Detection of Ethylene Emitted by Diesel-biodiesel Engine Using CO2 Laser Photoacoustic Sensors

Abstract

The increased use of modern society vehicles is rising the pollutant gas emissions causing several environmental and public health problem in urban centers. Diesel fuel is a major emitter of pollutant gases, especially in Brazil, where the transport is predominantly by land. For this reason, Brazilian government aims to modify the energy matrix with the addition of renewable energy sources, such as biodiesel. In this paper, we studied the emission of ethylene gas from the combustion of binary mixtures, because this gas is directly related to the formation of photochemical smog. The Brazilian government does not have specific regulations for the emission of ethylene yet. Thus, it becomes necessary to monitor and to detect this gas through sensitive and selective methods, such as Photoacoustic Spectroscopy. This method was employed in the analysis of binary mixtures of soybean biodiesel in diesel in the following proportions: B5, B10, B15, B20 and B25, which have been tested for combustion in an engine bench. In all samples, ethylene was found in ppmv concentrations.Keywords: biodiesel, engine bench, ethylene, phoacoustic spectroscopy IntroducationThe gases resulting from vehicles combustion might cause multiple damage to human health and the environment, causing global climate changes, such as the intensification of the greenhouse effect (Michael, Bradley, & Hughes, 1998; IPCC, 2007;Hansen et al., 2008;Nathan et al., 2008;Rosenzweig et al., 2008;Meinshausen et al., 2009;Myles et al., 2009;Solomon, Plattner, Knuttic, & Friedlingstein, 2009;. Thereby, it is necessary to monitor the emission rates of such polluting gases, with the aim of developing means to reduce them.Due to the increasing atmospheric pollution and the fact that the fossil fuels are non-renewable sources of energy, it is necessary to make changes in Brazilian energy matrix. In 2005, the Brazilian Biodiesel Program (Law no. 11097) (ANP, 2005) was instituted, establishing the addition of 2% of biodiesel in diesel form with a binary mixture named B2 and in January 2010 was set by addition of 5% biodiesel in diesel (B5), which is currently considered the standard Brazil diesel.

Experimental Investigation on the Emissions of a Port Fuel Injection Spark Ignition Engine Fueled with Methanol–Gasoline Blends

“…It can easily react with NO x emissions in the presence of solar radiation and produce ozone. Ozone is an important factor for the formation of photochemical smog near the ground, which can seriously threaten human health. , Figure shows the C 2 H 4 emissions of the test engine at different engine speeds and with different methanol–gasoline blends. With pure gasoline, the test engine has the highest level of C 2 H 4 emissions, approximately 80–120 ppm in most cases.…”

“…It can easily react with NO x emissions in the presence of solar radiation and produce ozone. Ozone is an important factor for the formation of photochemical smog near the ground, which can seriously threaten human health 19,20. Figure 7 shows the C 2 H 4 emissions of the test engine at different engine speeds and with different methanol−gasoline blends.…”

Evaluation of Gaseous Emission in the Use of Biofuels in Brazil

“…For this, TEMPEST Electrochemical Analyzer to detect carbon monoxide (CO), the nitrogen oxides NO x (NO+ NO 2 ) in the range of ppmv and the infrared analyzer (URAS), to detect carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). We also carried out the calibration of a photoacoustic spectrometer coupled to a CO 2 laser, which allows us to perform the detection of ethylene (VOCs) in the range of ppbv [23,[47][48][49].…”

Detection of gaseous pollutants emitted from engine powered by biodiesel and diesel mixtures

“…We detected the following gases: carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), which is a powerful greenhouse gas, carbon monoxide (CO), which is harmful to human health [24][25][26][27][28], as well as a modulator of methane and tropospheric ozone which are important greenhouse gases [29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36] and nitrogen oxides (NO x ), which are generators of acid rain, harmful to human health [37][38][39][40][41] and, in the presence of solar radiation, they are considered precursors of tropospheric ozone [42].…”