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The Impact of Biodiesel Fuel on Ethanol/Diesel Blends

2019; Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute; Volume: 12; Issue: 9 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3390/en12091804

1996-1073

Nawar Al-Esawi, Mansour Al Qubeissi, Ruslana Kolodnytska,

Thermochemical Biomass Conversion Processes

The interest in biofuels was stimulated by the fossil fuel depletion and global warming. This work focuses on the impact of biodiesel fuel on ethanol/diesel (ED) fuel blends. The soybean methyl ester was used as a representative composition of typical biodiesel fuels. The heating and evaporation of ethanol–biodiesel–diesel (EBD) blends were investigated using the Discrete–Component (DC) model. The Cetane Number (CN) of the EBD blends was predicted based on the individual hydrocarbon contributions in the mixture. The mixture viscosity was predicted using the Universal Quasi-Chemical Functional group Activity Coefficients and Viscosity (UNIFAC–VISCO) method, and the lower heating value of the mixture was predicted based on the volume fractions and density of species and blends. Results revealed that a mixture of up to 15% biodiesel, 5% ethanol, and 80% diesel fuels had led to small variations in droplet lifetime, CN, viscosity, and heating value of pure diesel, with less than 1.2%, 0.2%, 2%, and 2.2% reduction in those values, respectively.