Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Emulsication of animal fats and vegetable oils for their use as a diesel
engine fuel: An overview
Eliezer Ahmed Melo-Espinosa a,n, Ramn Piloto-Rodrguez a, Leonardo Goyos-Prez a,
Roger Sierens b, Sebastian Verhelst b
a
Center for the Study of Renewable Energy Technologies, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Instituto Superior Politcnico Jos Antonio Echeverra (CUJAE),
Marianao, 19390 Havana, Cuba
b
Department of Flow, Heat and Combustion Mechanics, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 41, B-9000 Ghent,
Belgium
art ic l e i nf o
a b s t r a c t
Article history:
Received 30 September 2014
Received in revised form
23 February 2015
Accepted 8 March 2015
Available online 30 March 2015
Vegetable oils and animal fats represent promising alternatives to diesel engine fuel because they can be
obtained from different feedstocks and renewable sources; also their properties are close to diesel fuel. The
direct use of these biofuels as a diesel engine fuel can cause several problems in engine performance and
emissions. In order to obtain a more engine-friendly fuel, it is necessary to change the biofuels properties
for which different methods have been used. One of the possibilities is using emulsication techniques in
order to obtain emulsied biofuels (emulsions or microemulsions); through this method it is possible to
lower viscosity and improve the atomization. However, emulsication techniques applied to vegetable oils
and animal fats have not been studied thoroughly. For this reason, this paper presents an overview on the
formulation and characterization of the emulsied biofuels using vegetable oils and animal fats, as well as
the main experimental results reported about its use as a diesel engine fuel in the scientic literature.
& 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords:
Biofuel
Vegetable oil
Animal fat
Emulsion
Microemulsion
Diesel engine
Contents
1.
2.
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Emulsied biofuels background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.1.
Emulsied biofuels as dispersed systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2.
The effects of the water in the emulsied biofuels. The microexplosion phenomenon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3. Materials and methods used in the formulation of emulsied biofuels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.1.
Formulation of emulsied biofuels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.2.
Experimental results reported about the formulation of emulsied biofuels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4. Prediction of emulsied biofuels properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5. Performance assessment of diesel engines fuelled with emulsied biofuels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.1.
The general effect on engine performance and exhaust emissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.2.
Engine components wear, lubricity and durability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6. Summary and conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Acknowledgement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
623
625
625
625
627
627
627
628
628
628
630
631
631
631
1. Introduction
n
Diesel engines are mainly used in industrial, transport and agricultural applications due to their high efciency and reliability [1].
624
E.A. Melo-Espinosa et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 47 (2015) 623633
E.A. Melo-Espinosa et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 47 (2015) 623633
625
W/O Emulsion
Sedimentation
Coalecense
Flocculation
Phase separation
Legend
Surfactant
Biofuel
Water
626
E.A. Melo-Espinosa et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 47 (2015) 623633
Increase of temperature
injector
Primary atomization
(dispersed system)
Blow up
(oil layer)
Smaller droplets
E.A. Melo-Espinosa et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 47 (2015) 623633
627
Table 1
Surfactants used in emulsied biofuels formulation.
Chemical name
Chemical formula
HLB
Ref.
C22H42O6
C24H46O6
C24H44O6
C66H130O18
C60H108O8
C64H124O26
C20H42O5
C20H37O7SNa
C18H34O2
6.7
4.7
4.3
3.7
1.8
15.0
9.7
10.2
1.0
[114,115]
[115]
[88,109]
[109,116]
[115,117]
[100,115]
[66,115]
[66]
[49,50]
628
E.A. Melo-Espinosa et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 47 (2015) 623633
Table 2
Compositions and properties of different emulsied biofuels.
Vegetable oil
Diesel Fuel
Emulsier agent
Microemulsion (ionic)
Microemulsion (nonionic)
Soybean (52.3%)
Soybean (53.3%)
Soybean (25%)
Sunower (53%)
Linseed (35%)
Linseed (30%)
Linseed (35%)
Linseed (30%)
Mahua (35%)
Mahua (30%)
Mahua (35%)
Mahua (30%)
Canola oil (89%)
Canola oil (85%)
50%
60%
60%
60%
60%
60%
60%
60%
60%
Ethanol (17.45%)
Ethanol (13.3%)
Ethanol (5%)
Ethanol (13.3%)
Methanol (5%)
Methanol (10%)
Ethanol (5%)
Ethanol (10%)
Methanol (5%)
Methanol (10%)
Ethanol (5%)
Ethanol (10%)
Methanol (9%)
Methanol (12.5%)
Emulsion (nonionic)
Emulsion
Type
Vegetable oil
Diesel Fuel
Water
Emulsion
CPO (5%)
CPO (5%)
CPO (10%)
CPO (10%)
CCO (85%)
CCO (67%)
CCO (50%)
VCO (86%)
VCO (67%)
VCO (50%)
Honge oil (80%)
Honge oil (70%)
Rapeseed (17.6%)
Rapeseed (14.8%)
Rapeseed (12.8%)
Cotton oil (20%)
90%
85%
90%
80%
70.4%
59.2%
51.2%
70%
5%
10%
5%
10%
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
Microemulsion
NR
1-Butanol
1-Butanol
1-Butanol
1-Butanol
(20.5%)
(33.4%)
(20%)
(33.4%)
LA (6.54%)
Ethanol
Ethanol
Ethanol
Ethanol
Ethanol
Ethanol
Ethanol
Ethanol
Ethanol
Ethanol
Ethanol
(9%)
(17%)
(21%)
(9%)
(17%)
(22%)
(15%)
(20%)
(9.8%)
(19%)
(28%)
TA (3.27%)
Span80 (1%)
Span80 (1%)
Span80 (1%)
Span80 (1%)
1-Octanol (6%)
1-Octanol (16%)
1-Octanol (29%)
1-Octanol (5%)
1-Octanol (16%)
1-Octanol (28%)
1-Butanol (5%) 1-butanol (10%)
Oleic acid/1-butanol (2.2%)
Oleic acid/1-butanol (7%)
Oleic acid/1-butanol (8%)
1-Butanol (10%)
Viscosity (mm2/s)
Density (kg/m3)
HHV (kJ/kg)
FP (1C)
Ref.
NR
6.77 [37.8 1C]
4.03 [38 1C]
6.31 [40 1C]
2.16 [100 1C]
6.52 [40 1C]
7.87 [40 1C]
7.54 [40 1C]
7.65 [40 1C]
10.72 [40 1C]
11.31 [40 1C]
12.22 [40 1C]
14.00 [40 1C]
43.11 [25 1C]
45.78 [25 1C]
NR
NR
NR
NR
920.28
913.34
916.60
910.99
924.70
923.56
921.96
917.39
900.00
880.00
36,687.00
37,045.00
41,263.00
36,393.00
37,025.60
30,336.29
40,857.05
40,401.49
40,378.60
40,413.60
42,179.97
40,143.96
38,396.00
37,505.00
NR
27.8
28.3
27
69
60
69
61
42
41
40
43
NR
NR
[110]
Viscosity (mm2/s)
Density (kg/m3)
LHV (kJ/kg)
HHV (kJ/kg)
FP (1C)
838
844
842
848
902.10
880.80
864.00
901.90
882.00
863.50
900 [25 1C]
885 [25 1C]
842 [15 1C]
834 [15 1C]
830 [15 1C]
845
43,249
41,850
42,394
41,611
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
34,633
34,049
40,050
38,660
37,250
41,005
NR
NR
NR
NR
37,200
37,000
37,100
36,400
38,400
38,400
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
42
38
NR
NR
NR
38.5
LA: linoleic acid, TA: triethyl amine, HHV: higher heating value, LHV: Lower heating value, FP: ash point, CCO: crude coconut oil, VCO: virgin coconut oil, CPO: crude palm oil, NR: not reported
[107]
[103]
[119]
[100]
Ref.
[47]
[45]
[48,62]
[62]
[49,50]
[37]
E.A. Melo-Espinosa et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 47 (2015) 623633
Type
629
630
E.A. Melo-Espinosa et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 47 (2015) 623633
achieved [5153]. On the other hand, Crookes et al. [53] did not
always obtain an increase in ignition delay with increasing water
amount in the emulsied biofuels. Senthil et al. [12] reported that
the emulsied animal fat based on ethanol had a longer ignition
delay than the methanol based system.
These behaviors might be attributed to the physical properties of
these emulsied biofuels and its inuence on the premixed combustion phase, peak combustion pressure and rate of reaction. Also,
as was previously mentioned, it is important to take into account
the engine operation mode. Crookes et al. [53] reported that the
ignition delay is shorter at higher speed and load conditions.
As a consequence of the lower heating value of emulsied
biofuels, usually it is necessary to increase the emulsied biofuels
injection duration in order to obtain the same engine power
output as for diesel fuel. Indeed, increases of the specic fuel
consumption for emulsied biofuels compared with diesel fuel
operation have been reported [37,41,45,47,4953,110,119,120].
Moreover, as a result of the use of emulsied fuels (emulsied
diesel fuel and emulsied biofuels) a decrease of ame temperature during the combustion process is expected due to the thermal
effect of the water dispersed in the fuel. According to Crookes et al.
[53], the thermal effect of the water is two-fold: the heating-up
and evaporation of the extra liquid, having higher specic-heat
capacity and enthalpy of evaporation than the fuel; the second is
in the increase of the water vapor, having approximately twice the
specic-heat capacity of the other gaseous products of combustion. High ame temperature is one of the precursors of NOx
formation. For this reason, as a consequence of the thermal effect
of the water on the combustion temperature, lower NOx emissions
generally are expected. Nevertheless, formation of fuel NOx is quite
complex because numerous intermediate species exist [31].
Specically on emulsied biofuels, Sangeeta et al. [126] indicated
that addition of water to vegetable oils decreases the concentration
of NOx. In agreement with this, different investigations [12,13,40
53] reported lowest NOx emissions for emulsied biofuels formulated from vegetable oil and animal fats. Crookes et al. [53] reported
lower NOx emissions for emulsied biofuels than for diesel fuel and
neat biofuels. However, higher or equivalent NOx emissions were
noticed by Nguyen et al. [120] and Atmanli et al. [37].
In diesel fuel combustion the main reasons for hydrocarbons
(HC) emission are the trapping of fuel in the crevice volumes of the
combustion chamber, low temperature bulk quenching of the
oxidation reactions, locally over-lean or over-rich mixture, liquid
wall lms for excessive spray impingement and incomplete evaporation of the fuel [31]. For emulsied biofuels, generally due to
lower heating value and cetane number compared with diesel fuel,
increases of HC and CO emissions might be expected.
Different investigations [12,37,4143,47,62] reported decreased
HC and/or CO emissions for emulsied biofuels compared with
diesel fuel and/or neat biofuels. In three experimental conditions
Senthil et al. [43] obtained increases of HC and decreases of CO
emissions. In addition, Senthil et al. [12] measured higher HC
emissions using emulsied animal fat based on ethanol compared
with neat diesel fuel, preheated animal fat and emulsied animal
fat based on methanol. Nevertheless, in concordance with Sangeeta et al. [126] a higher concentration of CO in the exhaust
[13,45,46,48,5053,120] and even higher HC [13,37,46,48,50,62]
call for more researches in this area.
Probably another precursor of the CO and HC emissions
variation might be the biofuels chemical structure obtained from
vegetable oils or animal fats which contains oxygen in its chemical
structure, as well as the contribution of oxygen by the water and
emulsier agent (solvent and surfactant) in the emulsied biofuels. This extra oxygen in the airfuel mixture, depending on the
engine operational conditions, can increase or decrease the combustion efciency. On the other hand, generally for emulsied
E.A. Melo-Espinosa et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 47 (2015) 623633
631
Table 3
Engine components wear, lubricity and durability tests.
Type
Engine
Test
EMA
Allis-Chalmers model:
4331 4-cilinder Direct
injection
Test result
Ref.
Passed the 200 h EMA test, but produced greater deposits of carbon and lacquer on the
injector tips, intake valves and tops of the cylinder liners
At 125 h the fuel lter needed changing
EMA
Sticking of the injectors. Excessive deposits on the internal parts of the fuel injection
pump
Heavier carbon residue on the piston lands, in the piston ring grooves and in the
intake ports
Lubricating oil consumption not consistent
Signicant fuel dilution of the lubricating oil
Increase in lubricating oil viscosity
SEMPh Deposit build-up at injector tip after 1 h of engine operation was lower for emulsied
biofuel than neat biofuel
200 h After 200 h of the engine operation, the wear and the physical corrosion in the engine
piston, piston of fuel pump and needle injection of fuel pump using emulsied biofuel
were not much different compared with diesel fuel
[107]
[103]
[53]
[47]
Acknowledgement
The authors wish to express their thanks to the Flemish
Interuniversity Councils (VLIR) University Development Cooperation, funding an Own Initiatives Program entitled Knowledge cell
on biofuels (from non-edible crops and waste products) for use in
internal combustion engines and a South Initiatives Program
entitled Emulsied systems for biofuels. Assessment of their
performance in diesel engines, with whose support much of this
research was performed.
References
[1] Qi D, Chen H, Matthews R, Bian Y. Combustion and emission characteristics
of ethanolbiodieselwater micro-emulsions used in a direct injection
compression ignition engine. Fuel 2010;89:95864.
[2] Alahmer A, Yamin J, Sakhrieh A, Hamdan M. Engine performance using
emulsied diesel fuel. Energy Convers Manage 2010;51:170813.
[3] Kannan G, Anand R. Experimental investigation on diesel engine with
diestrol-water micro emulsions. Energy 2011;36:16807.
[4] Tesfa B. Water injection effects on the performance and emission characteristics of a CI engine operating with biodiesel. Renewable Energy 2012;37:
33344.
[5] Ashraful A, Masjuki H, Kalam M, Rizwanul I, Imtenan S, Shahir S, Mobarak H.
Production and comparison of fuel properties, engine performance, and
emission characteristics of biodiesel from various non-edible vegetable oils:
a review. Energy Convers Manage 2014;80:20228.
[6] Attia A, Kulchitskiy A. Inuence of the structure of water-in-fuel emulsion on
diesel engine performance. Fuel 2014;116:7038.
[7] Singh P, Singh. A. Production of liquid biofuels from renewable resources.
Prog Energy Combust Sci 2011;37:5268.
[8] Tan P. Regulated and unregulated emissions from a light-duty diesel engine
with different sulfur content fuels fuel. Fuel 2009;88:108691.
[9] Senthil M, Bellettre J, Tazerout M. The use of biofuel emulsions as fuel for
diesel engines: a review. Proc Inst Mech Eng Part A J Power Energy
2009;223:72942.
[10] No S-Y. Inedible vegetable oils and their derivatives for alternative diesel
fuels in CI engines: a review. Renewable Sustainable Energy Rev 2011;15:
13149.
[11] Meher L, Vidya D, Naik SN. Technical aspects of biodiesel production by
transestericationa review. Renewable Sustainable Energy Rev 2006;10:
24868.
632
E.A. Melo-Espinosa et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 47 (2015) 623633
E.A. Melo-Espinosa et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 47 (2015) 623633
633