Corrosion behaviour of carbon steel in Biodiesel-Diesel-Ethanol (BDE) fuel blend

Abstract

The biodiesel-diesel-ethanol blend represents an important alternative fuel for diesel engines; however, changes in the fuel composition and the introduction of new alternative fuel often results in corrosion and degradation of the automobile fuel system parts. In this present study, the corrosion behavior of carbon steel in B20D70E10 (biodiesel 20%, diesel 70% and ethanol 10%) fuel blend was studied by static immersion at room temperature and 60 C. The effect of B20D70E10 fuel blend on corrosion rate, morphology of corrosion products, and chemical structure of carbon steel were studied. In addition, the change of fuel properties, namely, total acid number, density, viscosity, calorific value, flash point, and color changes were also investigated. Moreover, fuel compositional changes, such as water content and oxidation product level in the fuel blends were examined. The results showed that the degradation of fuel properties and corrosion rate of carbon steel in B20D70E10 are lower than neat biodiesel (B100), whereas slightly higher than petro-diesel (B0).