Experimental Investigation of Glycerol Derivatives and C<sub>1</sub>–C<sub>4</sub> Alcohols as Gasoline Oxygenates
Certain oxygenated compounds, when blended with gasoline, have the ability to inhibit the occurrence and decrease the intensity of engine knock, helping improve engine efficiency. Although ethanol has had widespread use as an oxygenate, higher alcohols, such as butanol, exhibit superior properties i...
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2024-04-01
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Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/7/1701 |
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author | André L. Olson Martin Tunér Sebastian Verhelst |
author_facet | André L. Olson Martin Tunér Sebastian Verhelst |
author_sort | André L. Olson |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Certain oxygenated compounds, when blended with gasoline, have the ability to inhibit the occurrence and decrease the intensity of engine knock, helping improve engine efficiency. Although ethanol has had widespread use as an oxygenate, higher alcohols, such as butanol, exhibit superior properties in some respects. Besides alcohols, glycerol derivatives such as glycerol <i>tert</i>-butyl ether (GTBE), among others, also have the potential to be used as gasoline oxygenates. This work provides a direct comparison, performed on a modified Waukesha CFR engine, of C<sub>1</sub>–C<sub>4</sub> alcohols and the glycerol derivatives GTBE, solketal, and triacetin, all blended with a gasoline surrogate in different concentrations. The tests focused on how these oxygenated compounds affected the knocking behavior of the fuel blends, since it directly impacts engine efficiency. The test matrices comprised spark-timing sweeps at two different compression ratios, at stoichiometric conditions and constant engine speed. The results showed that, in general, the C<sub>1</sub>–C<sub>4</sub> alcohols and the glycerol derivatives were effective in decreasing knock intensity. <i>n</i>-Butanol and solketal were the noteworthy exceptions, due to their demonstrated inferior knock-inhibiting abilities. On the other hand, isopropanol, isobutanol, and GTBE performed particularly well, indicating their potential to be used as gasoline oxygenates for future engines, as alternatives to ethanol. |
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issn | 1996-1073 |
language | English |
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spelling | doaj.art-a00143ea92094e81b2151648ffceeff72024-04-12T13:18:07ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732024-04-01177170110.3390/en17071701Experimental Investigation of Glycerol Derivatives and C<sub>1</sub>–C<sub>4</sub> Alcohols as Gasoline OxygenatesAndré L. Olson0Martin Tunér1Sebastian Verhelst2Department of Energy Sciences, Lund University, 221 00 Lund, SwedenDepartment of Energy Sciences, Lund University, 221 00 Lund, SwedenDepartment of Energy Sciences, Lund University, 221 00 Lund, SwedenCertain oxygenated compounds, when blended with gasoline, have the ability to inhibit the occurrence and decrease the intensity of engine knock, helping improve engine efficiency. Although ethanol has had widespread use as an oxygenate, higher alcohols, such as butanol, exhibit superior properties in some respects. Besides alcohols, glycerol derivatives such as glycerol <i>tert</i>-butyl ether (GTBE), among others, also have the potential to be used as gasoline oxygenates. This work provides a direct comparison, performed on a modified Waukesha CFR engine, of C<sub>1</sub>–C<sub>4</sub> alcohols and the glycerol derivatives GTBE, solketal, and triacetin, all blended with a gasoline surrogate in different concentrations. The tests focused on how these oxygenated compounds affected the knocking behavior of the fuel blends, since it directly impacts engine efficiency. The test matrices comprised spark-timing sweeps at two different compression ratios, at stoichiometric conditions and constant engine speed. The results showed that, in general, the C<sub>1</sub>–C<sub>4</sub> alcohols and the glycerol derivatives were effective in decreasing knock intensity. <i>n</i>-Butanol and solketal were the noteworthy exceptions, due to their demonstrated inferior knock-inhibiting abilities. On the other hand, isopropanol, isobutanol, and GTBE performed particularly well, indicating their potential to be used as gasoline oxygenates for future engines, as alternatives to ethanol.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/7/1701CFR engineengine knockgasoline oxygenatesglycerol derivativesalcoholsGTBE |
spellingShingle | André L. Olson Martin Tunér Sebastian Verhelst Experimental Investigation of Glycerol Derivatives and C<sub>1</sub>–C<sub>4</sub> Alcohols as Gasoline Oxygenates Energies CFR engine engine knock gasoline oxygenates glycerol derivatives alcohols GTBE |
title | Experimental Investigation of Glycerol Derivatives and C<sub>1</sub>–C<sub>4</sub> Alcohols as Gasoline Oxygenates |
title_full | Experimental Investigation of Glycerol Derivatives and C<sub>1</sub>–C<sub>4</sub> Alcohols as Gasoline Oxygenates |
title_fullStr | Experimental Investigation of Glycerol Derivatives and C<sub>1</sub>–C<sub>4</sub> Alcohols as Gasoline Oxygenates |
title_full_unstemmed | Experimental Investigation of Glycerol Derivatives and C<sub>1</sub>–C<sub>4</sub> Alcohols as Gasoline Oxygenates |
title_short | Experimental Investigation of Glycerol Derivatives and C<sub>1</sub>–C<sub>4</sub> Alcohols as Gasoline Oxygenates |
title_sort | experimental investigation of glycerol derivatives and c sub 1 sub c sub 4 sub alcohols as gasoline oxygenates |
topic | CFR engine engine knock gasoline oxygenates glycerol derivatives alcohols GTBE |
url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/7/1701 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT andrelolson experimentalinvestigationofglycerolderivativesandcsub1subcsub4subalcoholsasgasolineoxygenates AT martintuner experimentalinvestigationofglycerolderivativesandcsub1subcsub4subalcoholsasgasolineoxygenates AT sebastianverhelst experimentalinvestigationofglycerolderivativesandcsub1subcsub4subalcoholsasgasolineoxygenates |