Abstract

Alternate sources of energy have been developed to decrease the dependency on petroleum based fuels. Crude oil is gradually depleting and its price has been subjected to speculation due to economy and international relations between producer and consumer countries. Biofuels derived from vegetable oil are potential alternatives as energy resources in combustion systems where diesel and kerosene fuels are used.  Biofuels are known to produce lower CO, particulate matter, and hydrocarbons emissions than regular petroleum-based fuels, whereas NO emissions for biofuels can be higher or lower than petroleum-based fuels depending on the operating conditions. These differences are attributed to different chemical composition and physical properties of biofuels and petroleum-based fuels; nonetheless, it has also been found that the type of combustion system also strongly influences the performance of biofuels. In the present study, combustion characteristics of canola methyl ester, soy methyl ester and commercial Jet-A fuel were measured and compared using a porous media burner. Porous media burners reduce pollutant emissions and improve combustion performance by enhancing vaporization rate of liquid sprayed upstream of the porous media. Combustion characteristics documented in this experimental study included flame appearance, radiative fraction of heat release, inflame axial temperature profile, surface temperature distribution, emission index of CO and NO, exhaust concentration of CO2 and O2 and flammability limits. An additional study was performed to test the effect of biodiesel on injector and porous media durability. 

 

Setup for the porous media combustion