The Effect of an oxygenated additive on the emulsification characteristics of diesel-ethanol blends

Abstract

Since Thailand has focused on the development of alternative fuel sources to replace over-dependence on oil and reduce the pollutants emission, Diesohol (the blend between diesel, ethanol and additive) appears to be an attractive alternative fuel for diesel engines. The presence of ethanol generates different physico-chemical modifications on diesel fuel. In this research, therefore, ethyl acetate was used as a co-solvent to stabilize diesel-ethanol blends. An attempt was made to determine the optimum percentage of diesel, ethyl acetate and ethanol that gives not only acceptable fuel properties comparable to diesel fuel, but also results in lower emission. The present study was undertaken to experimentally investigate the effects of different process variables on stability. The results showed that ethyl acetate also improves homogeneity and prevents phase separation. The blend containing a diesel, ethyl acetate and ethanol ratio of 90:5:5 has very close fuel properties compared to those of diesel fuel. Ethyl acetate addition reduces HC and CO emissions, while it causes an increase in NOx emissions. In addition, the CO2 and NOx emissions were observed to increase with increasing engine load.