Validation of a method for composition measurement of a non-standard liquid fuel for Emission Factor evaluation

In this paper the theoretical and experimental aspects are described concerning the validation of a method for the measurement of the percentage composition of a generic liquid fuel, even though specific reference materials for instrumentation calibration are unavailable. This new method could be used for the evaluation of the Emission Factor (EF) of an unknown fuel for emission trading purposes, according to the requirements of both the juridical and technical standards. The validation of the procedure is based on the comparison of different techniques for the measurement of Gross Calorific Value (GCV), Net Calorific Value (NCV) which are quantities useful in EF evaluation: this new combination of actions established a complete and validated methodology for EF evaluation. The experimental results and uncertainty analysis show that this method is suitable for the estimation of the composition measurement and also that of GCV, NCV and EF also for non-standard liquid fuels; a comparable accuracy with respect to the methods for standard fuels has been estimated, making this method suitable for practical applications. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.