Superior Nano-Fuels by Ultrasonic Dispersion
- Ultrasonic dispersion is used to produce nanofuels or diesohol, a fuel blend of ethanol and diesel, which is improved by the addition of CNTs or nanoparticles.
- Power ultrasonics produces super-fine, nano-fuel emulsions and dispersions.
- Ultrasonically dispersed nanoparticles in fuels improve fuel performance and emission characteristics.
- Ultrasonic inline dispersers are available on industrial scale for the production of nano-fuels.
Nano-Fuels
Nanofuels consist in a mixture of a base fuel (e.g. diesel, biodiesel, fuel blends) and nano-particles. Those nanoparticles act as hybrid nanocatalysts, which offer a large reactive surface area. The ultrasonic dispersion of the nano-additive results in substantially improves fuel performance such as reduced ignition delay, longer flame sustenance and agglomerate ignition as well as significant overall reductions in the emission.
Nano-sized fuel-particle blends excel pure liquid fuel regarding fuel performance by higher energy density, faster and easier ignition, enhanced catalytic effect, reduced emission, faster evaporation and burning rate and improved combustion efficiency.
Ultrasonic Dispersion of Nanoparticles in Fuel
To avoid the settling of nanoparticles in the fuel tank, the particles must be dispersed sophistically. Ultrasonic processors are powerful and reliable dispersers, which are well-known for their capacity to mix, deagglomerate and even mill nanoparticles so that a stable dispersion with the desired particle size is obtained.
Hielscher’s ultrasonic dispersers are proven tools to disperse nanotubes and particles into fuels.
The list below gives you an overview over already tested nano-materials dispersed in fuels:
- CNTs – carbon nanotubes
- Ag – silver
- Al – aluminium
- Al2O3 – aluminum oxide
- AlCuOx – aluminum copper oxides
- B – boron
- Ca – calcium
- CaCO3 – calcium carbonate
- Fe – iron
- Cu – copper
- CuO – copper oxide
- Ce – cerium
- CeO2 – cerium oxide
- (CeO2)·(ZrO2) – cerium zirconium oxide
- Co – cobalt
- Mg – magnesium
- Mn – manganese
- TiO2 – titanium dioxide
- ZnO – zinc oxide
7kW ultrasonic flow system
Nano-scaled, ultrasonically mono-dispersed cerium oxide offers high catalytic activity due to its high surface-to-volume ratio leading to improved fuel efficiency and reduced emissions.
Ultrasonic Nanoemulsions
Ultrasonic emulsification technology is used to produce stable ethanol-in-decane, ethanol-in-diesel, or diesel–biodiesel–ethanol/bioethanol blends. Such blends are an ideal base fuel, which can be in a second step improved by dispersing nano-particles into the fuel.
Ultrasonic nano-emulsification is also successfully used to produce aqua-fuels.
Click here to learn more about ultrasonically prepared aqua-fuels!
Ultrasonic production of emulsion fuels
Industrial Ultrasonic Systems
The generation of stable emulsions and dispersions requires power ultrasound and high amplitudes. Hielscher Ultrasonics’ industrial ultrasonic processors can deliver very high amplitudes, which is important to produce nano-sized emulsions and dispersions. Therefore, our industrial ultrasonicators can be easily run at amplitudes of up to 200µm in 24/7 operation under heavy-duty conditions. For even higher amplitudes, customized ultrasonic sonotrodes are available.
Hielscher offers cost-effective, highly robust ultrasonic processors with a small footprint for the installation in plants with limited space and demanding environments.
The table below gives you an indication of the approximate processing capacity of our ultrasonicators:
| Batch Volume | Flow Rate | Recommended Devices |
|---|---|---|
| 10 to 2000mL | 20 to 400mL/min | UP200Ht, UP400St |
| 0.1 to 20L | 0.2 to 4L/min | UIP2000hdT |
| 10 to 100L | 2 to 10L/min | UIP4000 |
| n.a. | 10 to 100L/min | UIP16000 |
| n.a. | larger | cluster of UIP16000 |
InsertMPC48 – Hielscher’s solution for superior nano-emulsions
Literature / References
- Asako, Yutaka & Mohamed, S.; Muhammad, Nura & Aziz, Arif; Yusof, Siti Nurul Akmal; Che Sidik, Nor Azwadi (2021): A comprehensive review of the influences of nanoparticles as a fuel additive in an internal combustion engine (ICE). Nanotechnology Reviews 9,2021. 1326-1349.
- D’Silva, R.; Vinoothan, K.; Binu, K.G.; Thirumaleshwara, B.; Raju, K. (2016): Effect of Titanium Dioxide and Calcium Carbonate Nanoadditives on the Performance and Emission Characteristics of C.I. Engine. Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Automation 6(5A), 2016. 28-31.
- Ghanbari, M.; Najafi, G.; Ghobadian, B.; Mamat, R.; Noor, M.M.; Moosavian, A. (2015): Adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) to predict CI engine parameters fueled with nano-particles additive to diesel fuel. IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 100, 2015.
- Heydari-Maleney, K.; Taghizadeh-Alisaraei, A.; Ghobadian, B.; Abbaszadeh-Mayvan, A. (2017): Analyzing and evaluation of carbon nanotubes additives to diesohol-B2 fuels on performance and emission of diesel engines. Fuel 196, 2017. 110–123.
- Raj, N.M.; Gajendiran, M.; Pitchandi, K.; Nallusamy, N. (2016): Investigation on aluminium oxide nano particles blended diesel fuel combustion, performance and emission characteristics of a diesel engine. Journal of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Research 8(3), 2016. 246-257.
Facts Worth Knowing
Nano-Fuels
Nano-fuels refer to a mixture of fuel and nano-particles. By the dispersing nano-energetic particles into the fuel, the physical-chemical properties of the fuel are changed by their functionlity, their dispersive structure, and the complex interplay of heat transfer, fluid flow, and particle interactions. Due to the heterogeneous composition, nanofuel characteristics are determined by the type of base fuel as well as the composition, size, shape, concentration, and physical and chemical properties of the nanoparticles. The nanofuel characteristics can differ significantly from the characteristics of the base fuel.
Diesel
Diesel is liquid fuel that is burnt in diesel engines. In diesel engines, the fuel is ignited without any spark, but by compressing the inlet air mixture and then injecting the diesel fuel.
Conventional diesel fuel is a specific fractional distillate of petroleum fuel oil. In a wider sense, the term diesel refers to fuels not derived from petroleum, e.g. biodiesel, biomass-to-iquid (BTL), gas-to-liquid (GTL), or coal-to-liquid (CTL) diesel. BTL, GTL, and CTL, are so-called synthetic diesel fuels, which can be derived from any carbonaceous material (e.g. biomass, biogas, natural gas, coal, etc.). After gasification of the raw material into synthesis gas followed by purification, it is converted via Fischer–Tropsch reaction into synthetic diesel. Ultra-low-sulfur diesel (ULSD) is a standard for diesel fuel that contains a significantly lowered sulfur content.
Biodiesel
Biodiesel is a renewable fuel that is produced from vegetable oils, animal fats, or recycled greases. Biodiesel can be used to run in diesel vehicles and generators. Its physical properties are similar to those of petroleum diesel, although it burns cleaner. Biodiesel reduces the emissions of unburned hydrocarbons (UHC), carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur oxides, and soot particles – when compared to emissions produced by burning conventional diesel. The emission of nitrogen oxides (NOx) can be higher for biodiesel (in comparison to diesel). However, this can be reduced by optimizing the timing of fuel injection.
Biodiesel production is greatly improved by ultrasonic transesterification. Click here to learn more about ultrasonic biodiesel production!
Ethanol
Ethanol fuel is ethyl alcohol (C2H5OH) used as fuel. Ethanol fuels are mostly used as a motor fuels – mainly as a biofuel additive in gasoline. Today, automobils can be run using 100% ethanol fuel or using so called flex-fuels, which are a blend of ethanol and gasoline. It is commonly produced by a fermentation process of biomass e.g. corn or sugarcane. Since ethanol fuel is derived from renewable, sustainable biomass, it is often called bioethanol. Power ultrasound can improve the production of bioethanol substantially. Click here to learn more about ultrasonic bioethanol production!
Ethanol is the oxygenate in E-diesel. The major drawback of E-diesel is the immiscibility of ethanol in diesel over a wide range of temperatures. However, biodiesel can be used successfully as an amphiphile surfactant to stabilize ethanol and diesel. Ethanol−biodiesel−diesel (EB-diesel) fuel can be blended ultrasonically to a micro- or nano-emulsion so that the EB-diesel is stable – even at below sub-zero temperatures and offers superior fuel properties to regular diesel fuel.