scholarly journals ATTEMPTS TO REDUCE BIODIESEL BLENDS NOX POLLUTANT EMISSIONS BY ULTRASONIC CONDITIONING

Transport ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-49
Author(s):  
Florin Mariasiu

The conditions imposed by the renewable energy Directive 2009/28/EC make it mandatory for EU member countries to ensure that by 2020 fossil fuels used in the transport sector contain a 10% component of biofuel. The 10% limit is based on results of experiments conducted by engine manufacturers and researchers in the biofuels domain, which show that this percentage can be used in IC engines without major technical changes to equipment and engine systems. Taking into account that increasing the percentage of biodiesel in blends results in significant reductions of CO2 emissions, an immediate way to surpass the 10% limit is to carry out external and/or internal processes that will act on the physico-chemical properties of those biofuels. This paper presents data and results from experiments examining the process of ultrasonic irradiation of rapeseed oil methyl ester type biodiesel. The results show the effects of the irradiation process on biodiesel physical parameters such as density, kinematic viscosity, speed of sound through the medium, and isentropic bulk modulus. The values of these parameters directly influence the operation, performance and pollutant emissions of diesel engines. Primary results obtained demonstrate the possibilities of using what we call here the B25 blend with low-cost procedures and without major technical intervention in the equipment used to construct diesel engines. Two parameters important for the injection process (kinematic viscosity and density) show equal values for B25Us_irr ultrasonically irradiated for 350 seconds and diesel fuel ultrasonically irradiated for 420 seconds. The range of the achieved NOx pollutant emission reduction was between 18.2% for the ultrasonically irradiated blend B25Us_irr (no load) and 1.4% for the ultrasonically irradiated blend B100Us_irr (100% load), when compared with untreated basic biodiesel.

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (23) ◽  
pp. 7271
Author(s):  
Tomasz Baran ◽  
Alberto Visibile ◽  
Michael Busch ◽  
Xiufang He ◽  
Szymon Wojtyla ◽  
...  

This work aims at reviewing the most impactful results obtained on the development of Cu-based photocathodes. The need of a sustainable exploitation of renewable energy sources and the parallel request of reducing pollutant emissions in airborne streams and in waters call for new technologies based on the use of efficient, abundant, low-toxicity and low-cost materials. Photoelectrochemical devices that adopts abundant element-based photoelectrodes might respond to these requests being an enabling technology for the direct use of sunlight to the production of energy fuels form water electrolysis (H2) and CO2 reduction (to alcohols, light hydrocarbons), as well as for the degradation of pollutants. This review analyses the physical chemical properties of Cu2O (and CuO) and the possible strategies to tune them (doping, lattice strain). Combining Cu with other elements in multinary oxides or in composite photoelectrodes is also discussed in detail. Finally, a short overview on the possible applications of these materials is presented.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (24) ◽  
pp. 6564
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Górski ◽  
Ruslans Smigins ◽  
Rafał Longwic

Physico-chemical properties of diethyl ether/linseed oil (DEE/LO) fuel blends were empirically tested in this article for the first time. In particular, kinematic viscosity (ν), density (ρ), lower heating value (LHV), cold filter plugging point (CFPP) and surface tension (σ) were examined. For this research diethyl ether (DEE) was blended with linseed oil (LO) in volumetric ratios of 10%, 20% and 30%. Obtained results were compared with literature data of diethyl ether/rapeseed oil (DEE/RO) fuel blends get in previous research in such a way looking on differences also between oil types. It was found that DEE impacts significantly on the reduction of plant oil viscosity, density and surface tension and improve low temperature properties of tested oils. In particular, the addition of 10% DEE to LO effectively reduces its kinematic viscosity by 53% and even by 82% for the blend containing 30% DEE. Tested ether reduces density and surface tension of LO up to 6% and 25% respectively for the blends containing 30% DEE. The measurements of the CFPP showed that DEE significantly improves the low temperature properties of LO. In the case of the blend containing 30% DEE the CFPP can be lowered up to −24 °C. For this reason DEE/LO blends seem to be valuable as a fuel for diesel engines in the coldest season of the year. Moreover, DEE/LO blends have been tested in the engine research. Based on results it can be stated that the engine operated with LO results in worse performance compared with regular diesel fuel (DF). However, it was found that these disadvantages could be reduced with DEE as a component of the fuel mixture. Addition of this ether to LO improves the quality of obtained fuel blends. For this reason, the efficiency of DEE/LO blend combustion process is similar for the engine fuelled with regular diesel fuel. In this research it was confirmed that the smoke opacity reaches the highest value for the engine fuelled with plant oils. However, addition of 20% DEE reduces this emission to the value comparable for the engine operated with diesel fuel.


Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 1895
Author(s):  
Ming Yang ◽  
Xiaohua Chen ◽  
Zidong Wang ◽  
Yuzhi Zhu ◽  
Shiwei Pan ◽  
...  

Metal nanostructured materials, with many excellent and unique physical and mechanical properties compared to macroscopic bulk materials, have been widely used in the fields of electronics, bioimaging, sensing, photonics, biomimetic biology, information, and energy storage. It is worthy of noting that most of these applications require the use of nanostructured metals with specific controlled properties, which are significantly dependent on a series of physical parameters of its characteristic size, geometry, composition, and structure. Therefore, research on low-cost preparation of metal nanostructures and controlling of their characteristic sizes and geometric shapes are the keys to their development in different application fields. The preparation methods, physical and chemical properties, and application progress of metallic nanostructures are reviewed, and the methods for characterizing metal nanostructures are summarized. Finally, the future development of metallic nanostructure materials is explored.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 5465
Author(s):  
Oyetola Ogunkunle ◽  
Noor A. Ahmed

Air pollution is a precursor to many health issues such as difficulty breathing, asthma, lung and heart diseases, and cancer. This study presents a concise view of biodiesel combustion in mitigating pollutant emissions which are generated by the combustion of fossil fuels, thereby eliminating the negative effects on human health and the environment. Gaseous pollutants such as carbon monoxide, unburned hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and carbon dioxide are found to be major exhaust emissions from vehicles running on fossil fuels. Excessive exposure to these pollutants was found to be a precursor to reductions in life expectancy via health complications in humans. Greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector were found to be 24% of total annual emissions, 74.5% of which came from the combustion of fossil fuel in road vehicles. Biodiesel combustion in vehicular engines is established to be a control technology in reducing gaseous pollutants toward building a sustainable and healthy human–environment scenario. The emissions reduction index from the United States National Biodiesel Board showed that the combustion of biodiesel wholly as a transportation fuel decreased total hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, carbon, and sulfur emissions by 67%, 80%, 48%, and 100%, respectively. Evaluation of emission results from topical literature strongly suggests that the use of biodiesel is effective in the reduction in pollutants, which is beneficial to human and environmental sustainability.


2019 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Máté Zöldy

European legislation and new engine technologies require better quality in fuels, and the diesel scandal pushes engine and fuel developers to investigate new solutions. The decrease of fossil energy sources and the new, stricter emission regulations necessitate the discovery of renewable sources. Biofuels are an obvious solution to replace fossil fuels in a more environmentally conscious way. This study presents a new approach with the analytical investigation of butanol, hydrogenated vegetable oil, and diesel oil blends.In the presented phase of the research, our focus was on the most application- critical chemical properties of the fuels, to analyze if the three component blends are suitable for compression ignition engines. A wide-ranging chemical-analytical test plan was prepared with nearly 20 parameters measured of the chemical and physical parameters of blends, especially regarding flash point, cetane number, viscosity and cold filter plugging point (CFPP).The findings prove that from an engine-critical characteristics point of view butanol – hydrogenated vegetable oil – diesel blends are a potential solution, as HVO and butanol counterbalance its critical parameters.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 785 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Alessandra Ancona ◽  
Michele Bianchi ◽  
Lisa Branchini ◽  
Francesco Catena ◽  
Andrea De Pascale ◽  
...  

The liquefied natural gas (LNG) is considered a viable solution to replace oil-based engines (common in heavy-duty truck and naval industry) reducing the environmental impact in the transport sector. Since liquefaction plants represent energy intensive processes, the best configurations/operation assessment is of primary importance. In this paper, a novel general procedure for the thermodynamic design and optimization, engineering design and off-design evaluation for small-scale LNG production systems is presented. The procedure can be used for the complete design and performance evaluation of plug & play facilities at filling stations for vehicles/boats, with the contemporary benefits of reducing pollutant emission in the city/port area and operating as electrical storage, coupled with renewable generators. Furthermore, the procedure has been applied to a case study (ferry boat operating at the main canal in the port of Ravenna, Italy), evaluating the optimal size for the integrated wind plant by minimizing the electricity introduction into the grid. The obtained results show 78 kW as optimal wind size, allowing the LNG plant to operate 187 h/year in design and 4720 h/year in off-design conditions, with electricity surplus around 33 MWh/year. A prototype will be installed to reduce pollutant emissions and test this technology as a storage option for renewable sources.


Author(s):  
György Szabados ◽  
Jan Knaup ◽  
Ákos Bereczky

The fuel demand in transport sector seems to be raised on a short and also on a long term base in the European Union and worldwide as well. A constantly growing trend is foreseen through 2050 worldwide as for using bio-based energy or fuels. Questions can arise before using these kinds of fuels in connection with the use of clean water or in terms of soil degradation, plant nutrients. It is also questionable whether they can be useful regarding their usage. First-, and second generation liquid as well as third generation gaseous bio-based fuels will be in focus in this article. They will be analyzed from physical-chemical properties and pollutant emission points of view.


Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 2027
Author(s):  
Mariafrancesca Cascione ◽  
Valeria De Matteis ◽  
Paolo Pellegrino ◽  
Giovanni Albanese ◽  
Maria Luisa De De Giorgi ◽  
...  

Over the last decades, several materials have been proposed for the fabrication of dental and mandibular prosthetic implants. Today, the poly(methyl-methacrylate) (PMMA) resin is the most spread material, due to its ease of processing, low cost, aesthetic properties, low weight, biocompatibility, and biostability in the oral cavity. However, the porous surface (which favors the adhesion of microorganisms) and the weak mechanical properties (which lead to wear or fracture) are the major concerns. The inclusion of engineered nanomaterials in the acrylic matrix could improve the performances of PMMA. In this study, we added two different kind of nanomaterials, namely titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2NPs) and halloysite clay nanotubes (HNTs) at two concentrations (1% and 3% w/w) in PMMA. Then, we assessed the effect of nanomaterials inclusion by the evaluation of specific physical parameters: Young’s modulus, roughness, and wettability. In addition, we investigated the potential beneficial effects regarding the Candida albicans (C. albicans) colonization reduction, the most common yeast responsible of several infections in oral cavity. Our experimental results showed an improvement of PMMA performance, following the addition of TiO2NPs and HNTs, in a dose dependent manner. In particular, the presence of TiO2NPs in the methacrylate matrix induced a greater increase in PMMA stiffness respect to HNTs addition. On the other hand, HNTs reduced the rate of C. albicans colonization more significantly than TiO2NPs. The results obtained are of great interest for the improvement of PMMA physico-chemical properties, in view of its possible application in clinical dentistry.


2014 ◽  
Vol 659 ◽  
pp. 183-188
Author(s):  
Alexandru Dobre ◽  
Constantin Pana ◽  
Nikolaos Cristian Nutu ◽  
Niculae Negurescu ◽  
Alexandru Cernat

Due to the increasing growth of fuel consumption and also its price, alcohols begin to show a real interest for their use as fuel at compression ignition engines. Tightening the requirements on reducing the level of pollutant emissions and greenhouse effect gases has led to the increasing of research on using alcohols as alternative fuel for diesel engine. Among the primary alcohols, butyl alcohol (butanol) is considered to be of great perspective in its use as fuel in diesel engines, due to its properties close to those of diesel fuel. The overall objective of the paper represents using butanol at an automotive diesel engine in order to reduce BSFC, to reduce engine emissions and replace fossil fuels. This paper presents some aspects of the operation of diesel engine fuelled with blends of diesel fuel and butanol. Results of theoretical and experimental investigations done on a 1.5 L diesel engine fuelled with butanol are presented. At the use of butanol in mixture with diesel fuel in different proportions (10% and 20% butanol vol.), brake specific energetic consumption of the engine was reduced by about 2.5% and respectively 5%, NOx emissions decreased by about 15% and respectively 20%, CO2 emission by about 5% for 20% butanol, at the engine running at full load and maximum torque engine speed. The results of experimental investigations have validated the physical-mathematical model used for the simulation of thermo-gas-dynamics processes from the inside engine cylinder. The paper brings real contributions in the field making available to specialists new information related to the use of butanol at the diesel engines.


2017 ◽  
Vol 68 (11) ◽  
pp. 2676-2681
Author(s):  
Mihaela Gabriela Dumitru ◽  
Dragos Tutunea

The purpose of this work was to investigate the physicochemical properties of watermelon seeds and oil and to find out if this oil is suitable and compatible with diesel engines. The results showed that the watermelon seeds had the maximum length (9.08 mm), width (5.71mm), thickness (2.0 mm), arithmetic mean diameter (5.59 mm), geometrical mean diameter (4.69 mm), sphericity (51.6%), surface area (69.07), volume 0.17 cm3 and moisture content 5.4%. The oil was liquid at room temperature, with a density and refractive index of 0.945 and 1.4731 respectively acidity value (1.9 mgNaOH/g), free fatty acid (0.95 mgNaOH), iodine value (120 mgI2/100g), saponification value (180 mgKOH/g), antiradical activity (46%), peroxide value (7.5 mEqO2/Kg), induction period (6.2 h), fatty acid: palmitic acid (13.1%), stearic acid (9.5 %), oleic acid (15.2 %) and linoleic acid (61.3%). Straight non food vegetable oils can offer a solution to fossil fuels by a cleaner burning with minimal adaptation of the engine. A single cylinder air cooled diesel engine Ruggerini RY 50 was used to measure emissions of various blends of watermelon oil (WO) and diesel fuel (WO10D90, WO20D80, WO30D70 and WO75D25). The physic-chemical properties of the oil influence the combustion process and emissions leading to the reduction of NOX and the increase in CO, CO2 and HC.


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