Light vehicle regulated and unregulated emissions from different biodiesels

In this study, the regulated and unregulated emissions profile and fuel consumption of an automotive diesel and biodiesel blends, prepared from two different biodiesels, were investigated. The biodiesels were a rapeseed methyl ester (RME) and a palm-based methyl ester (PME). The tests were performed on a chassis dynamometer with constant volume sampling (CVS) over the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) and the non-legislated Athens Driving Cycle (ADC), using a Euro 2 compliant passenger vehicle. The objectives were to evaluate the impact of biodiesel chemical structure on the emissions, as well as the influence of the applied driving cycle on the formation of exhaust emissions and fuel consumption. The results showed that NO_x emissions were influenced by certain biodiesel properties, such as those of cetane number and iodine number. NO_x emissions followed a decreasing trend over both cycles, where the most beneficial reduction was obtained with the application of the more saturated biodiesel. PM emissions were decreased with the palm-based biodiesel blends over both cycles, with the exception of the 20% blend which was higher compared to diesel fuel. PME blends led to increases in PM emissions over the ADC. The majority of the biodiesel blends showed a tendency for lower CO and HC emissions. The differences in CO₂ emissions were not statistically significant. Fuel consumption presented an increase with both biodiesels. Total PAH and nitro-PAH emission levels were decreased with the use of biodiesel independently of the source material. Lower molecular weight PAHs were predominant in both gaseous and particulate phases. Both biodiesels had a negative impact on certain carbonyl emissions. Formaldehyde and acetaldehyde were the dominant aldehydes emitted from both fuels.     

Biodiesel emissions profile in modern diesel vehicles. Part 2: Effect of biodiesel origin on carbonyl, PAH, nitro-PAH and oxy-PAH emissions

In the present study, the effects of different biodiesel blends on the unregulated emissions of a Euro 4 compliant passenger car were examined. Two fresh and two oxidized biodiesel fuels of different source materials were blended with an ultra low sulphur automotive diesel fuel at proportions of 10, 20, and 30% v/v. Emission measurements were conducted on a chassis dynamometer with a constant volume sampling (CVS) technique, over the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) and the Artemis driving cycles. The experimental results revealed that the addition of biodiesel led to important increases in most carbonyl compounds. Sharp increases were observed with the use of the oxidized biodiesel blends, especially those prepared from used frying oil methyl esters. Similar to carbonyl emissions, most PAH compounds increased with the addition of the oxidized biodiesel blends. It can be assumed that the presence of polymerization products and cyclic acids, along with the degree of unsaturation were the main factors that influenced carbonyl and PAH emissions profile.     

Experimental study on particulate and NOx emissions of a diesel engine fueled with ultra low sulfur diesel, RME-diesel blends and PME-diesel blends

Ultra low sulfur diesel and two different kinds of biodiesel fuels blended with baseline diesel fuel in 5% and 20% v/v were tested in a Cummins 4BTA direct injection diesel engine, with a turbocharger and an intercooler. Experiments were conducted under five engine loads at two steady speeds (1500 rpm and 2500 rpm). The study aims at investigating the engine performance, NO_x emission, smoke opacity, PM composition, PM size distribution and comparing the impacts of low sulfur content of biodiesel with ULSD on the particulate emission. The results indicate that, compared to base diesel fuel, the increase of biodiesel in blends could cause certain increase in both brake specific fuel consumption and brake thermal efficiency. Compared with baseline diesel fuel, the biodiesel blends bring about more NO_x emissions. With the proportion of biodiesel increase in blends, the smoke opacity decreases, while total particle number concentration increases. Meanwhile the ULSD gives lower NO_x emissions, smoke opacity and total number concentration than those of baseline diesel fuel. In addition, the percentages of SOF and sulfate in particulates increase with biodiesel in blends, while the dry soot friction decreases obviously. Compared with baseline diesel fuel, the biodiesel blends increase the total nucleation number concentration, while ULSD reduces the total nucleation number concentration effectively, although they all have lower sulfur content. It means that, for ULSD, the lower sulfur content is the dominant factor for suppressing nucleation particles formation, while for biodiesel blends, lower volatile, lower aromatic content and higher oxygen content of biodiesel are key factors for improving the nucleation particles formation. The results demonstrate that the higher NO_x emission and total nucleation number concentration are considered as the big obstacles of the application of biodiesel in diesel engine.     

Emission analysis on cashew nut biofuel in compression-ignition engine

In this present work, the impact of blending n-Pentanol, a next-generation bio fuel with cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) biodiesel, on the performance of a diesel engine is examined. Tests were performed on a constant-speed compression-ignition engine using n-Pentanol/CNSL biodiesel blends. n-Pentanol was added to CNSL biodiesel by 5% and 10% by volume. Performance parameters such as break thermal efficiency (BTE), Brake-specific fuel consumption and Exhaust gas temperature (EGT) were analysed in this work. It was experimentally found that by adding n-Pentanol to neat CNSL biodiesel, significant reduction in viscosity was observed. In addition, BTE was increased by 0.8% due to improved atomisation of the blends. Further, brake-specific fuel and EGT were further reduced due to lower viscosity and improved combustion rate with addition of n-Pentanol to CNSL biodiesel. Emission parameters such as Hydro carbon (HC), Carbon monoxide, Nitrogen oxides (NO_x) and Smoke emissions were examined at different load conditions. Addition of n-Pentanol as additive improves the rate of combustion, mixing and vaporisation of the blends with air and reduces the emissions associated with it. Components were observed during the trail.     

Carbonyl compound emissions from passenger cars fueled with methanol/gasoline blends

Carbonyl compound emissions from two passenger cars fueled with different methanol/gasoline blends (M15 and M100) and operated with three-way catalytic converters (TWC) were investigated. The tests were performed on a chassis dynamometer with constant volume sampling over the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC). Carbonyls were trapped on dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH) cartridges. The hydrazones formed on the cartridge were analyzed by means of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and detected with a variable wavelength detector. The results show that when cars were fueled with methanol/gasoline blends, carbon monoxide (CO) and total hydrocarbon (THC) emissions decreased by 9-21% and 1-55% respectively, while nitrogen oxide (NO_x) emissions increased by 175-233%. Compared with gasoline vehicles, formaldehyde emissions with M15 and M100 were two and four times higher respectively, and total carbonyls with M15 and M100 increased by 3% and 104% respectively. With the use of the new TWC, both regulated gas pollutants and formaldehyde decreased. The new TWC caused a decrease of 5% and 31% in formaldehyde concentration for M15 and M100, respectively. Specific reactivity (SR) with the new TWC was reduced from 5.92 to 5.72 for M15 and from 7.00 to 6.93 for M100, indicating that M15 and M100 with the new TWC were friendlier to the environment.     

Investigation on the combustion,performance and emissions of a diesel engine fuelled by biodiesel and its blends with different oxygenated organic compounds

An experimental investigation is carried out to evaluate the effects of biodiesel–ethanol (BE) blends, biodiesel–dimethyl carbonate (BC) blends and biodiesel–diglyme (BG) blends on the combustion, performance and emission characteristics of a diesel engine operated at different loads and constant engine speed. Compared with biodiesel, for a specific engine load, the BE and BC blends have lower peak cylinder pressure at full load, while the BG blends show a slight variation in the peak cylinder pressure. In comparison with biodiesel, the BE, BC and BG blends have slightly higher brake thermal efficiency. Drastic reduction in smoke is observed with BE, BC and BG blends at higher engine loads. The BSNO_x emissions are found slightly lower for BE, BC and BG blends almost at all loads. The BE and BC blends have a slight variation in the BSCO and BSHC emissions, while the BG blends have lower BSCO and BSHC emissions.     

Performance and emission characteristics of cashew nut shell oil on the CI engine

This article is an effort to address the need for a non-cooking oil-based biodiesel. Here, the experimental work is done on a single cylinder, direct injection CI engine using cashew nut shell oil biodiesel blends under constant speed. The cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) biodiesel is blended with the diesel fuel and used as biodiesel blend. Blends used for testing are B20, B40 and B60. The effect of the fuels on engine power, brake thermal efficiency (BTE) and exhaust gas temperature was determined by performance tests. The influences of blends on CO, CO₂, HC and NO_x emissions were investigated by emission tests. The BTE values of biodiesel are closer to diesel. Compared to diesel, all the biodiesel blends gave lesser unburnt hydrocarbon (HC), carbon monoxide (CO) and smoke emissions. Slightly higher NO_x emissions were found in CNSL biodiesel blends, which is typical of the other biodiesels.     

Experimental investigation on regulated and unregulated emissions of a diesel engine fueled with ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel blended with biodiesel from waste cooking oil

Experiments were conducted on a 4-cylinder direct-injection diesel engine using ultra-low sulfur diesel, bi oesel and their blends, to investigate the regulated and unregulated emissions of the engine under five engine loads at an engine speed of 1800 rev/min. Blended fuels containing 19.6%, 39.4%, 59.4% and 79.6% by volume of biodiesel, corresponding to 2%, 4%, 6% and 8% by mass of oxygen in the blended fuel, were used. Biodiesel used in this study was converted from waste cooking oil.The following results are obtained with an increase of biodiesel in the fuel. The brake specific fuel consumption and the brake thermal efficiency increase. The HC and CO emissions decrease while NO_x and NO₂ emissions increase. The smoke opacity and particulate mass concentrations reduce significantly at high engine load. In addition, for submicron particles, the geometry mean diameter of the particles becomes smaller while the total number concentration increases. For the unregulated gaseous emissions, generally, the emissions of formaldehyde, 1,3-butadiene, toluene, xylene decrease, however, acetaldehyde and benzene emissions increase.The results indicate that the combination of ultra-low sulfur diesel and biodiesel from waste cooking oil gives similar results to those in the literature using higher sulfur diesel fuels and biodiesel from other sources.     

Experimental investigation of engine emissions with marine gas oil-oxygenate blends

This paper investigates the diesel engine performance and exhaust emissions with marine gas oil-alternative fuel additive. Marine gas oil (MGO) was selected as base fuel for the engine experiments. An oxygenate, diethylene glycol dimethyl ether (DGM), and a biodiesel (BD) jatropha oil methyl ester (JOME) with a volume of 10% were blended with the MGO fuel. JOME was derived from inedible jatropha oil. Lower emissions with diesel-BD blends (soybean methyl ester, rapeseed methyl ester etc.) have been established so far, but the effect of MGO-BD (JOME) blends on engine performance and emissions has been a growing interest as JOME (BD) is derived from inedible oil and MGO is frequently used in maritime transports. No phase separation between MGO-DGM and MGO-JOME blends was found. The neat MGO, MGO-DGM and MGO-JOME blends are termed as MGO, Ox10 and B10 respectively. The experiments were conducted with a six-cylinder, four-stroke, turbocharged, direct-injection Scania DC 1102 (DI) diesel engine. The experimental results showed significant reductions in fine particle number and mass emissions, PM and smoke emissions with Ox10 and B10 fuels compared to the MGO fuel. Other emissions including total unburned hydrocarbon (THC), carbon monoxide (CO) and engine noise were also reduced with the Ox10 and B10 fuels, while maintaining similar brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) and thermal efficiency with MGO fuel. Oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions, on the other hand, were slightly higher with the Ox10 and B10 fuels at high engine load conditions.     

Effect of exhaust gas recirculation on a nanoparticle-doped biodiesel- and diesel-blends-fuelled diesel engine

ABSTRACT

This work investigates the effect of adding Cerium oxide nanoparticles at different proportions (30, 60 and 90?ppm) to Calophyllum inophyllum methyl ester and diesel blends (20% CI methyl ester and 80% diesel) in a four-stroke single-cylinder diesel engine. Addition of nanoparticles is a strategy to reduce emission and to improve the performance of the biodiesel. Modified fuels are introduced into the engine by admitting exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) at a rate of 10% and 20% so as to reduce nitrogen oxide (NO_X) emissions from biodiesel and diesel blends. Results revealed a significant reduction in emissions (CO, NO_X, HC and Smoke) at a 10% EGR rate. However, brake thermal efficiency is reduced with an increase in brake-specific fuel consumption at higher EGR rates. Hence, it is observed that 10% EGR rate is an effective method to control the emission of biodiesel and diesel blends without compromising much on engine efficiency.     

Effect of Al2O3 nano-additives on the performance and emission characteristics of jatropha and pongamia methyl esters in compression ignition engine

Nano-additives can be added to biodiesel blends to improve its performance through better fuel properties. The present study investigated the effects of Al₂O₃ nano-additives on B20 blends of pongamia and jatropha biodiesel in a vertical single cylinder direct injection compression ignition engine. The fuel properties have been determined for all fuel samples with and without additives addition. The engine study was conducted to analyse the performance and emission characteristics of the blends with and without the additives at varying loads. The emissions from the biodiesel blends were comparatively lesser than that of normal diesel. B20 blend of pongamia biodiesel with additive has shown better performance. Additive-added biodiesel blends show a significant reduction in NO_x emission.     

Experimental investigation of performance,combustion and emission characteristics of CI engine fuelled with chicha oil biodiesel

As the decreasing availability of the fossil fuel is rising day by day, the search of alternate fuel that can be used as a substitute to the conventional fuels is rising rapidly. A new type of biofuel, chicha oil biodiesel, is introduced in this work for the purpose of fuelling diesel engine. Chicha oil was transesterified with methanol using potassium hydroxide as catalyst to obtain chicha oil methyl ester (COME). The calorific value of this biodiesel is lower, when compared to that of diesel. The COME and their blends of 20%, 40%, 60% and 80% with diesel were tested in a single cylinder, four stroke, direct injection diesel engine and the performance, combustion and emission results were compared with diesel. The test result indicates that there is a slight increase in brake thermal efficiency and decrease in brake-specific fuel consumption for all blended fuels when compared to that of diesel fuel. The use of biodiesel resulted in lower emissions of CO and HC and increased emissions of CO₂ and NO_x. The experimental results proved that the use of biodiesel (produced from chicha oil) in compression ignition engine is a viable alternative to diesel.     

Greenhouse gases emissions and energy use of wheat grain-based bioethanol fuel blends

This study focuses on the potential energetic and environmental impacts associated with the production of wheat grain-based bioethanol in Lombardia (Italy), with a “seed-to-wheel” approach (i.e. taking into account the production and use phase). Greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) were estimated through the CML 2 baseline 2000 methodology counting the CO₂ equivalent emissions, while the energy flow indicator was estimated using the Ecoindicator 95 methodology. The impact of the different phases involved in the production and use of bioethanol have been analysed: the agricultural production of wheat grain, its transformation into bioethanol, the production of gasoline and the use of 5 different blends (from pure gasoline to pure ethanol).The results show that ethanol fuel, used in the form of blends in gasoline, can help reduce energy use and GHGs. In particular, the use of pure ethanol was found to be the best alternative presenting the lowest GHGs (saving about 32% of CO₂eq emissions in comparison to gasoline) and the minor energy use (63% saving). Differences between low-ethanol blends and gasoline are minimal and dependent on the specific fuel consumption of the vehicle. The sensitivity analysis performed to test the robustness of results through the change of some basic assumptions (specific fuel consumption, N₂O emissions from agricultural phase, allocation method) shows the sensitivity of GHGs saving to the adopted allocation method.     

Experimental investigations on the influence of properties of Calophyllum inophyllum biodiesel on performance,combustion, and emission characteristics of a DI diesel engine

The current state of future energy and environmental crises has revitalised the need to find alternative sources of energy due to escalating oil prices and depleting oil reserves. To meet increasing energy requirements, there has been a growing interest in alternative fuels like biodiesel that can become a suitable diesel fuel substitute for compression ignition engine. Biodiesel offers a very promising alternative to diesel fuel, since they are renewable and have similar properties. Calophyllum inophyllum seed oil collected from different restaurants in the Nagapattinam region of South India was converted into methyl esters (biodiesel) by transesterification. Biodiesel produced from C. inophyllum oil was blended with diesel by different volume proportions (25%, 50%, and 75%). Biodiesel and its blends were tested on a direct injection (DI) diesel engine at a constant speed by varying loads from 0% to 100% in steps of 20% to analyse its performance, emission, and combustion characteristics. The results obtained were compared with that of diesel fuel. B25 (27.5%) showed better performance than diesel fuel (26.28%) at full load and B50 showed performances similar to diesel fuel. Smoke density of B25 was slightly (2.6%) higher than that of diesel at full load conditions. At full load, measured carbon monoxide emissions for B25 and B50 were 4% lower than that of diesel. Hydrocarbon emissions for B25 and B100 were 5.37% and 25.8% higher than that of diesel, respectively. Nitrogen oxides (NO_x) emission was lower for all biodiesel blends. NO_x emissions of B100 and B75 were lower than that of diesel by 22.16% and 13.29% at full load, respectively. Combustion profile was smoother, and no knocking problem was observed while operating with biodiesel blends. B75 produced peak cylinder pressure.     

Emissions characteristics of a diesel engine operating on biodiesel and biodiesel blended with ethanol and methanol

Euro V diesel fuel, pure biodiesel and biodiesel blended with 5%, 10% and 15% of ethanol or methanol were tested on a 4-cylinder naturally-aspirated direct-injection diesel engine. Experiments were conducted under five engine loads at a steady speed of 1800 r/min. The study aims to investigate the effects of the blended fuels on reducing NO_x and particulate. On the whole, compared with Euro V diesel fuel, the blended fuels could lead to reduction of both NO_x and PM of a diesel engine, with the biodiesel-methanol blends being more effective than the biodiesel-ethanol blends. The effectiveness of NO_x and particulate reductions is more effective with increase of alcohol in the blends. With high percentage of alcohol in the blends, the HC, CO emissions could increase and the brake thermal efficiency might be slightly reduced but the use of 5% blends could reduce the HC and CO emissions as well. With the diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC), the HC, CO and particulate emissions can be further reduced.     

Performance analysis of low heat rejection diesel engine,using Mahua oil bio fuel

In the present investigation, the effect of thermal barrier coated piston on the performance and emission characteristics of mahua-biodiesel-fuelled diesel engine was studied and compared with those of neat diesel fuel. The piston, cylinder walls and the valves of the engine were coated with 0.25?mm thickness of Al₂O₃ material without affecting the compression ratio of the engine. Experiments were conducted using diesel and biodiesel blend (B20) in the engine with and without coating. The results revealed that specific fuel consumption was decreased by 8.5% and the brake thermal efficiency was increased by 6.2% for biodiesel blend with coated engine compared with the base engine with neat diesel fuel. The exhaust emissions CO, NO_x and HC emissions were also decreased for biodiesel blend with coated engine compared with base engine.     

Experimental analysis of Deccan hemp oil as a new energy feedstock for compression ignition engine

This study investigates the biodiesel from Deccan hemp oil and its blends for the purpose of fuelling diesel engine. The performance and emission characteristics of Deccan hemp biodiesel are estimated and compared with diesel fuel. The experimental investigations are carried out with different blends of Deccan hemp biodiesel. Results show that brake thermal efficiency is improved significantly by 4.15% with 50 BDH when compared with diesel fuel. The Deccan hemp biodiesel reduces NO_x, HC and CO emission along with a marginal increase in CO₂ and smoke emissions with an increase in the biodiesel proportion in the diesel fuel. The improvement in heat release rates shows an increase in the combustion rate with different percentage blends of Deccan hemp biodiesel. From the engine test results, it has been established that 30–50 BDH of Deccan hemp biodiesel can be substituted for diesel.     

Analysis of ethanol blends on spark ignition engines

The objective of this investigation was to find the effect of ethanol–gasoline blends as fuel on the performance and exhaust emission of a spark ignition (SI) engine. A four-stroke three-cylinder SI engine was used for this study. Performance tests were conducted for the three blends E5 (5% ethanol), E10 (10% ethanol) and E15 (15% of ethanol) as well as E0(100% gasoline) to evaluate their brake thermal efficiency, specific fuel consumption and mechanical efficiency, while exhaust emissions were also analysed for carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), carbon dioxide (CO₂) and oxides of nitrogen (NO_x) with varying torque conditions and constant speed of the engine. The results showed that blends of gasoline and ethanol increased the brake power, brake thermal efficiency and the fuel consumption. The CO and HC emissions concentration in the engine exhaust decreased while the NO_x concentration increased.     

Performance,combustion and emission characteristics of a single-cylinder constant speed compression ignition engine using soybean methyl esters

ABSTRACT

The present study was aimed to produce biodiesel from soybean oil and to investigate its characteristics. Soybean oil-based bio diesel properties are observed and tested in the fuel testing laboratory with standard procedures. It is found that soybean oil-based biodiesel has similar properties as that of diesel fuel. An experimental set-up was used in the study to analyse the performance, combustion and emission of soybean oil biodiesel with respect to normal diesel by using different blends (B20, B40, B60, B80 and B100). It is observed that there is no difficulty found in running the engine, but the performance of the biodiesel blends quite deviated from normal diesel. The combustion characteristics of the tested blends were in agreement with normal diesel. The carbon emissions are much lower for soybean oil biodiesel blends than diesel.     

Evaluation of performance and emission behaviour of DI diesel engine powered by biofuel

In this experiment, the performance, emission, and combustion characteristics of a diesel engine were tested using bio-fuel (Anise oil) at different loads. The main focus of this study was to compare the existing biodiesel blends with the proposed mixture (anise?+?cerium oxide) of biodiesel blends in terms of engine parameters, cost, efficiency, and pollution control. The blends used in this experiment are B10 (Biodiesel-10%), B20 (Biodiesel-20%), and B30 (Biodiesel-30%). The emission and performance parameters considered for the test are SFC (specific fuel consumption), CO (carbon monoxide), NO_X (nitrogen oxide), and HC (hydrocarbon). These parameters were tested for different load conditions such as 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%. From the results, it shows that SFC is lower for B20 blend compared to that of pure diesel fuel, while B10, B30, B40, and B50 blends have slightly higher values. From the experiment, it is found that emissions of the HC and NO_x were reduced and CO emission is slightly higher than the pure diesel.