STUDY ON STABILITY OF ETHANOL/DIESEL FUEL EMULSION
Multi-scale and/or multi-disciplinary approach to process-product innovation
Evaluation-Analysis of Bio-Fuels (T3-9)
Keywords: Bioethanol, bioethanol/gas oil fuel blend, emulsion, stability
According to Directive 2003/30/EC of the European Union transportation fuels shall contain biomass-derived components in at least 5.75% concentration calculated on energy content. A possibility to meet this target value is the application of ethanol/diesel fuel blends in Diesel engines facilitating the significant reduction of particulate emissions of vehicles. Application of ethanol/diesel fuel blends would be practical, since bioethanol production capacity is rapidly increasing both in the world and in the European Union.
One of the barriers of the application of ethanol/diesel fuel blends is their stability, which is influenced by temperature, water content, type of additive, bioethanol content and characteristics of the base gas oil (especially hydrocarbon composition).
The effect of temperature, water content, bioethanol concentration, application of biodiesel (RME: repeased-oil-methyl-ester) in various concentration and preparation conditions on the stability of bioethanol/diesel fuel blends prepared from base gas oils of different hydrocarbon composition and various additives was studied in the paper. Additionally, analytical and performance characteristics of bioethanol/diesel fuel blends was evaluated in comparison with those of diesel fuels.
It was found that preparation conditions and base gas oil composition has great influence on the stability of bioethanol/diesel fuel blends. As water content of the blends increased the stability of the blends dropped. The following changes were observed when blends containing 5% bioethanol were prepared form the base gas oil: density slightly decreased; kinematical viscosity slightly decreased; flash point significantly increased (from 75°C to 15°C); CFPP remained unchanged; Reid vapor pressure significantly increased (from 0.65 kPa to 13.4 kPa), cetane number decreased (from 54 to 50) and lubricity marginally improved due to the application of the surfactant used to establish the emulsion. The stability of bioethanol/diesel fuel blends without additive was improved in case of RME in various concentrations.
See the full pdf manuscript of the abstract.
Presented Tuesday 18, 09:05 to 09:25, in session Evaluation-Analysis of Bio-Fuels (T3-9).
