Characterization of Biomethanol–Biodiesel–Diesel Blends as Alternative Fuel for Marine Applications

Abstract

The ambitious new International Maritime Organization (IMO) strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from ships will shape the future path towards the decarbonization of the fleet and will bring further ecological challenges. In order to replace the larger oil-based part of marine fuel with components from renewable sources, it is necessary to develop multi-component blends. In this work, biomethanol and biodiesel with two additives—dodecanol and 2-ethylhexyl nitrate—in 20 blends with marine diesel oil (MDO) were selected as alternative components to replace the pure marine diesel oil-based part of marine fuel. For this purpose, two base blends of diesel and biodiesel with and without additives were produced with biomethanol from 0 to 30% (volume basis). Of all the blends, the blends with 5% (volume basis) methanol had the best property profile in terms of density, kinematic viscosity, calorific value, cloud point, and cetane index according to the ISO 8217:2017 standard (DMB grade) in compliance with the IMO requirements for marine fuels. However, the flash point must be increased. The boiling behavior of the blends was also investigated. A cluster analysis was used to evaluate the similarity between the blends based on their different physical properties.

Keywords

• marine fuel
• alternative fuel
• biomethanol
• biodiesel
• marine diesel oil
• methanol–diesel blend