THE SPRAY COMBUSTION OF PALM OLEIN AND DIESEL FUEL BLENDS

Abstract

Global interest in renewable source of fuels caused by the escalating price of petroleum fuels and finite source of fossil fuel supply, drive the search for an alternative and sustainable fuels which should be found and developed. Improvement efforts focus on reducing emissions, improving efficiency and lowering costs without sacrificing reliability. Malaysia with abundant of palm oil production, the use of palm oil as blended biofuel could be the potential substitution for fossil diesel. Biofuels have been used in diesel engines, boilers and gas turbines in developed countries without major modification on their system. This paper reports a study on combustion characteristics of blended palm olein in diesel in a water-cooled continuous spray combustion unit. The physical and chemical characteristics of the various blends of biofuels were given and analyzed. The different blending ratios of palm olein of 10%, 20% and 30% in petroleum diesel volumetrically were tested in the combustion unit over a wide range of air fuel ratio from rich to lean. The blended fuels give effect to the combustion efficiencies, flue gas temperatures and emissions. The results were compared to the baseline fuel which is 100% diesel. It was found out that the blended fuel of up to 20% olein gives comparable results as diesel fuel in term of flame length, flame stability and emissions.