Role of Biofuels on IC Engines Emission Reduction

Analysis of Exhaust Gas Content for Selected Biofuel-Powered Combustion Engines with Simultaneous Modification of Their Controllers

The use of renewable resources for powering self-ignition engines in European Union countries involves a high demand for renewable energy which is not accompanied by the development of its production infrastructure. The application of biofuel in vehicle powering is supposed to provide reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and an increase in the share of renewable energy resources in the total energy consumption. The study includes the analyses of power unit exhaust components, such as oxygen, carbon monoxide, nitric oxides, carbonizers, carbon dioxide and a quantity of exhaust particles contained in exhaust gases. Tests using an exhaust gas analyzer and a vapor analyzer were conducted. Three high-pressure engines, characterized by direct fuel injection, were tested. The vehicle computer software adjustments included increasing the fuel dose and the air load. Mixtures of diesel oil and fatty acid methyl esters were used in the tests. Based on the results, a statistical analysis was performed and an assessment model was developed to understand the functioning of the research objects fueled with these mixtures, with simultaneous software changes in the vehicle computers. On the basis of the conducted analysis, it was found that only 30% of fatty acid methyl ester additives to diesel oil reduced the performance parameters of the drive units.

Analysis of the Impact of Application of Fuels With Addition of Biocomponents on Functioning of Transport Means

The study describes a method and a model for assessment of the impact of addition of fatty acid methyl esters to fuel oil on selected parameters of transport means. For this purpose, criteria for assessment of operational parameters of the analyzed mixture have been identified. A model has been developed to find out how the values of the analyzed parameters reflect the state of transport means powered by fuel oil mixtures and methyl esters of fatty acids. Ten operational parameters have been accepted for the research object description. The parameter values were measured depending on the analyzed mixture composition. The obtained results allowed to determine the components of the object state vector. The developed model has been verified by application of the method of mean fuzzy diagram.

Analysis of Selected Performance Parameters of Engine Powered with a Mixture of Biocomponents and Diesel Oil

The most desirable effect of motorization development is providing a drive unit with high performance parameters and reduce the environmental impact. This study presents the results of tests of a self-ignition engine power output and torque. The tested engine was powered with diesel oil and a mixture of fatty acid methyl esters in the proportions of 10%, 30% and 50% with performance additives, for standard settings of the fuel injection system. The tests were carried out on a chassis dynamometer for full load of the engine. The vehicle was placed on the dynamometer rollers and attached to the base by means of belts. The analysis shows that application of the mixture decreases the engine performance parameters to such a degree that the engine is not put at any risk of damage.

Valorization of sewage sludge via non-catalytic transesterification

To seek a way to valorize sewage sludge (SS), it was chosen as a raw material for biodiesel production. As such, non-catalytic transesterification of dried SS was carried out, to enhance its value. Note that picking a waste material such as SS as an inexpensive lipid feedstock for biodiesel production, without lipid extraction, greatly increases the economic viability of biodiesel. Also, to enhance biodiesel sustainability, ethanol (EtOH) was employed as the acyl acceptor, in this study, and this was experimentally justified by results showing that employing EtOH as an acyl acceptor provided an effective means for compensating for the lower heating value arising from the large amount of palmitic (C₁₆) acid in SS. This study experimentally proved that the fatty acid ethyl ester (FAEE) yield at 380 °C reached up to 13.33 wt% of dried SS. Given that the lipid content of dried SS is 14.01 ± 0.64 wt%, the FAEE yield of 13.33 wt% implied that 95.14 wt% of lipid in dried SS had been converted into FAEEs. The introduced SS valorization in this study offered an excellent opportunity to address diverse environmental hazards arising from SS and associated emerging contaminants. Given that the optimal temperature for the non-catalytic conversion for biodiesel production from SS was found to be 380 °C, emerging contaminants, such as microplastics and antimicrobials, were simultaneously degraded, due to their inferior thermal stabilities. Lastly, considering that the introduced biodiesel conversion process is thermally induced, the SS reside after the biodiesel conversion process can be further used in thermo-chemical processes as raw materials for gasification and pyrolysis (future work).

Attempts to minimize nitrogen oxide emission from diesel engine by using antioxidant-treated diesel-biodiesel blend

The study represents a comprehensive analysis of engine exhaust emission variation from a compression ignition (CI) diesel engine fueled with diesel-biodiesel blends. Biodiesel used in this investigation was produced through transesterification procedure from Moringa oleifera oil. A single cylinder, four-stroke, water-cooled, naturally aspirated diesel engine was used for this purpose. The pollutants from the exhaust of the engine that are monitored in this study are nitrogen oxide (NO), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbon (HC), and smoke opacity. Engine combustion and performance parameters are also measured together with exhaust emission data. Some researchers have reported that the reason for higher NO emission of biodiesel is higher prompt NO formation. The use of antioxidant-treated biodiesel in a diesel engine is a promising approach because antioxidants reduce the formation of free radicals, which are responsible for the formation of prompt NO during combustion. Two different antioxidant additives namely 2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-methylphenol (BHT) and 2,2'-methylenebis(4-methyl-6-tert-butylphenol) (MBEBP) were individually dissolved at a concentration of 1% by volume in MB30 (30% moringa biodiesel with 70% diesel) fuel blend to investigate and compare NO as well as other emissions. The result shows that both antioxidants reduced NO emission significantly; however, HC, CO, and smoke were found slightly higher compared to pure biodiesel blends, but not more than the baseline fuel diesel. The result also shows that both antioxidants were quite effective in reducing peak heat release rate (HRR) and brake-specific fuel consumption (BSFC) as well as improving brake thermal efficiency (BTE) and oxidation stability. Based on this study, antioxidant-treated M. oleifera biodiesel blend (MB30) can be used as a very promising alternative source of fuel in diesel engine without any modifications.