Emulsification of waste cooking oils and fatty acid distillates as diesel engine fuels: An attractive alternative

Abstract

The scope of this paper is to analyze the possibility and feasibility of the use of emulsification method applied to waste cooking oils and fatty acid distillates as diesel engine fuels, compared with other commonly used methods. These waste products are obtained from the refining oil industry, food industry and service sector, mainly. They are rarely used as feedstock to produce biofuels and other things, in spite of constitute a potential source of environmental contamination. From the review of the state of arts, significant decreases in exhaust emissions of nitrogen oxides, cylinder pressure as well as increases of the ignition delay, brake specific fuel consumption, hydrocarbon, smoke opacity, carbon monoxide, particulate matters to emulsified waste cooking oils and fatty acid distillates compared with diesel fuel are reported. In some experiments the emulsified waste cooking oils achieved better performance than neat fatty acid distillates, neat waste cooking oils and their derivatives methyl esters.