A Seminar Report On

Ethanol Emulsified Diesel

Use In CI Engines
As An Alternative Fuel

Submitted in partial fulfillment of award

Bachelor of Technology

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Presented By Submitted To:

Name: Alok Sing Dr. Jeeoot Singh

Course Year: B.Tech 3rd Year Associate Professor
Roll No. :2016051007
Branch: Mechanical Engineering
Contents:
ABSTRACT
The enormous growth of world population, increased technical development and
standard of living in industrial nations has led to intricate situation in the field of
energy supply and demand. The prices of crude oil keep rising and fluctuating on
a daily basis. This necessitates developing and commercializing fossil fuel
alternative from bio-origin. The fuels of bio-origin can provide a feasible solution
to world petroleum crisis. Various bio fuel energy sources explored include
biomass, biogas, primary alcohols, vegetable oils and biodiesel. Among the
various alternate fuel options, ethanol has been singled out to be the most
promising and prospective solution to the energy crisis of India because of large
cellulosic biomass and sugarcane availability for its production. However ethanol
for being used in C.I engines needs to be blended with diesel to form emulsion.
This paper reports a comprehensive study on the use of ethanol-diesel blends as
a fuel for C.I engine along with combustion and emission characteristics.
INTRODUCTION
The increasing industrialization and motorization of the world has led to a
steep rise for the demand of petroleum based fuels. Today fossil fuels take up
80% of the primary energy consumed in the world of which 58% alone is
consumed by the transport sector. The sources of these fossil fuels are
becoming exhausted and found major contribution in greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions by consumption of fossil fuels to fulfil the energy demand.
Increasing energy demand leads to an increase in crude oil price directly
affected to global economic activity.

A worrying statistics is that global production of oil and gas is approaching

its maximum and the world is now finding one barrel of oil for every four it
consumes. Progressive depletion of conventional fossil fuels with increasing
energy consumption and GHG’s emission have led to a move towards
alternate, renewable, sustainable, efficient and cost effective energy sources
with lesser emissions. Hence an alternative to fossil fuels, bio fuels have been
portrayed as a future leading supplier of energy sources that have the ability
to increase the security of supply, reduce the vehicle emissions and provide a
steady income for farmers.

For an agriculture country like India, ethanol has been projected as a possible
solution to the energy crisis because of large cellulosic biomass and sugarcane
available for its production. There has been growing interest in the benefits
of expanding the use of ethanol as a transportation fuel ever since the
government mandated compulsory blending of ethanol in gasoline.

The major advantages being, ethanol is a renewable energy component,

reducing the need for the use of crude oil; it has the potential to reduce exhaust
gas emissions; and it reduces the level of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere
reducing global climate change. Most importantly, it increases the alternative
use of agricultural products and provides a means for an increase in rural
employment and net income in the hands of the farmers.

As compression ignition (CI) engines play an important role in developing

economics which often are dependent on agriculture, ethanol-diesel blends
become all the more relevant. The ethanol-diesel blends, often called E-
diesel, rely on additive packages (emulsifiers) to form stable solutions of
ethanol in diesel fuel, so that fuel can be used in existing equipment with
minimal changes. This paper reviews some aspects of ethanol use, ethanol-
diesel blends along with their combustion behavior.

The enormous growth of world population, increased technical

development and standard of living in industrial nations has led to
intricate situation in the field of energy supply and demand. The prices
of crude oil keep rising and fluctuating on a daily basis. This
necessitates developing and commercializing fossil fuel alternative
from bio-origin. The fuels of bio-origin can provide a feasible solution
to world petroleum crisis.

Various bio fuel energy sources explored include biomass, biogas,

primary alcohols, vegetable oils and biodiesel. Among the various
alternate fuel options, ethanol has been singled out to be the most
promising and prospective solution to the energy crisis of India
because of large cellulosic biomass and sugarcane availability for its
production. However ethanol for being used in C.I engines needs to
be blended with diesel to form emulsion. This paper reports a
comprehensive study on the use of ethanol-diesel blends as a fuel for
C.I engine along with combustion and emission characteristics.

Ethanol is an attractive alternative fuel because it is a renewable bio-

based resource and it is oxygenated, thereby providing the potential to
reduce particulate emissions in compression–ignition engines. In this
review the properties and specifications of ethanol blended with diesel fuel
are discussed. Special emphasis is placed on the factors critical to the
potential commercial use of these blends. These factors include blend
properties such as stability, viscosity and lubricity, safety and materials
compatibility.

The effect of the fuel on engine performance, durability and emissions is

also considered. The formulation of additives to correct certain key
properties and maintain blend stability is suggested as a critical factor in
ensuring fuel compatibility with engines. However, maintaining vehicle
safety with these blends may entail fuel tank modifications. Further work
is required in specifying acceptable fuel characteristics, confirming the
long-term effects on engine durability, and ensuring safety in handling and
storing ethanol–diesel blends.

Our Oil Production and Our Need

Ethanol History - From Alcohol to Car Fuel
Today, we use ethanol for a wide range of purposes, from producing medicine
and synthesizing chemical products to fueling our heaters, lamps and vehicles.
Some of the oldest internal combustion engines actually ran on ethanol,
something which makes ethanol history closely intertwined with car history.
Today, ethanol cars are more popular than ever before. But the history of the
intricate relationship between ethanol and man goes much further back than the
history of our modern, car filled society.

The fermentation of sugar into ethanol is one of the earliest organic reactions that
man learned to carry out and the history of man-made ethanol is very long.
Ethanol is a powerful psychoactive substance and ethanol history is filled with
accounts detailing its use as a recreational drug. Dried ethanol residue have been
found on 9 000 year old pottery in China which indicates that Neolithic people in
this part of the world may have consumed alcoholic beverages.

Beer and wine will normally not develop an alcohol content over roughly 15%
alcohol by volume, since a higher concentration makes it impossible for most
yeasts to reproduce. Eventually, humans found out that a higher ethanol
concentration could be obtained through distillation. Distillation is a process
where a mixture is separated into various components based on their individual
volatility. Fermented solutions have been distilled since ancient times in order to
produce distilled beverages with a high ethanol content.

Distillation was well known by the early Greeks and Arabs. Greek alchemists
working in Alexandria during the first century A.D. carried out distillation, and
the medieval Arabs learned from the Alexandrians.

In cold parts of Central Asia, freeze distillation was discovered and the earliest
evidence of it being used dates back to the early Middle Ages. We also know that
alcohol was distilled in Schola Medica Salernitana in southern Italy during the
12th century, and that fractional distillation was invented by Tadeo Alderotti in
the 13th century.

The year 1796 is significant for ethanol history because this is when Johann
Tobias Lowitz obtained pure ethanol by filtering distilled ethanol through
activated charcoal. Antoine Lavoisier was able to ascertain that ethanol consists
of hydrogen, oxygen and carbon, but it wasn't until the early 19th century that the
chemical formula was determined by Nicolas-Théodore de Saussure. During the
mid 1800s, ethanol became one of the first structural formulas to be determined
– another vital step in the history of ethanol. The scientist behind the description
was Scottish chemist Archibald Scott Couper.
PROPERTIES OF ETHANOL
• Viscosity of ethanol is less.

• Specific gravity of ethanol is 0.794.

• Boiling temperature of ethanol is 780C.

• Ethanol has a low cetane rating.

• It is inflammable and its vapour form explosive mixtures with air.

• It is an excellent solvent for fuels, oils, fats etc.

• It is miscible with water in all proportionate mixing being attended by

a concentration of volume.
Ethanol properties compared to diesel

S.NO. PROPERTY ETHANOL DIESEL

1. Density (kg/m³) 785 840

2. Volume Lower 21000 36500

Heating value (kg/l)
3. Latent heat of 840 251
vaporization (KJ/kg)
4. Cetane number 8 50
5. Enthalapy of 837 225-600
vaporization (KJ/kg)
6. Auto-Ignition 365-425 204-260
temperature
7. Stoichiometric air- 9 14.5
fuel ratio

USE OF ETHANOL IN I.C. ENGINES

The various techniques by which the ethanol can be used as fuel for compression
ignition engines are-

Blend formation
The easiest method by which ethanol could be used is in the form of diesel
ethanol blend. But ethanol has limited solubility in diesel; hence
ethanol/diesel solutions are restricted to small percentages. This problem of
limited solubility has been overcome by emulsion, which have the capability
of accommodation larger displacement of diesel up to 40% by volume. But
the major drawbacks of emulsions are the cost of emulsifiers and poor low
temperatures physical properties.

Dual injection
Dual injection is a method by which nearly 90% displacement of diesel by
ethanol is possible .The drawback of this method includes the complexity and
expense of a second injection system and a second fuel tank and system.

Spark ignition
Spark ignition of neat ethanol in Diesel engines provides a way of displacing
100% of diesel. A sparkplug and the associated ignition system components
must be added to the engine. Space must be available for spark plugs in the
cylinder head and it is also important for proper plug cooling.

Ignition improvers
Another method of using neat ethanol is to increase their cetane numbers
sufficiently with ignition improving additives to ensure that compression
ignition will occur. This method saves the expense and complexity of engine
components changes, but adds fuel costs.

Surface ignition
This is another method of using 100% ethanol in diesel engines. Surface
ignition occurs when the temperature of the air-fuel mixture adjacent to a hot
surface exceeds its self-ignition limit.

Fumigation

Fumigation is a method by which ethanol is introduced into engine by

carburetting or vaporizing the ethanol into the intake stream. This method
requires addition of a carburettor or vaporizer along with a separate fuel tank,
lines and controls. But with the emergence of electronic injection techniques
the fumigation technique has been made possible by using an injector in the
intake manifold.
Keeping in view the cost involvement and changes required in the existing
designs, ethanol in the form of emulsion is the most cost effective and easiest
way of using it in existing diesel engines.

THEORY OF EMULSIONS
Emulsions are obtained from a dispersion of two immiscible fluids. The
dispersion produces a continuous and finely dispersed droplets phase. A
surfactant added to the mixture reduces the oil and water surface tension,
activates their surfaces and maximizes their superficial contact areas to make
emulsions. The surfactant molecule has both hydrophilic and lipophilic
group. The hydrophilic group is polarized and oil repelling whereas the nature
of lipophilic group is opposite. Therefore the amount of hydrophilic group
and lipophilic group in a surfactant can be estimated by testing its soluble
ability in chemical compounds. The surfactant increases the electric charge
in the dispersed phase droplets and increases the droplet repulsion force to
prohibit droplets from merging. The water oil emulsion is prepared either
simply by splash blending or by using mechanical, chemical or electric
homogenizing machine to stir water and oil mixture.

Most of the properties of emulsion systems (stability, viscosity etc) depend

on the droplet size and size distribution. The mean droplet diameter depends
on the intensity and on the amount of introduced energy for the particular
preparation technique. A commonly used classification of emulsions is on the
based on the polarity of the phases. In almost all the applications water forms
is one of the components while the other is characterized by a low dielectric
constant indicated as oil. Therefore emulsions are generally indicated as
dispersion of water droplets in oil (water in oil emulsion W/O) or oil droplets
in water (oil in water emulsions, O/W).

EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES ON
ETHANOL-DIESEL EMULSIONS

Studying the micro emulsion blends of 190-proof ethanol in diesel fuel. The
studies were carried by using two different surfactants N, N-dimethyl
ethanolamine and 1butanol.The peak power obtained using 1-butanol as
surfactant was only 92 percent of that for NO.2 diesel oil. Similarly the peak
power obtained using N, N-dimethyl ethanolamine was 93 percent of that for
NO.2 diesel oil. They suggested that this reduction in power could easily be
overcome by readjusting the stop on the injector pump for a high flow rate.
The blended fuels also resulted in lower exhaust temperatures than those for
NO.2 diesel. Exhaust carbon monoxide levels at full power were less using
blended fuels. This was because of the reason that the oxygen present in the
molecules of alcohols was readily accessible for oxidizing carbon monoxide
to carbon dioxide. The blended fuel increased the level of UBHC in the
exhaust. The increase in exhaust UBHC may be associated with the lower
combustion temperatures found for the blended fuels. Also much less smoke
was produced with the blended fuels than with NO.2 diesel.
Goering ETAL analysed the performance of a naturally aspirated ,four stroke
diesel engine with two fuel blends containing alcohol. The fuels contained
ethanol, butanolheavy virgin distillate, diesel NO’s 2 and 4, and a cetane
improver. The proportions of the components were selected to give blends
with properties within the range of diesel NO.2. The final blends contained
25 and 43.7% alcohols. Test results showed a loss in power due to reduced
heating value of the blends and some deterioration of performance at light
loads. At intermediate to heavy loads, satisfactory performance was obtained.

Hansen ETAL investigated the combustion of ethanol and blends of ethanol

with diesel fuel & additives with the aid of a heat release model. The tests on
the ethanol diesel blends were carried out without the use of blending agents
which could have complicated the results. For this reason the highest
proportion of dry ethanol which could be added without separation was 15%.
The effects of ethanol and ignition improver were investigated by studying
the variations of variables in relation to brake mean effective
pressure(BMEP). A single value of BMEP for a particular engine speed was
selected for illustrating the results of changing ethanol.

Bhattacharya ETAL studied the stability and homogeneity of 32 micro

emulsions prepared by mixing 1500,1600,1700&1800 proof ethanol-1-
butanol-diesel in different proportions. Thereafter the characteristic fuel
properties such as density, relative density, kinematic viscosity, cloud & pour
point of stable ethanol-1-butanol-diesel micro emulsions were determined.
They observed that micro emulsions prepared using 1700&1800 proof
ethanol-1-butanol-diesel in 1:2.5:5.5 ratio replacing 39% diesel were stable
and homogenous. A micro emulsion having 180 0 proof ethanol1-butanol-
diesel in 1:2:3 ratio was also found stable. This micro emulsion replaced 50%
diesel. The fuel properties of these micro-emulsions were found very close to
that of diesel resulted in a satisfactory operation of constant speed C.I engine.
Pantar and Corkwell carried a study on ethanol diesel blends ,their
compatibility and homogeneity ,using a novel additive system developed by
Lubrizol. Their study was also focussed on lubricity, cetane quality and
emission characteristics of resulting fuels. They observed that appropriate
selection and additive dose levels control clarity and separation aspects of
storage stability in E-diesel blends. Cloud point is a useful predictor of
separation. They revealed that most E-diesel shows some degree of separation
at temperatures below their cloud point. With regard to emission they
concluded that E-diesel emissions can be influenced by engine type, design,
operating conditions and fuel cetane level. Proper E-diesel must incorporate
cetane improvers to aid emission results.
KogantiETAL evaluated the performance of 5% ethanol-diesel blend in
tractors with respect to engine power output, fuel economy and emissions.
The cold stability tests in climatic chamber at 00C were also done in order to
see the stability of ethanol-diesel blend under low temperature applications.
They found that under full throttle conditions, the use of 5% ethanol in diesel
caused a reduction in power and torque in the range of 1.1% to 4.2%. with
ethanol-diesel blend a noticible reduction in carbon monoxide (CO) and
particulate matter (PM) was seen as compared to commercial diesel.

However there was a slight increase in oxides of nitrogen (NOX).The cold

stability studies showed that starting time increased almost by 16 times with
ethanol-diesel blend.
Jimenez ETAL conducted an extensive study on physical and chemical
properties of ethanol diesel fuel blends. Their study was focussed on the
properties which influence the injection and engine characteristics
significantly. The tested fuels were neat mineral diesel fuel (D100), 5 %( v/v)
ethanol-diesel fuel blend (E05D95), 10 %( v/v) ethanol-diesel fuel blend
(E10D90) and 15 %( v/v) ethanol-diesel fuel blends (E15D85). They found
that for ethanol-diesel fuel blends some additives are necessary to keep
stability under low temperature conditions .Also cold weather properties test
such as cloud point and pour point tests are negatively affected by phase
separation. The rest of the properties excepting flash point were within diesel
fuel standard specifications. Based on their study they concluded that using
additives to avoid phase separation and to raise flash point, blends of ethanol
up to 15% can be used to fuel diesel engines if engine performance tests
corroborate it.
RESULTS

The addition of ethanol to diesel in the form of emulsions shows a profound

effect on engine performance. Enormous studies have been conducted in the
past on different engines with different surfactants using ethanol-diesel
emulsions .The most interesting results of experimental studies are presented
here.

Advantages of Ethanol blended Fuels

 Lower CO, CO₂, hydrocarbons and oxides of nitrogen emulsions.

 Also has fewer volatile components than gasoline.

 Ethanol is widely available and easy to use.

 Ethanol production reduces dependency over foreign oil.

 The biggest advantage of e-diesel is its partially renewable character.

 Ethanol is an anti-freeze (ethanol-blended fuels will not freeze when air

temperature below freezing).
Disadvantages of Ethanol Blended Fuels

 The energy content of ethanol is about 33% less than “pure” gasoline which
leads to lower fuel mileage.

 Ethanol can absorb water which may lead to metal corrosion.

 It is highly flammable and explosive compared to gasoline.

 Aldehyde a function of ethanol volume, is a threat to nose, eyes and throat

and possibly causes cancer.

CONCLUSION
Ethanol in diesel solutions provides an effective approach of combating
petroleum crisis and reducing particulate emissions in diesel engines. The
combustion characteristics of Ethanol diesel micro emulsions indicate that
ethanol in micro emulsified form can be satisfactorily used in existing diesel
engines. Cetane improvers need to be added to keep the cetane number
greater than 40 and emulsifiers should be added as a proactive measure for
preventing phase separation. Cost effective renewable based surfactants
need to be explored to make the process more economical and viable.
Finally operators should be aware that ethanol blends may have reduced
flash points that can increase fire and explosion hazards-additional blend
stocks can be added to avoid this problem.