An experimental study on the performance parameters of an experimental CI engine fueled with diesel-methanol-dodecanol blends

The effects of using diesel-methanol-dodecanol blends including methanol of various proportions on a CI engine performance are experimentally investigated. The methanol concentration in the blend has been changed from 2.5% to 15% with the increments of 2.5%, and 1% dodecanol was added into each blend to solve the phase separation problem. Experimental study has been conducted on a single-cylinder, water-cooled CI engine. The engine has been operated at different compression ratios (19, 21, 23 and 25) and the engine speed was varied from 1000 to 1600 rpm at each compression ratio. The performance parameters such as torque, effective power, specific fuel consumption and effective efficiency for each blend at various conditions are calculated depending on the experimental data. It was concluded that among the different blends, the blend including 10% methanol (DM10) is the most suited one for CI engines from the engine performance point of view. Improvements obtained up to 7% in performance parameters with this blend without any modification to engine design and fuel system are very promising.     

Densities and excess molar volumes of mixtures containing diesel,biodiesel and alkanols at temperatures from 288.15 to 313.15 K

The present work is focusing on the synthesization and physico-chemical properties of Jatropha curcas biodiesel with diesel and alcohols.The densities of binary diesel (2)+1-alkanols (C_3 or C_4)(3) and ternary Jatropha curcas biodiesel (1)+diesel (2)+1-alkanols (C_3or C_4)(3) blends have been reported over full range of composition at temperatures within range 288.15 to 313.15 K.Also densities of Jatropha curcas biodiesel (1)+diesel or 1-alkanols (C_3 or C_4)(2) blends have been measured at 313.15 K.Excess molar volumes,V~E,V~E_(123)of binary and ternary blends were calculated from the measured data and the derived properties were correlated to composition using Redlich–Kister equation.A reasonable agreement was found between the measured and estimated values.Further,densities and excess molar volumes data were reasoned to discuss molecular interactions taking into consideration effect of composition and temperature.     

Enzymatic production of alkyl esters through alcoholysis: A critical evaluation of lipases and alcohols

This paper focuses on a detailed evaluation of commercially available immobilized lipases and simple monohydric alcohols for the production of alkyl esters from sunflower oil by enzymatic alcoholysis. Six lipases were tested with seven alcohols, including straight and branched-chain primary and secondary alcohols. The reactions were conducted in a batch stirred reaction vessel using stoichiometric amounts of substrates under solvent-free conditions. Dramatic differences in alcoholysis performance were observed among the different lipases. For most of the alcohols, Novozym 435 produced the highest yield of FA alkyl esters, with yields well over 90% for methanol, absolute ethanol, and 1-propanol. Overall, 96% ethanol was the preferred alcohol for all lipases except Novozym 435, and ethanolysis reactions reached the maximal conversion efficiency. Increasing the water content in the system resulted in an increased degree of conversion for all lipases except Novozym 435. The secondary alcohol 2-propanol significantly reduced the alcoholysis reaction with all lipases; however, the branch-chain isobutanol was more advantageous than linear 1-butanol for Novozym 435, Lipozyme RMIM, and Lipase PS-C. Many commercial immobilized lipases are highly efficient and promising for the production of alkyl esters, offering high reaction yields and a simple operation process.     

Solvent free oxidation of alcohols catalyzed by KMnO4 adsorbed on Kieselguhr

Efficient and selective oxidation of primary and secondary alcohols to the corresponding aldehydes and ketones catalyzed by potassium permanganate supported on Kieselguhr reagent under solvent free conditions are reported.     

Production and Use of Sustainable C2-C4 Alcohols – An Industrial Perspective

In the recent past, society has become increasingly aware of the environmental impact of political and corporate action. Hence, several industrial sectors are currently undergoing a transition to more sustainable products and processes. Sustainable production processes for C2-C4 alcohols can help to decrease the environmental impacts of large downstream markets such as fuels and polymers. However, a reliable and consistent framework is needed for companies to further develop and commercialize these processes. Furthermore, standardized procedures for determining the sustainability of a process are essential in evaluating the environmental benefits.     

A Primary Method for the Determination of Hydroxyl Value of Polyols by Fourier Transform Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy

A primary Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) method was developed to determine the hydroxyl value (OHV) of polyols produced from edible oils. The method is a modification of American Society for Testing and Materials 1899‐08, using toluene as the solvent to dissolve the sample and to carry the reactive reagent p‐toluenesulfonyl isocyanate (TSI). TSI reacts with OH groups to produce a carbamate, a functional group that can be measured spectrally between ~1780 and 1690 cm^?1 in the differential spectrum that is obtained from spectra collected before and after the reaction. Commercially available 1‐nonanol, which has a defined OHV, is used to develop a calibration. The OHV for a variety of 1° and 2° alcohols, as well as petrochemical and lipid‐based polyols, were then measured to evaluate the performance of the method and to assess the effects of moisture on the results. The FTIR OHV were in accord with the results obtained by AOCS method Cd 13‐60 and were demonstrated to be unaffected by the presence of moisture in the sample. The new TSI‐FTIR method is simpler, much faster (~10 min), and more reproducible and accurate than the AOCS OHV titrimetric methods and is not affected by carboxylic acids, amines or moisture.     

Determination of alcohols and volatile organic acids in anaerobic bioreactors for H2 production by near infrared spectroscopy

In recent years, near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has been investigated as a tool for monitoring anaerobic digesters, but several adversities in its application have been reported. This study proposes the application of NIR for the determination of alcohols and volatile organic acids from H₂ production bioreactors and evaluates different approaches to optimize the prediction models. Partial least squad (PLS) models were developed using samples from anaerobic batch reactors fed with crude glycerol for wastewater treatment. The analytes predicted were: methanol, ethanol, 1-butanol, acetic, propanoic, butyric, isocaproic and total volatile organic acids (VFA). The optimization of the predictive capacity of the models was achieved through the orthogonal signal correction (OSC) preprocessing and the selection of variables performed by the genetic algorithm (GA). The application of the proposed models were based on the following figures of merit: accuracy, precision, linearity, limits of detection and quantitation, measurement interval, sensitivity, selectivity, signal-to-noise ratio and bias. Despite the low selectivity (maximum of 0.12%), the models presented high sensitivity [γ^?1 = 0.19 (mg L^?1)^?1], low LOQ (1 mg L^?1) and correlation between reference and predicted values (r) at least 0.93, except for propanoic acid (r_pred = 0.85). The F-test revealed that the selection of variables by GA significantly improved the accuracy and linearity of the prediction models for methanol, acetic acid, isocaproic acid and VFA. NIR spectroscopy has proved to be a powerful tool for monitoring H₂ production bioreactors since provides fast, low cost and multicomponent information.     

Carboxymethylation of Cotton Linter in an Alcoholic Reaction Medium

Abstract

The effect of isopropanol, isobutanol and butanol on the carboxymethylation of cotton linter was investigated. The reaction was conducted for two hours at 55[ddot] by using different concentrations of sodium hydroxide and monochloroacetic acid. The amounts of introduced carboxymethyl groups, rheological properties and infrared spectra of the products were evaluated. It was found that, unlike butanol, isopropanol in the reaction medium results in lower yield and lower degree of substitution, but higher viscosity.     

Thermodynamic analysis of supercritical water gasification of methanol,ethanol, glycerol,glucose and cellulose

In the present work the Gibbs free energy minimization, using a non-linear programming formulation and an approximation in the gas fugacities, was used to calculate the equilibrium composition for supercritical water gasification of methanol, ethanol, glycerol, glucose and cellulose. The proposed formulation mathematically ensures finding the global optimal solution with no need of an initial estimate and the numerical results are close to the ones calculated using non-ideal gas formulation. Therefore, the proposed approach is reliable and easy to use, without numerical difficulties, such as an undesirable local minimum. The model predictions show a good agreement with the experimental studies in all cases studied in this work.     

Some considerations about bioethanol combustion in oil-fired boilers

The combustion of bioethanol in boilers has been analyzed and compared with conventional liquid fuels. The study includes an experimental evaluation of combustion performance as well as the estimation of the impact of replacing gasoil by ethanol on the thermal efficiency of an industrial boiler.Several works have been dedicated to the study of fuel substitution in internal combustion engines, being the use of gasoil-bioethanol blends in engines a common practice. However, very few studies have addressed the characterization of switching of conventional liquid fuels by bioethanol in boilers.Combustion tests demonstrate significant differences between bioethanol and gasoil flames. Soot, NO_x and SO₂ emissions are significantly lower with ethanol, whereas this fuel can produce higher amounts of CO than gasoil if the burner is not properly adapted. The experimental tests have demonstrated that both the burner and boiler operation should be readjusted or modified as a result of the change of fuel in industrial boilers. If thermal input is to be kept constant, nozzles of larger capacities must be used and the air feeding rate needs to be significantly modified. Also, the flame detector may have to be replaced and the fuel feeding system should be revised due to the enhanced tendency of ethanol to cavitation. Using the same thermal input may not guarantee keeping the same steam production, but some parameters of boiler operation should be modified in order to avoid reductions in the capacity of the boiler when switching from gasoil to bioethanol, such as gas recirculation fraction, steam cooling systems and percentage of oxygen in the exhaust gases.The feasibility of burning bioethanol in gasoil boilers has been analyzed, and the results confirm that fuel switching is technically possible and offers some advantages in terms of pollutants reduction.