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Creating a sustainable energy and environment, alternative energy is needed to be developed instead of using fossil fuels. This research describe a comparison of the use of pyrolysis oils which are the tire pyrolysis oil, plastic pyrolysis oil and diesel oil in the assessment of engine performance, and feasibility analysis. Pyrolysis oils from waste tire and waste plastic are studied to apply with one cylinder multipurpose agriculture diesel engine. It is found that without engine modification, the tire pyrolysis offers better engine performance whereas the heating value of the plastic pyrolysis oil is higher. The plastic pyrolysis oil could improve performance by modifying engine. The economic analysis shows that the pyrolysis oil is able to replace diesel in terms of engine performance and energy output if the price of pyrolysis oil is not greater than 85% of diesel oil.

To produce hydrogen for automotive exhaust gas aftertreatment systems, the catalytic partial oxidation of ethanol over a platinum–rhodium catalyst supported on alumina is examined via experimental studies as well as thermodynamic analysis. The research focuses on the effects of the ethanol concentration, oxygen-to-ethanol molar ratio, and water content of ethanol on the ethanol conversion and product yield (e.g., H2, CO, CO2, and CH4). The hot spot temperature and position and the temperature profile along the monolithic catalyst are also analyzed as a function of the inlet gas composition. Different surface chemical reactions (e.g., partial oxidation and steam reforming of ethanol, water–gas shift, and hydrocarbon cracking) are employed to explain the phenomena that take place during ethanol reforming. The process follows the indirect reforming pathway, which involves the exothermic oxidation of ethanol to produce H2O, CO2, and heat, followed by endothermic steam reforming to generate CO and H2. The temperature profile inside the catalyst depends critically on the amount of ethanol supplied and the oxygen-to-ethanol molar ratio. The ethanol conversion, hydrogen production, and selectivity toward hydrogen and methane depend strongly on the operating conditions. The addition of steam has a slightly positive effect on the hydrogen formation and temperature profile.

The effects of ethanol on combustion and emission were investigated on a single-cylinder unmodified diesel engine. The ethanol content of 10–50 vol % was chosen to blend with diesel and biodiesel fuels. Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of nitrogen oxides (NO x ) in the passive mode was also studied under real engine conditions. Silver/alumina (Ag/Al2O3) was selected as the active catalyst, and H2 (3000–10000 ppm) was added to assist the ethanol-SCR. The low cetane number of ethanol resulted in longer ignition delay. The diesel–biodiesel–ethanol fuel blends caused an increase in fuel consumption due to their low calorific value. The brake thermal efficiency of the engine fuelled with relatively low ethanol fraction blends was higher than that of diesel fuel. Unburned hydrocarbons (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO) increased, while NO x decreased with ethanol quantity. The higher ethanol quantity led to increases in the HC/NO x ratio which directly affected the performance of NO x -SCR. Addition of H2 considerably improved the activity of Ag/Al2O3 for NO x reduction. The proper amount of H2 added to promote the ethanol-SCR depended strongly on the temperature of the exhaust where a high fraction of H2 was required at a low exhaust temperature. The maximum NO x conversion of 74% was obtained at a low engine load (25% of maximum load), an ethanol content of 50 vol %, and H2 addition of 10000 ppm.

With the aim of designing an onboard hydrogen production system for automotive applications, this work numerically obtained in-depth knowledge of the catalytic partial oxidation of ethanol (ECPOX). The simulation was developed based on a two-dimensional, non-isothermal, and single-channel monolithic catalyst. By combining a novel microkinetic approach with the classical Langmuir−Hinshelwood method, a surface reaction mechanism for ECPOX over platinum−rhodium coated on an alumina catalyst was formulated. The mechanism consisted of (i) partial oxidation of ethanol, (ii) oxidation of hydrogen, (iii) ethanol steam reforming, (iv) oxidation of carbon monoxide, (v) formation of acetaldehyde, (vi) formation of methane, and (vii) water−gas shift. Essential parameters, such as equilibrium constants for the adsorption process and activation energies, were estimated using transition state theory (TST) and the theory of unity bond index-quadratic exponential potential (UBI-QEP), respectively. The developed mechanism was optimized and validated against experimental data. The model predicted products produced from ECPOX (e.g., H 2 , CO, CO 2 , H 2 O, CH 3 CHO, and CH 4 ) and the temperature profile inside the monolith channel as a function of the ethanol content and the oxygen-to-ethanol molar ratio. The hot spot position and temperature were accurately calculated by the model. The oxidation of ethanol dominated the first 7 mm of the catalyst, while steam reforming was active over the whole catalyst length. The reverse water−gas shift showed a small effect in the oxidation zone and approached equilibrium in the reforming zone. The model indicated that carbon monoxide adsorbed on the catalyst surface (CO*) was the most abundant reaction intermediate (MARI).