Comparison of the performance and emissions of different biodiesel blends against petroleum diesel

International Journal of Low-Carbon Technologies, Dec 2011

Biodiesel, an alternative fuel of petroleum diesel, is mainly used to reduce the environmental impact of emissions without modifying engines. This study compares the performance and emissions characteristics of different biodiesel blends with petroleum diesel using an internal combustion engine (Kubota V3300) and following ISO 8178 standards. Two types of biodiesel, type A (80% tallow and 20% canola oil methyl ester) and type B (70% chicken tallow and 30% waste cooking oil methyl ester), were tested in this study. It was found that the performance (mainly torque and brake power) of both biodiesel fuels reduces with increasing blend ratio which can be attributed to lower energy content of biodiesel. Specific fuel consumption increases for both biodiesels compared with diesel fuel, as expected. Some of the greenhouse gas emissions were found to be higher than petroleum diesel, whereas some were lower. Overall, Biodiesel A was found to produce lower emissions across the board compared with diesel and Biodiesel B.

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Comparison of the performance and emissions of different biodiesel blends against petroleum diesel

Comparison of the performance and emissions of different biodiesel blends against petroleum diesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Biodiesel, an alternative fuel of petroleum diesel, is mainly used to reduce the environmental impact of emissions without modifying engines. This study compares the performance and emissions characteristics of different biodiesel blends with petroleum diesel using an internal combustion engine (Kubota V3300) and following ISO 8178 standards. Two types of biodiesel, type A (80% tallow and 20% canola oil methyl ester) and type B (70% chicken tallow and 30% waste cooking oil methyl ester), were tested in this study. It was found that the performance (mainly torque and brake power) of both biodiesel fuels reduces with increasing blend ratio which can be attributed to lower energy content of biodiesel. Specific fuel consumption increases for both biodiesels compared with diesel fuel, as expected. Some of the greenhouse gas emissions were found to be higher than petroleum diesel, whereas some were lower. Overall, Biodiesel A was found to produce lower emissions across the board compared with diesel and Biodiesel B. - P. McCarthy, M.G. Rasul* and S. Moazzem Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, Queensland 4702, Australia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Abstract 1 INTRODUCTION It is well known that petroleum diesels are the major source of air pollutions that create an adverse impact on human health and overall greenhouse gases. Biodiesel has some great benefits over petroleum diesel, such as it produces 4.5 units of energy against every unit of fossil energy [1, 2] and also it has some environment-friendly properties such as it is non-toxic, biodegradable and safer to breathe [3]. Biodiesel is also a clean-burning and stable fuel [3]. Properties of biodiesel such as oxygen content, cetane number, viscosity, density and heat value are greatly dependent on the sources (soybean, rapeseed or animal fats) of biodiesel [4, 5]. Engine performance and emissions depend on the properties of biodiesels. Biodiesel is a highly oxygenated fuel that can improve combustion efficiency and can reduce unburnt hydrocarbons (HCs), carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), sulphur dioxides (SO2), nitric oxide (NOx) and polycyclic aromatic HC emissions. However, brake-specific fuel consumption slightly increases [6]. Popularity of biodiesel as renewable sources of alternative fuel of petroleum diesel is growing quickly due to increased environmental awareness and the rising price of diesel. It is an earth-friendly choice of consumers that already occupies a great volume of the worlds fuel sector due to its clean emission characteristics. Developments of biodiesel fuels in many countries are driven by the necessity to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions which is the major issue for todays world, and the scarcity of the source of petroleum diesel also enhances the development and production of biodiesel fuel around the world. Biodiesel is generally produced from vegetable oils or animal fats through a chemical process known as transesterification process. Vegetable oil was first used to run an engine by Rudolf Diesel (1858 1913) who developed the first engine. But sometimes, vegetable oils create adverse effects on engine components which may be due to their different volatility and molecular structure from diesel fuel as well as high viscosity compared with diesel fuel [4, 5, 7]. Currently, this problem is being eliminated by applying different chemical processes such as transesterification, supercritical, catalyst-free process etc., on vegetable oils to convert into biodiesel. This paper aims to investigate the engine performances ( power, torque, fuel consumption) and emissions (unburnt HCs, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitric oxide) of a diesel engine using two different biodiesels. Two different sources of biodiesel, type A [80% tallow (beef, pork and sheep) and 20% canola oil methyl ester] and type B (70% chicken tallow and 30% waste cooking oil methyl ester), were used for the experimentation in this study. Fuel types such as B5, B10, B20, B50 and B100 are analysed and discussed. 2 THEORETICAL CONSIDERATION Performances of a compression ignition (CI) engine are tested by running them at different loads and speeds and taking sufficient data for performance criteria. Engine performance depends on the testing conditions and the form in which the engine i (...truncated)


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P. McCarthy, M.G. Rasul, S. Moazzem. Comparison of the performance and emissions of different biodiesel blends against petroleum diesel, International Journal of Low-Carbon Technologies, 2011, pp. 255-260, 6/4, DOI: 10.1093/ijlct/ctr012