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Applied Energy 145 (2015) 155162

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Applied Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apenergy

Extensive analyses of dieselvegetable oiln-butanol ternary blends


in a diesel engine
Alpaslan Atmanli a,1, Erol Ileri b, Bedri Yuksel c, Nadir Yilmaz d,
a

Turkish Land Forces NCO Vocational College, Automotive Sciences Department, 10110 Balikesir, Turkey
Gulhane Military Academy, Ankara, Turkey
c
Balikesir University, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 10145 Balikesir, Turkey
d
Department of Mechanical Engineering, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM, USA
b

h i g h l i g h t s
 Dieselvegetable oiln-butanol ternary blends were tested in a diesel engine.
 Canola, soybean, sunower, corn, olive and hazelnut oils were the vegetable oils.
 Ternary blends increased BSFC as compared to diesel fuel between 21.45% and 24.67%.
 The ternary blends increased NO emissions as compared to diesel fuel.

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 21 October 2014
Received in revised form 14 January 2015
Accepted 17 January 2015
Available online 27 February 2015
Keywords:
Biofuels
Microemulsication
n-Butanol
Vegetable oil
Diesel engine

a b s t r a c t
In this study, n-butanol (nB) was used as the common solvent and crude canola (Cn), soybean (Sb), sunower (Sf), corn (Cr), olive (Ol), and hazelnut oil (Hn) as the vegetable oil components were used for making microemulsication of diesel fuel (D)-vegetable oil blends. The blend ratios of 70% vol. D, 20% vol.
vegetable oil and 10% vol. nB were determined to increase concentration of biofuels in ternary blends.
Six different ternary blends were prepared via the splash blending method. Engine performance tests
of the ternary blends were carried out on a four-cylinder, four-cycle turbocharged direct-injection diesel
engine at full load with various engine speeds. Test fuels were kept stationary at ambient temperature
and the long-term stabilities were observed at 60 days. There were not any phase separations in the ternary blends. Fuel properties of the test fuels were examined and determined to be in agreement with the
fuel standards. According to engine performance test results of the ternary blends, brake torque, brake
power, brake thermal efciency (BTE), brake mean effective pressure (BMEP) and exhaust gas temperatures decreased while brake specic fuel consumption (BSFC) increased as compared to those of diesel fuel. In terms of basic exhaust gas emissions, ternary blends increased nitric oxide (NO) and carbon
monoxide (CO) emissions while reducing hydrocarbon (HC) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions as compared to diesel.
2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Renewable and alternative energy sources are becoming more
demanding and necessary due to increases in crude oil prices and
exhaust gas emissions due to fossil fuels throughout the world.
The demand for fossil based fuels has increased rapidly in recent
years because of worldwide industrialization and the increasing
number of vehicles. Fossil fuels today represent 80% of primary
Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 575 8355304; fax: +1 575 8355209.
E-mail addresses: aatmanli@hotmail.com (A. Atmanli), yilmaznadir@yahoo.com
(N. Yilmaz).
1
Tel.: +902662212350; fax: +902662212358.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2015.01.071
0306-2619/ 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

energy consumption, wherein 58% of it is used in the transportation sector [1,2].


Biomass has the largest technical potential among alternative
energy resources for diesel engines, which are the most commonly
used devices in transportation. Among biomass energy resources
are vegetable and animal origin biological substances for which
carbohydrate compounds are the main components [1,3].
Utilization of vegetable oils and bio alcohols in diesel engines is
advantageous because their biomass is easy to supply and they are
renewable sources with lower exhaust gas emissions due to the
oxygen in their chemical structures [4].
The main problem of using vegetable oils in diesel engines is the
high viscosities of such fuels [59]. Chemical and thermal methods

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A. Atmanli et al. / Applied Energy 145 (2015) 155162

are the two techniques to reduce viscosities of vegetable oils. The


thermal method uses preheating of fuels, which increases the temperature and reduces viscosity [10]. Chemical methods can be
divided into dilution, pyrolysis, transesterication and microemulsion [8,9]. The widely used transesterication method has disadvantages during production and consumption stages. Such
problems can be listed as high cost of biodiesel production; additional energy cost to convert glycerin, which is released during
production, to a valuable product; poor cold ow characteristics
under 0 C; and higher NOx emissions as compared to diesel fuel
[9,1113].
Microemulsion mixes two immiscible liquids by using butanol,
octanol or hexanol as a solvent and is a common method to ensure
the required viscosity value for diesel engines for the ternary
blends. In addition, these solvents can be mixed with vegetable oils
and can provide new alternative fuels that are stable at lower temperatures [11,1418].
Methanol and ethanol are the most commonly used alcohols for
studies related to the utilization of alcoholdiesel mixtures in diesel engines. Ethanol is renewable and has more potential as compared to methanol. The miscibility problem of ethanol can be
overcome by using biodiesel as a binder for diesel and ethanol mixtures [19]. However, phase separation occurs if ethanol and diesel
fuel are used as a blended fuel in diesel engines under 10 C [9,20].
Overall, butanol is an advantageous alternative alcohol to ethanol
and methanol to use in diesel engines [2123].
As compared to ethanol and methanol, nB (1-butanol), which is
a straight chain molecular isomer of butanol, has advantages such
as lower corrosion risk, higher caloric value, higher cetane number, lower polarity, and better solvent characteristics to mix with
diesel and vegetable oils [16,24]. Due to these advantages, butanol
is preferred to other common alcohols when mixing with diesel
fuel. When studies related to utilization of alcohols in diesel engines are investigated in the literature, the use of nB as an alternative
fuel is limited but becoming more important for diesel engines
[16,25].
Lujaji et al. used blends of croton oil, n-butanol and diesel fuel
in a diesel engine to investigate fuel characteristics, engine performance and engine emissions. Experimental results indicated that
brake specic energy consumption increased and thermal efciency decreased as the engine load increased. Butanol containing
blends showed higher cylinder pressure, cylinder temperature
and heat release on higher engine loads. As compared to D2 fuel,
the blends indicated lower CO and smoke emissions and higher
HC emissions, and no signicant difference in NOx. It was reported
that fuel blends had no phase separation and vegetable oils
improved characteristics of fuel blends [26].
Atmanli et al. investigated the effect of temperature and component concentration on phase stability of diesel fuel, cotton oil
and n-butanol ternary blends by performing titration method at
ve temperatures. Based on the phase diagram at the lowest test
temperature (10 C) and no indication of separation, the ternary
blend of 70% diesel fuel, 20% cotton oil and 10% n-butanol by volume (DCtOnB) was evaluated in a diesel engine for engine performance and emissions. Engine performance tests of DCtOnB showed
lower brake torque, brake power, brake thermal efciency, brake
mean effective pressure and exhaust gas temperature, and higher
brake specic fuel consumption. Especially at lower engine speeds,
CO and CO2 emissions decreased, and NOx and HC emissions
increased. It was noted that DCtOnB was a suitable alternative to
diesel fuel due to its performance at cold temperatures and lower
exhaust emissions [11].
Considering the limited number of studies in the literature,
ternary blends of diesel fuel, n-butanol and various vegetable oils
(Cn, Sb, Sf, Cr, Ol, Hn) were tested and the blend of 70% D, 20% vegetable oil and 10% nB was determined as an alternative based on

the desire to increase biofuel ratio in fuel blends and the European
Union (2003/30/EC) directive on May 8, 2003 that endorsed 20%
share of biofuels by 2020. Test blends were evaluated in a fourcylinder, four-stroke, turbocharged, direct-injection diesel engine
for engine performance characteristics and emissions. Performance
parameters were compared to those of the reference fuel.
2. Experiment and procedure
2.1. Experimental setup
The engine dynamometer coupled to the engine was hydraulictype (BT-190) with a maximum brake power of 119 kW, a maximum engine speed of 7500 rpm and a maximum torque of
745 N m. The load cell capacity was 2500 N and the brake water
pressure was 12 kg/cm2. The schematic of the engine dynamometer setup is seen in Fig. 1. The test engine was a four-cylinder, fourstroke, turbocharged, direct injection, Land Rover 110 diesel
engine. Technical specications of the test engine are given in
Table 1.
Exhaust gas emissions were measured using a Testo 350
exhaust gas analyzer which determines CO, NO, NO2, CO2 and HC
emissions within the ranges of 010000 ppm, 04000 ppm, 0
500 ppm, 050 vol.% and 10040000 ppm, respectively. Uncertainty analyses for engine performance parameters were performed
using the propagation of errors. The overall uncertainty was calculated using Eq. (1).

"
wR

@R
w1
@x1

2

@R

w2
@x2

2

@R

wn
@xn

2 #12
1

where R is a given function of the independent variables x1, x2, . . . , xn


and w1, w2, . . . , wn are the uncertainties of the independent variables
[27]. Table 2 shows accuracy and uncertainty values of measured
and calculated quantities.
2.2. Test fuels
For the blends of three fuels, diesel fuel, n-butanol and various
vegetable oils were used. n-Butanol can be made of renewable
resources, is miscible with diesel fuel, and has fuel properties closer to diesel fuel than other alcohols such as ethanol and methanol.

1. Fuel tanks.
2. Two-way, hand controlled valve.
3. Fuel meter.
4. Hydraulic dynamometer.
5. Exhaust gas analyzer.

6. Control panel.
7. Cooling water tank.
8. Diesel engine.
9. K-type thermocouple.
10-11. PT-100 temperature sensor.

Fig. 1. Engine test setup.

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A. Atmanli et al. / Applied Energy 145 (2015) 155162


Table 1
Technical specications of the test engine.

Table 3
Fatty acid composition of vegetable oils (%).

Model

Land rover 110

Fatty acids

Bore (mm)
Stroke (mm)
Volume (cm3)
Compression ratio
Maximum torque (N m)
Maximum power (kW)
Engine rpm (Neutral)
Maximum engine rpm
Fuel injection system
Static injection timing (CA
BTDC)
Injector type
Injection pressure (bar)
Initial pressure
Secondary pressure
Injection pump type

90.47
97.00
2495
19.5:1
235 @ 2200 rpm
82 kW @ 3800 rpm
720
4400 (+40, 20)
Turbocharged direct injection (TDI)
15

Myristic
Palmitic
Stearic
Arachidic
Behenic
Lignoseric
Palmitoleic
Oleic
Linoleic
Linolenic
Acid number

Cooling system

(C14:0)
(C16:0)
(C18:0)
(C20:0)
(C22:0)
(C24:0)
(C16:1)
(C18:1)
(C18:2)
(C18:3)
(% m/m)

Cn

Sb

Sf

Cr

Ol

Hn

0.11
6.45
2.54
0.42
0.33
0.30
0.27
53.36
29.81
5.63
0.10

0.10
10.26
3.52
0.23
0.26
0.27
0.11
26.55
51.04
7.06
0.39

0.08
5.33
3.45
0.16
0.65
0.14
0.12
37.13
52.01
0.13
0.14

0.09
11.17
2.20
0.40
0.16
0.16
0.15
31.80
52.36
0.91
2.75

0.30
11.66
2.44
0.49
0.30
0.31
0.50
55.06
26.57
0.73
2.61

0.04
5.50
2.00
0.04
0.04

0.08
77.15
14.86
0.04
0.08

Bosch KBAL 90 P37


200
300
Bosch rotary R509 with mechanical
regulator
Water cooled

The vegetable oils chosen for this study are typical and grown in
Turkey: Cn, Sb, Sf, Cr, Ol and Hn. n-Butanol was 99% pure and all
the fuels were obtained from local industries.
Agilent Technologies 6850 Network GC System was used to
measure the fatty acid compositions of the vegetable oils that were
used in the study. HP-88 column (60 m long, 0.25 mm and 0.2 lm
lm thickness) was used. Helium, thoroughly dried and with an
oxygen content of less than 10 mg/kg, was the carrier gas. The temperature program was held at 165 C for 25 min, increased to
190 C at a rate of 5 C min1 and held at 190 C for 25 min. The
injector and detector temperatures were 200 C and 250 C, respectively. One sample was analyzed each time and the injection volume was 1.0 lL. The measured fatty acid compositions (%) are
given in Table 3.
Three methods were used to blend the biofuels: splash-blending, mixing in the fuel tank and mixing through the fuel line
[28,29]. The splash-blending method is regarded as the most effective, efcient and widely used method [11,2830].
In order to increase the biofuel share in the blends and to follow
the European Union (2003/30/EC) directive endorsing 20% share of
biofuels by 2020, the blend of 70% D, 20% vegetable oil and 10% nB
was determined as an alternative fuel.
Ternary blends were prepared via the splash-blending method
by mixing diesel fuel and vegetable oils and using n-butanol as
the solvent to create microemulsion. Prepared blends are named
as: DnBCn, DnBSb, DnBSf, DnBCr, DnBOl and DnBHn.
Since fuel components were easily miscible within the chosen
concentrations, no additional energy or external mixing was provided. The ternary blends were kept at room temperature for
60 days and examined on the 5th, 10th, 15th, 30th, 45th and
60th days under polarized light and no separation was observed.
Fig. 2 shows the physical appearance of the ternary blends stored
at room temperature after 60 days.
Table 2
Accuracy and uncertainty values of measured and calculated quantities.
Measured quantity

Accuracy

Calculated quantity

Uncertainty (%)

Load
Speed
Time
Temperature
Humidity
CO
NO
CO2
HC

0.03%
1 rpm
1%
1 C
3 RH%
10 ppm
5 ppm
0.3 vol.%
10 ppm

Brake torque
Brake power
BSFC
BTE

0.57
0.48
1
1.14

2.3. Determination of fuel properties


Properties of the ternary blends were calculated by using basic
properties of pure fuels and following Kay Mixing rule for density,
lower heating value and cetane number calculations. Arrhenius
Mixing rule and Refutas equation were used for calculation of the
kinematic viscosity of the ternary blends [3136].
Eq. (2) was used in order to calculate the densities of the blends.

qb

3
X
xi qi

i1

where qb is the density of the blend in terms of g/ml, i corresponds


to each fuel component, xi is volumetric mixing ratio of fuel components and qi is the known density of each fuel component.
Eq. (3) was used in order to calculate the lower heating values
of the blends.

Hub

3
3
X
X
xi qi Hui = xi qi
i1

i1

where Hub is the lower heating value of the blend in terms of MJ/kg
and Hui is the known lower heating value of each fuel component.
Eq. (4) was used in order to calculate the cetane numbers of the
blends.

CNb

3
X
xi CNi

i1

where CNb is the cetane number of the blend and CNi is the known
cetane number of each fuel component.
Eq. (5) was used in order to calculate the kinematic viscosities
of the blends according to Arrhenius Mixing rule.

ln gb

3
X
xi ln gi

i1

where gb is the kinematic viscosity of the blend in terms of mm2/s


and gi is the known kinematic viscosity of each fuel component.
Refutas equation was carried out in three steps. The rst step
was to calculate the Viscosity Blending Index (VBIi) of each fuel component (Eq. (6)) [36]:

VBIi 14:534  lnlngi 0:8 10:975

The next step was to calculate the VBI of the blend (VBIb), using
Eq. (7):

VBIb

3
X
xi  VBIi

i1

where xi is volumetric mixing ratio of fuel components. The nal


step is to determine the kinematic viscosity of the blend according
to Eq. (8):

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A. Atmanli et al. / Applied Energy 145 (2015) 155162

Fig. 2. Physical appearance of the ternary blends stored at room temperature after 60 days.

gb eeVBIb 10:975=14:534  0:8

Properties of the test fuels are given in Table 4.

and 85 C. Experiments were repeated three times in order to


increase condence in measurements of engine performance parameters and exhaust gas emissions and averaged values were
reported in this work.

2.4. Engine test procedure


All the tests were performed in accordance with Turkish Standards 1231-Internal Combustion Engines Inspection and Test Procedure. As mentioned in TS 1231, the test engines speed was
increased to 1440 rpm (twice as the neutral engine rpm) at no load.
At this rpm, the dynamometer loaded the engine until the brake
power of 8.2 kW was achieved. Under these conditions, the engine
was operated until the operation temperature was 8085 C. And,
the engine was run ve minutes at 720 rpm after the load was taken off at the operating temperature. Then, performance parameters
of the engine were measured at 4400 rpm (max) with full throttle.
Finally, the engine was loaded at full throttle and performance
parameters were measured again at various engine speeds (4400,
4200, 3800, 3400, 3000, 2600, 2200 and 1800) that included the
speed at which maximum power and maximum torque were
obtained. During the tests, engine power, engine torque and fuel
consumption were measured as the engine RPM reached steadystate with a maximum deviation of 10 rpm or 5%, based on
whichever is bigger. Fuel consumption was measured using Siemens MASS 6000 Ex-d transmitter with a resolution of 1% (weight).
A cooling water tank with PT-100 temperature sensor was added
to the test bench to keep the cooling water in the range of 80 C

3. Results
In this study, the effect of ternary blends of diesel, n-butanol
and vegetable oils on diesel engine performance and emissions
was investigated. Findings as a function of engine speed were
reported and discussed in detail for brake torque, brake power,
BSFC, BTE, exhaust gas temperature and exhaust emissions of
NO, CO, HC and CO2.
3.1. Engine performance characteristics
Figs. 3 and 4 show brake torque and brake power of the engine
running on diesel fuel and ternary blends of diesel, n-butanol and
vegetable oils. Brake torque was maximum at 2200 rpm and
decreased as the engine speed increased afterwards. As seen in
Figs. 3 and 4 especially at 3800 rpm, the ternary blends except DnBCr
showed different brake torque and brake power behaviors at
3800 rpm as compared to the other engine speeds. At 3800 rpm, as
compared to diesel fuel, the ternary blends of DnBCn, DnBSb, DnBSf,

Table 4
Properties of the test fuels.
Fuel

Density
(g/ml)

Measured
Diesel
0.820
n2.23

Lower heating
value (MJ/kg)

Cetane
number

Kinematic viscosity
(mm2/s) @ 40 C

43.38
Butanol

55.5
0.810

2.21
33.10

17

49.55
49.35
48.75
48.95
49.95
50.35

Arrhenius
mixing rule
3.85
3.77
3.80
3.81
3.69
3.54

Refutas
equation
3.26
3.22
3.25
3.24
3.18
3.11

Calculated
DnBCn
DnBSb
DnBSf
DnBCr
DnBOl
DnBHn

0.838
0.838
0.837
0.838
0.836
0.836

41.27
41.37
41.33
41.35
41.57
41.39

Fig. 3. Brake torque as a function of engine speed.

A. Atmanli et al. / Applied Energy 145 (2015) 155162

Fig. 4. Brake power as a function of engine speed.

DnBOl and DnBHn increased brake torque for 3.57%, 1.87%, 1.74%,
2.00% and 1.34% while DnBCr showed a brake torque decrease of
1.07%. When the average over the entire engine speeds is considered,
DnBCn, DnBSb, DnBSf, DnBCr, DnBOl and DnBHn decreased brake
torque for 0.76%, 0.81%, 1.32%, 2.37%, 0.88% and 1.62%. The reason
for lower brake torque with the ternary blends as compared to diesel
is higher viscosity, lower heating value and lower cetane number of
the ternary blends.
Higher viscosity makes fuel injection more difcult and causes
poorer atomization [12]. In addition, existence of oxygen molecules in the ternary blends due to n-butanol and vegetable oils
reduces the heating value of the blends. Lower heating value causes lower energy release due to combustion and lower effective
pressure on piston causing less useful work.
The reason for lower brake torque for DnBCr as compared to the
other ternary blends (2.37%) is that corn oil has a higher percentage (52.36%) of lineloic (18:2) fatty acid than the other vegetable
oils (see Table 3). Increase of the double bonds decreases the chain
length and cetane number of the fuel. Many researchers have indicated the negative impact of low cetane number on combustion
[37,38].
Fig. 5 shows BSFC of diesel fuel and the ternary blends as a function of engine speed. BSFCs for DnBCn, DnBSb, DnBSf, DnBCr,
DnBOl and DnBHn increased 22.68%, 21.45%, 22.21%, 24.67%,
21.93% and 21.47% as compared to diesel fuel.

Fig. 5. BSFC as a function of engine speed.

159

Due to the high oxygen content in the chemical structures of


vegetable oils (11%) and n-butanol (21.58%), the ternary blends
have lower heating values. Thus, it is necessary to increase the fuel
amount to be injected into the combustion chamber to produce the
same amount of power [23,39]. As seen in Table 3, the ternary
blends have lower cetane numbers than diesel fuel. A lower cetane
number causes longer ignition delay, which increases the amount
of fuel accumulation inside the combustion chamber before the
rst ignition.
Since ignition delay increases time for a fuel to fully combust,
heat transfer to the engine components increases. Thus, useful
energy which can be converted to brake power inside the cylinder,
decrease which lead to higher brake specic fuel consumption.
Minimum BSFC values were achieved at 2200 rpm which corresponds to the speed for the maximum brake torque. These values
were 193.35, 245.67, 243.49, 240.83, 251.71, 251.46 and
244.99 g/kW h for diesel fuel, DnBCn, DnBSb, DnBSf, DnBCr, DnBOl
and DnBHn, which are in agreement with published data
[4,11,22,26].
Fig. 6 shows BTE as a function of engine speed for diesel fuel and
ternary blends. BTEs for DnBCn, DnBSb, DnBSf, DnBCr, DnBOl
and DnBHn decreased 13.99%, 13.4%, 13.85%, 15.42%, 14.05% and
13.45% as compared to diesel fuel. Due to lower heating value
and cetane number and higher viscosity of the ternary blends as
compared to diesel as seen in Table 4, the ternary blends provide
lower heat release leading to less useful work and lower BTE.
Fig. 7 shows BMEP as a function of engine speed for the ternary
blends and diesel fuel. Because BMEP is a function of brake torque,
the ternary blends show similar behaviors as shown in Figs. 3 and
7. Maximum BMEP values were obtained at 2200 rpm which corresponds to the speed for the maximum brake torque and decreased
as the engine speed increased after 2200 rpm.
As seen in Fig. 7, the ternary blends except DnBCr showed different BMEP behaviors at 3800 rpm as compared the other engine
speeds. When the average over the entire engine speeds is considered, DnBCn, DnBSb, DnBSf, DnBCr, DnBOl and DnBHn decreased
BMEP for 0.94%, 0.69%, 1.45%, 2.44%, 1.01% and 1.73% as compared
to diesel fuel. Lower heating value and higher viscosity of the ternary blends lead to lower energy release and reduction of BMEP
applied to the piston.
Fig. 8 shows exhaust gas temperature as a function of engine
speed for the ternary blends and diesel fuel. At all engine speeds,
the ternary blends showed lower exhaust gas temperatures than
diesel fuel. DnBCn, DnBSb, DnBSf, DnBCr, DnBOl and DnBHn
decreased exhaust gas temperature for 5.57%, 5.85%, 5.77%,
6.92%, 7.39% and 5.43% as compared to diesel fuel.

Fig. 6. BTE as a function of engine speed.

160

A. Atmanli et al. / Applied Energy 145 (2015) 155162

Fig. 7. BMEP as a function of engine speed.

There are several reasons for lower exhaust gas temperature


with the ternary blends. A component of the ternary blends, n-butanol has high latent heat of evaporation which decreases combustion temperature, leading to lower exhaust gas temperature.
Higher viscosities of the vegetable oils adversely affect combustion
efciency which also leads to lower exhaust gas temperature.
Overall, as the physical and combustion properties of the ternary
blends are considered, exhaust gas temperature decreased because
of lower cetane number and heating value, and higher latent heat
of evaporation and viscosity. Literature indicates that lower heating value and higher latent heat of evaporation of alcohols used
in ternary blends cause a decrease of exhaust gas temperatures
[21,23,38,40].

3.2. Exhaust emission characteristics


Fig. 9 shows the variation of NO emissions as a function of
engine speed for the ternary blends and diesel fuel. When Fig. 9
is examined in detail, NO emissions show different behaviors for
ternary blends and diesel fuel. For diesel fuel, NO emissions
increased as the engine rpm increased between 1800 and
2200 rpm, reached its peak at 2200 rpm, decreased as the engine
rpm increased and nally obtained its minimum value at
4400 rpm. For the ternary blends, NO emissions increased as the
engine rpm increased between 1800 and 2200 rpm, remained
approximately constant at 22003000 rpm but reached its maxi-

Fig. 8. Exhaust gas temperature as a function of engine speed.

Fig. 9. NO emissions as a function of engine speed.

mum at 3000 rpm with a slight increase and nally decreased to


its minimum value at 4400 rpm. NO emissions of the ternary
blends were higher than that of diesel fuel at all engine speeds.
It is obvious from Fig. 9 that DnBSb, DnBSf and DnBCr ternary
blends show higher NO emissions than the other ternary blends.
Iodine value, which is a measure of degree of unsaturation, indicates the number of double bonds in the chemical structure of a
fuel. Double bonds as compared to single bonds for a fuel lead to
an increase of free radical concentrations which cause prompt
NO formation. A lot of research indicates that there is a proportional relation between iodine value and NO formation. Decrease of the
chain length of the fuel or increase of the double bonds causes
reduction of cetane number [37,41].
When Table 3 is examined, lineloic (18:2), which is contained
by the vegetable oils used in the ternary blends, causes increase
of the fatty acids, shortening of chain length and decrease of cetane
number (see Table 4). For example, Sb, Sf ve Cr oils have lineloic
(18:2) fatty acid with the percentages of 51.04%, 52.01% and
52.06%. As a result, cetane numbers of DnBSb, DnBSf and DnBCr
ternary blends were determined as 49.35, 48.75 and 48.95 with
respect to the increase of the double bonds in their chemical structures. One of the most important parameters to affect NO emissions is ignition delay time which increases while cetane number
decreases. Longer ignition delay causes an increase of fuel accumulation inside the combustion chamber before the rst ignition.
Decrease of cetane number leads to increase of premixed combustion which builds up high-temperature regions that cause higher
NO emissions [21,42]. As seen in Fig. 9, reduction of NO emissions
is more pronounced as the cetane number increases depending on
the fuel type as seen in Table 4.
Fig. 10 demonstrates the variation of CO emissions as a function
of engine speed for the ternary blends and diesel fuel. As compared
to diesel fuel, the ternary blends increased CO emissions with average 19.3133.23% depending on the vegetable oil type. CO emission test results showed that the effectiveness of the ternary
blends was ordered as DnBHn > DnBOl > DnBCn > DnB Sb >
DnBCr > DnBSf.
The reason for the ternary blends increasing CO emissions is
that the blends have higher density and viscosity as compared to
diesel fuel. Especially in mechanical fuel injection systems, higher
density and viscosity affects injection delay and poor atomization,
leading to lower quality combustion which causes reaction of carbon with less oxygen and higher CO emissions [43].
Fig. 11 shows the variation of HC emissions as a function of
engine speed for the ternary blends and diesel fuel. The ternary
blends reduced HC emissions with average 32.31% to 43.08%.

A. Atmanli et al. / Applied Energy 145 (2015) 155162

Fig. 10. CO emissions as a function of engine speed.

161

combustion efciency positively and prevents quenching in cold


regions of the cylinder which is an important reason for formation
of HC emissions.
In Fig. 11, an interesting observation can be pointed out at
1800 rpm as opposed to the other engine speeds. At 1800 rpm,
HC emissions of the ternary blends increased as compared to that
of diesel fuel. The reason for this increase may be that higher density and higher viscosity at low engine speeds cause larger droplets
and slower vaporization of spray particles leading to higher HC
emissions.
Fig. 12 shows the variation of CO2 emissions as a function of
engine speed for the ternary blends and diesel fuel. CO2 emissions
decreased average 2.05% (for DnBHn) to 8.59% (for DnBSf) with the
ternary blends as compared to diesel fuel. Existence of CO2 changes
with respect to carbon/hydrogen ratio of the fuel. Since there is
more oxygen in the ternary blends, carbon content per volume is
lower as compared to diesel fuel. Thus, lower CO2 is expected with
the ternary blends.

4. Conclusions

Fig. 11. HC emissions as a function of engine speed.

In this study, ternary blends of diesel, vegetable oils and n-butanol were considered as alternatives for use in a diesel engine
without any modication. Microemulsion method, a cheap and
an effective technique, was used to mix diesel fuel and vegetable
oils with n-butanol as a solvent. Microemulsion technique as well
as engine performance and exhaust emission characteristics of the
ternary blends of diesel, n-butanol and vegetable oils showed that
n-butanol and vegetable oils can be used as alternatives to diesel.
n-Butanol and vegetable oils lower the heating value of the
ternary blends due to their oxygen contents. Thus, the ternary
blends showed lower brake torque, brake power, BTE and exhaust
gas temperature while resulting in higher BSFC as compared to diesel fuel. Overall, n-butanol addition to diesel-vegetable oil mixtures increased NO and CO emissions while decreasing HC and
CO2 emissions.
When the fatty acid compositions and properties of the fuels are
considered, Hn and Ol seem to be advantageous as cetane number
enhances due to their lower double bond numbers. If the six different vegetable oils are compared to one another, the ternary blends
containing Hn resulted in lower exhaust gas emissions due to its
lower kinematic viscosity and higher cetane number. Thus, Hn
could be considered for alternative fuel production especially in
Turkey since Turkey is the largest hazelnut producer in the world
providing approximately 80% of the demand.
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Fig. 12. CO2 emissions as a function of engine speed.

HC emission test results showed that the effectiveness of the


ternary blends was ordered as DnBHn > DnBOl > DnBCn > Dn
BSb > DnBCr > DnBSf.
This tremendous reduction occurs mainly due to higher oxygen
content of n-butanol and vegetable oils in their chemical structures.
Higher oxygen concentration in the combustion chamber affects

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