Assessment on the volatilization performance of partially hydrogenated biodiesel-ethanol-diesel ternary fuel blends

Abstract

This article investigates the volatilization characteristics of binary and ternary fuel blends of cottonseed partially hydrogenated biodiesel, ethanol, and conventional diesel. The vapor pressure, enthalpy of evaporation, and activation energy of the fuel blends were obtained by thermogravimetric analysis and kinetic calculation. The physicochemical properties of the fuel blends showed that the ternary fuel blend of suitable mixing ratio had satisfactory cetane number, improved oxidation stability, and oxygen content with a significant decrease in the kinematic viscosity. In addition, the vapor pressure of the PHCME ternary fuel blends was increased by 18.4%, 17.2%, and 20.4% compared with PHCME binary fuel blends, and the enthalpies of evaporation of the ternary fuel blends increased slightly with different mixing ratios. The activation energy of PHCME ternary fuel blends was decreased by 3.5%, 6.8%, and 16.3% respectively, compared to the PHCME binary fuel blends. In conclusion, ethanol addition in the PHCME fuel blend improved the volatilization characteristics and the kinematic viscosity of the fuel blend without a significant adverse effect on the fuel properties of hydrogenated biodiesel.

Keywords

• Partial hydrogenation
• Biodiesel
• Ethanol
• Volatilization
• Vapor pressure