Improvement of biodiesel’s cold flow properties still remains one of the major challenges for using it as an alternative fuel in diesel engines. Therefore, the main objective of the present research was to use newly developed liquid biofuels, 3-hydroxyl fatty acid esters and ethers, as an additive for improving biodiesel cold weather properties. Test results revealed that blending with 10% 3-hydroxyl fatty acid esters (C4, C6, C8 and C12) improved biodiesel volatility, cloud point, flash point and kinematic viscosity without a significant loss in LHV. However, blending biodiesel with 3-hydroxyl fatty acid esters negatively affected the oxidation stability which was then found to improve by blending with 3-hydroxyl fatty acid ethers (1,3-DMO and 1,3-DMD). The latter novel fuel substance (1,3-DMO and 1,3-DMD) exhibited much higher evaporation rate compared to biodiesel and only slightly lower than that of decane, gasoline or ethanol. Moreover, the LHV of 1,3-DMO and 1,3-DMD was found to be almost equal to that of canola biodiesel, and higher than that of methanol and ethanol. These findings suggest that 1,3-DMO and 1,3-DMD have the potential to be used as additive to improve biodiesel cold weather combustion performance or as standalone fuels. / February 2016
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:MANITOBA/oai:mspace.lib.umanitoba.ca:1993/30863 |
| Date | 02 October 2015 |
| Creators | Chowdhury, Abu Mahmud Iqbal |
| Contributors | Birouk, Madjid (Mechanical Engineering), Derksen, R.W. (Mechanical Engineering) Sorensen, John (Chemistry) |
| Source Sets | University of Manitoba Canada |
| Detected Language | English |
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