Energy Conversion and Management, Vol.117, 185-192, 2016
Microemulsion based hybrid biofuels using glycerol monooleate
The present investigation aims to highlighten the effect of monoglyceride surfactant (GMO) on structure and dynamic behavior and other fuel characteristics of microemulsion based hybrid biofuels (MHBFs). Fuel quality of MHBFs formulated using purified GMO (>90%), which was prepared by esterification of glycerol, was investigated in the study. Phase behaviors, droplet size distribution, number of droplets present in the system, average droplet size and average length of surface active agents were studied as a part of structural investigations of the GMO based MHBFs. Diffusion coefficient, energy barrier to droplet coalescence and rate of coalescence of droplets were also investigated for the formulated MHBFs. The number of droplets, length of surface active agent and the diffusion co-efficient were in the ranges of 1.87 x 10(21)-5.66 x 10(21)/m(3), 0.92-1.07 nm and 1.00 x 10(-11)-1.79 x 10(-11) m(2)/s, respectively. The rate of droplet coalescence was obtained in the range 2.77 x 10(-4)-8.78 x 10(-4) times the collision factor. MHBFs incorporating the glycerol derived bio-based nonionic surfactant GMO exhibited viscosity of 4.12 mm(2)/s (at 40 degrees C), gross calorific value (GCV) of 39.17 MJ/kg and pour point of -7 degrees C. (c) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.