Experimental analysis on the ultrasound-based mixing technique applied to ultra-low sulphur diesel and bio-oils

Abstract

Pollution in the maritime field is considered as such a serious problem that scientists, policymakers, and managers are always urged with a desire to find solutions and strategies one way or another to minimize its negative impacts on the environment and the life. Among the effective solutions, the use of fuels with limited-sulfur content or bio-based fuels has been paid much attention to due to their advantages in the use of marine diesel engines. In the current study, a type of fossil diesel fuel with ultra-low sulfur content (ULSD) was mixed with coconut oil (CO) through the ultrasonic treatment under the changes in volume fraction of as-used fuels, the correlation on viscosity selected the rate mixing between ULSD and coconut oil. After 12 minutes of ultrasound treatment, the highest stability of the ULSD-CO emulsion was achieved correspondingly to 97.8% for a mixing rate of 76%(ULSD):24%(CO) along with the distance of 85mm from the containing-vessel bottom to the ultrasound horn tip. Moreover, the spray characteristics including penetration length and a cone angle of ULSD, CO, and ULSD-CO emulsion were also examined and compared to diesel fuel. The similarity of spray characteristics to diesel fuel, containing ultra-low sulfur content and oxygen content, renewability are considered as some advantages of ULSD-CO emulsion as used for diesel engines aiming to meet the stricter requirements of IMO regulations about the strategies of environmental protection.