Effects of waste-derived ethylene glycol diacetate as a novel oxygenated additive on performance and emission characteristics of a diesel engine fueled with diesel/biodiesel blends

This study was devoted to introducing and experimenting a new waste-derived oxygenated additive, i.e., ethylene glycol diacetate on performance and emission characteristics of a diesel engine fueled with diesel/biodiesel blends. Mineral diesel and its blends with 5 and 20 vol% biodiesel were used in the engine test runs. These fuel blends were doped with ethylene glycol diacetate at three volumetric levels in the range of 1-3%. The engine was run under engine load conditions varying from idle to full load operation at a constant engine speed of 1500?rpm. Overall, the most appealing results were obtained when diesel fuel dosed with 3?vol% ethylene glycol diacetate was combusted under moderate engine load conditions. This oxygenated fuel blend could result in a significant mitigation in both nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide emissions but could lead to an unfavorable increase in unburned hydrocarbon emissions in comparison with the additive-free diesel fuel. More specifically, nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide emissions were reduced by 1.9-4.3 and 1.6-3.1 times, respectively, while unburned hydrocarbon emissions for the selected fuel blend under moderate engine loads were increased by 1.9-3.6 times. The carbon monoxide emission for this fuel blend was comparable with that of neat diesel. Furthermore, the significant reductions in nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide emissions were achieved with a trivial drop in brake thermal efficiency of the engine (approximate to 5%). As a conclusion, the developed oxygenated additive could be used for reformulating diesel fuel with the aim of substantially mitigating nitrogen oxides emissions.