic viscosity, surface tension, and average droplet size were influenced by specific preparation control factors. Furthermore, interaction among the control factors was found to affect the responses as well. Interaction means the effect of two factors together is different than what would be expected from each factor separately. Besides, the stability of the tri-fuel emulsion was observed for three months. Furthermore, a qualitative approach with a multiobjective lens digital microscope revealed the geometry of freshly made dispersed tri-fuel emulsion droplets. Microscopic examination on tri-fuel emulsion droplets has shown that the dispersed ethanol capsulated within diesel with the help of biodiesel is similar to a water in diesel emulsion and is dissimilar to commercial diesel mixed with fatty acid methyl esters found in the market. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biofuels for Internal Combustion Engine)

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Review

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14 pages, 752 KiB

Open AccessReview

Glycerol to Solketal for Fuel Additive: Recent Progress in Heterogeneous Catalysts

by Is Fatimah, Imam Sahroni, Ganjar Fadillah, Muhammad Miqdam Musawwa, Teuku Meurah Indra Mahlia and Oki Muraza

Energies 2019, 12(15), 2872; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12152872 - 25 Jul 2019

Cited by 51 | Viewed by 7058

Abstract

Biodiesel has been successfully commercialized in numerous countries. Glycerol, as a byproduct in biodiesel production plant, has been explored recently for fuel additive production. One of the most prospective fuel additives is solketal, which is produced from glycerol and acetone via an acetalization [...] Read more.

Biodiesel has been successfully commercialized in numerous countries. Glycerol, as a byproduct in biodiesel production plant, has been explored recently for fuel additive production. One of the most prospective fuel additives is solketal, which is produced from glycerol and acetone via an acetalization reaction. This manuscript reviewed recent progress on heterogeneous catalysts used in the exploratory stage of glycerol conversion to solketal. The effects of acidity strength, hydrophobicity, confinement effect, and others are discussed to find the most critical parameters to design better catalysts for solketal production. Among the heterogeneous catalysts, resins, hierarchical zeolites, mesoporous silica materials, and clays have been explored as effective catalysts for acetalization of glycerol. Challenges with each popular catalytic material are elaborated. Future works on glycerol to solketal will be improved by considering the stability of the catalysts in the presence of water as a byproduct. The presence of water and salt in the feed is certainly destructive to the activity and the stability of the catalysts. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biofuels for Internal Combustion Engine)

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