This study examined the use of waste plastic oil (WPO) combined with biodiesel as an alternative fuel for diesel engines, also commonly known as compression ignition engines, and focused on comparison of the basic physical and chemical properties of fuels, engine performance, combustion characteristics, and exhaust emissions. A preliminary study was conducted to determine the suitable ratio for the fuel blends in consideration of fuel lubricity and viscosity, and these results indicated that 10% biodiesel—derived from either palm oil or castor oil—in waste plastic oil was optimal. In addition, characterization of the basic properties of these fuel blends revealed that they had higher density and specific gravity and a lower flash point than diesel fuel, while the fuel heating value, viscosity, and cetane index were similar. The fuel blends, comprised of waste plastic oil with either 10% palm oil biodiesel (WPOP10) or 10% castor oil biodiesel (WPOC10), were selected for further investigation in engine tests in which diesel fuel and waste plastic oil were also included as baseline fuels. The experimental results of the performance of the engine showed that the combustion of WPO was similar to diesel fuel for all the tested engine loads and the addition of castor oil as compared to palm oil biodiesel caused a delay in the start of the combustion. Both biodiesel blends slightly improved brake thermal efficiency and smoke emissions with respect to diesel fuel. The addition of biodiesel to WPO tended to reduce the levels of hydrocarbon- and oxide-containing nitrogen emissions. One drawback of adding biodiesel to WPO was increased carbon monoxide and smoke. Comparing the two biodiesels used in the study, the presence of castor oil in waste plastic oil showed lower carbon monoxide and smoke emissions without penalty in terms of increased levels of hydrocarbon- and oxide-containing nitrogen emissions when the engine was operated at high load.
The characterization of pyrolysis oil obtained from mixed waste plastics and its utilization in a compression ignition engine were investigated. The chemical compositions and physicochemical properties of distilled waste plastic oil (WPO) and crude waste plastic oil (CWPO) were analyzed. The experiment was conducted with a variable compression ratio diesel engine at various loads and compression ratios to evaluate combustion characteristics, exhaust emissions, and engine performance. The experimental results show that CWPO contains the highest percentage of carbon atoms in the C4–C11 group, while WPO contains the highest percentage of carbon atoms in the C12–C20 group, similar to the main compositions of diesel fuel. According to the preliminary study in chemical compositions and physicochemical properties, WPO and diesel fuel were selected for the engine test at different compression ratios of 16, 17, and 18 and different engine operating loads of 25%, 50%, and 75% of maximum engine torque at an engine speed of 1500 rpm. It was found that increasing the engine operating load and the compression ratio tends to increase the brake thermal efficiency. Increasing the compression ratio results in a significantly shorter delay time in a combustion state. A lower cetane index and a higher percentage of long chain carbon compounds (C12–C20) could be the main factors affecting higher NOx, CO, and HC emissions with the combustion characteristics of WPO, compared to diesel fuel. The disadvantage of emissions by the use of WPO can be alleviated when the engine is running at maximum load and a high compression ratio.
The current study aims to investigate and compare the effects of waste plastic oil blended with n-butanol on the characteristics of diesel engines and exhaust gas emissions. Waste plastic oil produced by the pyrolysis process was blended with n-butanol at 5%, 10%, and 15% by volume. Experiments were conducted on a four-stroke, four-cylinder, water-cooled, direct injection diesel engine with a variation of five engine loads, while the engine’s speed was fixed at 2500 rpm. The experimental results showed that the main hydrocarbons present in WPO were within the range of diesel fuel (C13–C18, approximately 74.39%), while its specific gravity and flash point were out of the limit prescribed by the diesel fuel specification. The addition of n-butanol to WPO was found to reduce the engine’s thermal efficiency and increase HC and CO emissions, especially when the engine operated at low-load conditions. In order to find the suitable ratio of n-butanol blends when the engine operated at the tested engine load, the optimization process was carried out by considering the engine’s load and ratio of the n-butanol blend as input factors and the engine’s performance and emissions as output factors. It was found that the multi-objective function produced by the general regression neural network (GRNN) can be modeled as the multi-objective function with high predictive performances. The coefficient of determination (R2), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), and root mean square error (RSME) of the optimization model proposed in the study were 0.999, 2.606%, and 0.663, respectively, when brake thermal efficiency was considered, while nitrogen oxide values were 0.998, 6.915%, and 0.600, respectively. As for the results of the optimization using NSGA-II, a single optimum value may not be attained as with the other methods, but the optimization’s boundary was obtained, which was established by making a trade-off between brake thermal efficiency and nitrogen oxide emissions. According to the Pareto frontier, the engine load and ratio of the n-butanol blend that caused the trade-off between maximum brake thermal efficiency and minimum nitrogen oxides are within the approximate range of 37 N.m to 104 N.m and 9% to 14%, respectively.
Recycling used plastic can help reduce the amount of plastic waste generated. Existing methods, namely the process of pyrolysis, are chemical heating processes that decompose plastics in the absence of oxygen. This decomposes the plastics in a controlled environment in order to produce fuel from waste. The present study consequently investigated the physical and chemical properties of pyrolysis oil derived from plastic bottle caps (WPBCO) and the effects on the engine performance and emission characteristics of a diesel engine operating on WPBCO. The experiments were conducted with a single-cylinder diesel engine operating at a constant 1500 rpm under various engine loading conditions. The experimental results of the chemical properties of test fuels indicated that WPBCO and diesel fuels have similar functional groups and chemical components. In comparison, WPBCO has a lower kinematic viscosity, density, specific gravity, flash point, fire point, cetane index, and distillation behavior than diesel fuel. However, WPBCO has a high gross calorific value, which makes it a suitable replacement for fossil fuel. In comparison to diesel fuel, the use of WPBCO in diesel engines results in increased brake-specific fuel consumption (BSFC) and brake thermal efficiency (BTE) under all load conditions. The combustion characteristics of the engine indicate that the use of WPBCO resulted in decreased in-cylinder pressure (ICP), rate of heat release (RoHR), and combustion stability compared to diesel fuel. In addition, the combustion of WPBCO advances the start of combustion more strongly than diesel fuel. The use of WPBCO increased emissions of NOX, CO, HC, and smoke. In addition, the particulate matter (PM) analysis showed that the combustion of WPBCO generated a higher PM concentration than diesel fuel. When WPBCO was combusted, the maximum rate of soot oxidation required a lower temperature, meaning that oxidizing the soot took less energy and that it was easier to break down the soot.
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