International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) – Volume 29 Number 5 - November 2015
Comparative Studies of Fuels with Blended Fuels
Savita Goyal Aggarwal#1, V K Chhibber*2
# Associate Professor, Chemistry,
GRD IMT, Dehradun, India
Abstract
Alternative fuels are derived from resources other
than petroleum. Some are produced domestically,
reducing our dependence on imported oil, and some
are derived from renewable sources. Often, they
produce less pollution than gasoline or diesel. Bio
diesel is derived from vegetable oils and animal fats. It
usually produces less air pollutants than petroleumbased diesel. Natural gas is a fossil fuel that generates
less air pollutants and greenhouse gases. Gas to liquid
fuel is regarded as a most promising alternative diesel
fuel, is considering using directly as a diesel fuel or in
blends with petroleum-derived diesel in CI engines.
GTL is paraffinic in nature and has low aromatic
contents, zero sulphur content, and possess high
cetane number. In the present study, acomparative
study of fuel properties of different fuels and their
blends were carried out.
Keywords: fuel, GTL, cetane number, blended fuel
I.INTRODUCTION
Long time ago, animal fat has been used by
farmers to lubricate the axles of their ox [1]. On the
other note, studies by Pirro [2] reported that, as early
as 1400 B.C., combination of calcium and fats produce
grease which then was used to lubricate chariot
wheels. During 16thcentury, lubricant use is form
vegetable oils, animal oils, or mixture of two [3].
The gradual advancement of civilization
associated with the growth of transport sector has
influenced the excessive usage of fossil fuels,
initiating a confrontation of dual exigency between
abrupt depletion of fossil fuel as degradation.Growing
environmental awareness, concerns of economic
security and more stringent regulations regarding
petroleum products have spurred renewed interest in
natural oils as alternative lubricants. This fossil fuel
has promoted global commerce and is behind many of
the greatest technological and social innovations of
our day.
oils) – derived from petroleum crude oil, synthetic
lubricants and plant-based lubricants (or biodegradable
natural oils). Mineral oils are predominantly in use.
Synthetic lubricants are formulated to possess specific
high performance properties. Plant-based lubricants
are derived from oil seed.
However, the environment is paying a serious
price for our unbridled consumption of fossil fuels and
our climate is warming at a rate that may cause
irreversible consequences. Oil spills, ecological
damage, pollution and human health risks are just
some of the negative impacts of oil exploration,
development and use. A survey study over use of fuels
had reported that by 2020 the demand of fossil fuels
increasedup to three times that will boost the pollution
levels in terms of airborne pathogens [4,5]. So more
attention is given towards use of alternative
fuels.Alternative fuels are derived from resources
other than petroleum. Some are produced
domestically, reducing our dependence on imported
oil, and some are derived from renewable sources.
Often, they produce less pollution than gasoline or
diesel. Bio diesel is derived from vegetable oils and
animal fats. It usually produces less air pollutants than
petroleum-based diesel. Natural gas is a fossil fuel that
generates less air pollutants and greenhouse gases. Gas
to liquid fuel (GTL) is regarded as a most promising
alternative of diesel fuel [6], is considering to use
directly as a diesel fuel or in blends with petroleumderived diesel in CI engines. Gas to liquid fuelis
paraffinicin nature and has low aromatic contents, zero
Sulphur content, and possess high cetane number
[7,8,]that yields lower CO, HC and PM emission and
improved combustion[9].Seeing the importance of Gas
to liquid fuel,it is now blended with diesel to improve
fuel properties blends without any major engine
modifications [10]. In the present work a comparative
study of fuel properties of different fuels and their
blends were carried out.
II. MATERIAL AND METHODS
A.Fuel blend preparation and property analysis
Three main types of oil lubricants are currently in
use are mineral oilbased lubricants (also called mineral
ISSN: 2231-5381
Diesel fuel was blended with Gas to liquid
fuel diesel fuel in different ration to study the
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International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) – Volume 29 Number 5 - November 2015
improvementin the fuel properties and also the engine
performance and emission characteristics. The blends
were prepared containing 30% and 40% GTL by
volume in diesel and are marked as G3D7 and G4D6.
The purefuels are also taken for comparison the
properties.Different Blends was prepared into a sealed
mixer, followed by magnetic stirrer and shaker. Then
different blended sample wereleft and observed for
12hrs to ensure that no phase separation was occurred.
The blended diesel fuels showed improved fuel
property with blending of GTL in terms of kinematic
viscosity and density. The detail about apparatus used
for fuel property are depicted in Table 1. The results of
experimental values are depicted in Table 2.
B.Engine Used for Testing
YANMAR TF 120-M diesel engine (was
used for experimental purposes. The specification of
engine is given in Table 3.Initial engine test was
performed with Diesel before starting the tests with
different blends of fuels. Engine testing conditions
performed at full load and within speed range of
1200~2400 rpm at an interval of 200rpm. Performance
test was governed by Dynomax-2000 software in a
laptop interfacing to the engine test bed (Fig. 1).
BOSCH Exhaust gas analyzer BEA-350 was used to
investigate exhaust emissions of fuels.
TABLE. 3
Table.1 EQUIPMENT USED FOR FUEL TESTING
S.NO.
1
Property
Density
Equipment
Stabinger Viscometer SVM
3000
Manufacturer: Anton Paar
2
Kinematic
Viscosity
3
Flash point
4
Calorific
Value
Pensky-Martens
flashpoint
automatic NPM 440
Semi auto bomb calorimeter
Manufacturer: Parr, USA
TABLE.2 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE
DIFFERENT FUELS
S.N
o
1
2
3
4
Properties
Density
@ 40°C
(gm/cc)
Kinemati
c
viscosity
@ 40°C
(mm2/sec
)
Flash
Point (°C)
Calorific
Value
(MJ/Kg)
Fuels
D
G3D7
0.725
1
G4D6
0.689
1
G
0.623
2
3.363
2
3.208
4
2.896
78.2
84.1
89.2
105.2
42.34
43.12
43.88
44.25
0.745
4
3.481
2
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PROPERTIES OF ENGINE
S.No.
Engine type
4 Stroke DI
diesel engine
1
Number of cylinders
One
2
Cylinder bore * stroke
(mm)
92*96
3
Displacement (L)
0.638
4
Aspiration
5
Compression ratio
Natural
aspiration
17.7
6
Maximum engine speed
(rpm)
2400
7
Maximum power (kW)
7.7
8
Power take off position
flywheel side
9
Cooling system
Radiator
cooling
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
A.Engine Test performance
A.1.Engine power output
The comparison of the power output of the test engine
of pure fuels (D, G)and blended fuels (G3D7, G4D6)
was showed in Fig. 1. The engine withGas to liquid
fueland its blends showed slightly improved power
output than Diesel. The maximum power was achieved
at 1800 rpm by all fuels,Fuel G showed about 11 %
higher power than fuel D. The higher calorific value of
fuel G and improvement of density and viscosity in the
blends improved the atomization process during
combustion, that yields improved combustion and also
reflected the slight improvement in power output [11].
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International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) – Volume 29 Number 5 - November 2015
8
A.2.Brake specific fuel consumption
The brake –specific fuel consumption (BSFC) of
different fuel samples was depicted in Fig.3. It was
observed that both blends showed improved BSFC
compared to fuel D. Due to high calorific value of
GTL, BSFC value is good in GTL fuels and also
improves in blended fuels[12,13]. At 1800 rpm, lowest
BSFC was showed by all fuels. GTL showed about
9.29% lower BSFC than B5 Diesel.
7
6
5
K4
w
IV. CONCLUSION
The pure fuel and their blends were studied
for fuel properties and comparison were carried out
among the fuels.
1. Pure GTL has good fuel property in comparison to
diesel, the blends of these two fuels also showed
improved fuel propertiesin terms of viscosity and
density. The maximum power was achieved at 1800
rpm by all fuels.
2. Engine performance results were good for GTL in
comparison todiesel. GTL showed maximum
increased power and brake thermal efficiency up to
10.1% and 21%. GTL also showed good improvement
of BSFC by lowering the value. These fuel blends
showed improved engine performance.
3
2
1
D
0
G3
D7
1200
1400
1600 1800
RPM
2000
Fig 2. Effect of engine speed on power at full load
(kw vs rpm)
500
450
120
400
g
m
/
k
w
h
100
80
Flash
60
Point
350
300
250
200
150
100
40
50
Calorifi
c Value20
D 0
0
D
G3D7
G4D6
G
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RPM
properties
Fig 1. Comparative fuel properties of different
fuels
2200
Fig 3. Effect of engine speed on BSFC at full load
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International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) – Volume 29 Number 5 - November 2015
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