New hybrid biofuel using palm oil/diesel ethanol based reverse micelle microemulsion

Abstract

Biofuels are one of renewable fuels used in many vehicles and industries. Vegetable oils which are green and non-toxic nature derived from agricultural feedstock, have been used for biofuel’s production for many years. Due to their high viscosity, the direct use of vegetable oil in diesel engines can lead to engine durability problems. Reverse micelle micro emulsion as an alternative biofuel production has been intensively studied for formulating biofuel with desirable viscosity. This work aims to formulate micro emulsion biofuels of palm oil/diesel blend and refined bleached deodorized palm oil (RBDPO)/diesel blend mixed with ethanol used as a viscosity reducer using three nonionic surfactant derived from renewable based feedstock (methyl oleate, Span 80 and palm oil methyl ester (PME)) and two cosurfactants (1-octanol and 2-ethyl-1-hexanol). Additionally, their fuel properties (i.e. kinematic viscosity, droplet size, turbidity, density and heat of combustion) were investigated and compared with standard of diesel No.2. The effects of nonionic surfactant and cosurfactant structures had no significant impact on phase behaviors of the micro emulsion biofuels. For the results of kinematic viscosity measurements, micro emulsion biofuels had higher kinematic viscosity than that of standard of No. 2 diesel. The formulation of micro emulsion biofuel depends on raw material selection. The fuel properties of micro emulsion biofuel can be desired and adjusted be micro emulsion formulation with using a renewable based surfactant in the system offering attractive options environmentally for future biofuel production.