Papers by Author: Cui Ying Lu

Abstract: Thermal analysis has been employed to yield information on the volatility of the biodiesel/petrodiesel since the volatility influences the ignition quality of the fuels in a compression ignition engine. The chemical composition of -10 petrodiesel (-10PD) and soybean biodiesel (SME) was analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The thermal volatilization of biodiesel and its blends was investigated by thermogravimetry and liquid volatile theory. Volatile index was put forward for describing biodiesel/petrodisel volatility. A good correlation model was proposed for calculate the biodiesel/petrodiesel volatility by biodiesel blending ratio. The study showed that -10PD was mainly composed of long chain alkanes: C8–C26. SME was mainly composed of long chain fatty acid methyl esters: C14:0–C24:0, C16:1–C22:1, C18:2 and C18:3. The volatile indexes of SME and -10PD were, respectively, 1.74E-04 and 3.64E-05. The biodiesel fuel was considerably more volatile in comparison to the petrodiesel fuels. The SME/-10PD volatility had relation to SEM blending ratio, it was better with increasing the SME blending ratio.

Abstract: The cold flow properties of rapeseed-based biodiesel (RME) were studied by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), multifunctional low temperature tester and thermal analysis. Two approaches for reducing cold filter plugging point (CFPP) of RME were investigated: blending with winter petrodiesel, treating with cold flow improver (CFI) additives and the effect of CFI to combustion characteristics of RME. A good correlation model was proposed for prediction CFPP by RME blending ratio. The study shows that the RME was mainly composed of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME): C_14:0–C_24:0, C_16:1–C_22:1, C_18:2 and C_18:3. The mass fraction of saturated fatty acid methyl esters (SFAME) and unsaturated fatty acid methyl esters (UFAME) was 14.69% and 83.40%, respectively. The CFPP of RME was -7 °C. Blending with -10 petrodiesel (-10PD) decreased the CFPP to -12 °C. Treating with CFI additives (volume fraction ≤ 1.5%) decreased the CFPP of RME and RME/-10PD to -11 and -28 °C, respectively. Small amount of CFI additives hardly affected combustion characteristics of biodiesel. This study has effectively improved cold flow properties of biodiesel and provided guide for using biodiesel at low temperatures.