One of the methods
to improve the emission parameters of diesel
engines is the use of fuels containing an increased fraction of oxygen
compounds. This can be achieved by adding oxygen compounds, in the
form of alcohols (e.g., ethanol, methanol, and 1-butanol), to a standard
diesel fuel. Due to a number of advantages over ethanol and methanol,
1-butanol is of particular interest. It is important to determine
the physical and chemical properties of the diesel fuel to which alcohol
has been added, in order to study the engine efficiency. From a legislative
point of view, it is also necessary to compare these parameters with
those of a typical diesel fuel. In this study, the physical and chemical
properties of blends of standard diesel fuel and 1-butanol were tested,
with 1-butanol volume fractions of up to 25%. Density, kinematic viscosity,
distillation characteristics, heating values, water content, flash
point, cold filter plugging point, lubricity, autoignition properties,
and corrosiveness to copper were tested. The obtained results were
compared with the standard requirements specified in the EN 590 standard.
Studies have shown that for fuel blends with an increasing volume
fraction of 1-butanol, autoignition properties deteriorate and lower
and higher heating values decrease significantly. The distillation
curves also change, and the mass fraction of water increases. For
a higher fraction of 1-butanol, deterioration of lubricity was observed,
while for the smaller fractions, an improvement in lubricity was noted.
Even when higher volume fractions of 1-butanol were used, the values
of some tested parameters were within the limits specified in the
standard requirements for typical diesel fuel.
