Study on combustion performances of a new rapeseed oil monoester as biodiesel

FUEL 41

Hejun Guo, cn.ghj_2002@163.com1, Dayong Jiang, wanghe616@163.com1, Gang Li, cn.ghj_2002@163.com2, and Xuanjun Wang3. (1) Xi'an Research Institute of High Technology, Hongqing Town, Xi'an, 710025, China, (2) Military Representative Office of the Second Artillery, Xi’an Lishan Microelectronic Co, Xi’an, 710075, China, (3) Section 503, Xi'an Research Institute of High Technology, Xi'an, 710025, China
Over the last two decades, the awareness of complete depletion of petroleum oil in the near future and serous atmospheric pollution caused by automobile industry has promoted much research for clean alternative fuels substituting for the fossil fuels. One of the most promising alternative energy sources is biodiesel. It contains much less sulfur and nitrogen which makes it more environmentally friendly than petroleum fuels. It is renewable and available at any part of the world presenting a bright future for practical application. However, the oxygen content in conventional biodiesel is at comparatively lower level. Consequently, the reduction in smoke emissions is not just as significant as anticipated when diesel engine burns it or its mixture with diesel fuel. In a previous research, rapeseed oil monoester of ethylene glycol monomethyl ether was proposed as a new biodiesel. Presented in the current paper are its combustion performances. The study carried out in this paper shows that rapeseed oil monoester of ethylene glycol monomethyl ether ignites 1.5ºCA earlier and thus has a shorter ignition delay than diesel fuel. When diesel engine is fueled with the new biofuel in place of diesel fuel, both engine in-cylinder pressure and its changing rate with crankshaft angle increase to some extent. The combustion of the new rapeseed oil monoester can lead to a little higher heat release rate than diesel fuel. Utilization of it can remarkably improve engine brake thermal efficiency due to certain amount of oxygen contained in the new biodiesel.