Benefits of exhaust gas energy for preheating biodiesel fuel to enhance engine emissions and performance

Abstract

The need for alternative fuel instead of conventional fossil fuels (diesel or gasoline) has recently increased for several reasons, including the expected shortage of petroleum fossil fuels and the production of pollution by transportation. Consequently, researchers are interested in finding new alternative fuels. At present, the number of studies on biodiesel as a compression ignition engine fuel has increased. Current studies are mainly concerned with studying the use of exhaust gas temperature to preheat biodiesel fuel before it enters the combustion chamber. A heat exchanger is designed to increase the temperature of the biodiesel fuel prior to the combustion process. The performance characteristics of diesel engines and the emission of pollutants resulting from this modification were investigated under different operating conditions, including different engine loads and speeds. The results showed clear improvements in engine performance, including improved output power, specific fuel consumption and pollutant emissions. The engine power and specific fuel consumption improvements as a result of preheating reached up to 1.3% and 8.27%, respectively. Pollutant emission also decreased obviously, with carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon emission decreases of 12.95% and 12.85%, respectively. However, the emission of nitrogen oxides increased by 4.39%.

Effect of Fuel Preheating on Engine Characteristics of Waste Animal Fat-Oil Biodiesel in Compression Ignition Engine

“…Augmentation of the exhaust gas system for fuel preheating improved the fuel properties of the biodiesel samples up to 114 • C but resulted in negative consequences such as fuel leakage and poor lubricity upon raising the temperature beyond 138 • C [28]. Similar results were reported by Mourad and Noureldenn, (2019) upon investigating the engine characteristics of sunflower oil biodiesel in a CI engine, preheated at 70 • C using the heat energy recovered from exhaust gas waste [29]. Bayrakceken (2011) studied the effects of preheating in deciding the engine characteristics of animal tallow biodiesel in a CI engine by preheating the biodiesel to 70 • C (sample B100-70) and to 100 • C (sample B100-100).…”

Performance study of using preheated biodiesel in a diesel engine

“…Both experimental and simulation tests were conducted, and about 52% of heat energy from exhaust gas was recovered to preheat the fuel. In a similar work, Mourad et al [16]designed and developed a heat exchanger to preheat sunflower oil (B100) up to 70°C and compared the performance with neat diesel at room temperature. Results suggest that BSFC decreased by 8%, BTE increased by 1.3%, CO and HC decreased by 12.95% and 12.85%, respectively, at a load of 75%.…”