Evaluation and Treatment of Carbonyl Compounds and Fine Particles Emitted by Combustion of Biodiesels in a Generator

Abstract

The main objectives of this study are the assessment of fine particles (PM2.5) and carbonyl compound emissions from an electrical generator fueled with biodiesels and the evaluation of the efficiency of a commercial 4-way catalytic converter toward these pollutants. Two different biodiesels were used: Soybean Oil fatty acid Methyl Esters (SOME) and Waste Cooking Oil fatty acid Ethyl Esters (WCOEE). Several biodiesel blends with petroleum diesel were tested (0%vol, 7%vol, 20%vol, and 50%vol). For all blends it was shown that particles are mainly composed of ultrafine particles with a diameter below 0.4 μm. The presence of a 4-way catalyst allows the reduction of the total number of particles emitted by at least 97%. However, the fraction of the smaller particles (PM0.1), which are particularly harmful to health, becomes predominant. The origin and concentration of biodiesel introduced in the fuel influence both the total number of emitted particles and their size distribution. The different behavior of the two biodiesels used in this study regarding particulate matter emissions is linked to the fuel properties. Interesting results are obtained from the measurement of carbonyl compounds emissions. This study reveals that the presence of biodiesel in the fuel has a major effect on acrolein, propanal, and acetone production. Moreover, it appears that the 4-way catalyst is not efficient toward carbonyl compound conversion.

Emissions from a Diesel Power Generator Fuelled with Biodiesel and Fossil Diesel Fuels

“…They also generate air pollutants like automotive diesel engines. Therefore, studies on the environmental impact of diesel generators are rare because they are classified as non-road sources and would be subjected to emission and fuel regulations in the future [17], such as reducing the level of sulphur [18]. For this purpose, the exhaust emissions from diesel generators fueled by different alternative fuels have been investigated by Bugosh et al [19], Pereira et al [20] and Valente et al [21], and different trends have been reported.…”

Identifying Unregulated Emissions from Conventional Diesel Self-Ignition and PPCI Marine Engines at Full Load Conditions

“…In this study, the relative concentration of components in unregulated emissions between conventional diesel combustion and PPCI was represented with the relative peak area by using semi-quantitative method in GC-MS software [25]. Some hydrocarbons, including olefins, alkynes, and cyclohexanes, are considered to be extremely toxic [33,34]. In this paper, for example, 28-Nor-17.alpha.…”

Ethyl biodiesels derived from non-edible oils within the biorefinery concept – Pilot scale production & engine emissions

“…A detailed description of the whole experimental set-up can be found in Refs. [9,21], thus only the main features are given here. The test rig used consists of the diesel generator, a fuel tank and an exhaust pipe equipped with sampling probes linked to different analyzers allowing the analysis of the exhaust composition, in term of gaseous and particulate pollutants.…”

“…Under the same conditions, petrodiesel was also investigated as reference fuel, as well as blends of petrodiesel with crude BA or JC oil (50 wt.%). Studies testing power generators with biofuels, particularly NEVOs either converted into ethyl biodiesels or blended with petrodiesel, are still very scarce [1,2,9]. Thus, this work will contribute to bridge some gaps in this field in favor of agricultural machinery and deployment of cogeneration in general.…”

“…Also, FAEEs have better biodegradability, higher flash point, improved cold-flow properties and oxidation stability, making them a safer fuel for storage and transportation than FAMEs [1]. However, higher emissions in carbonyls (acrolein, propanal, acetone) were observed for some FAEEs of low volatility and unsaturation level [9].…”