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Performance and environmental impact of a turbojet engine fueled by blends of biodiesels

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Abstract

Depletion of conventional fuels, concerns about environmental pollution and the tightening of exhaust emission legislations are the main reasons for increasing research on alternative fuels produced from agricultural feedstock. In this study, biodiesel fuels produced from cotton and corn vegetable oils are investigated as renewable fuels for a gas turbine engine for aviation. The biodiesel fuels are defined as cotton methyl ester (CTME) and corn methyl ester. The performance characteristics and exhaust emissions of the gas turbine engine are investigated when the engine fueled with three blends of 10%(B10), 20%(B20) and 50%(B50) of biodiesel/JetA-1 by volume. The biodiesel fuels were produced using transesterification process and characterized according to ASTM biodiesel specifications. Chemical and physical properties show a real potential of using biodiesel blends as an alternative for JetA-1. The measured engine performance parameters and exhaust emissions are compared with that of pure JetA-1 over a range of throttle setting. The gas turbine engine used in this study is equipped with pressure, flow, temperature, thrust and speed sensors that connected to data acquisition system and control unit in addition to exhaust gas analyzer. The experimental results show that biodiesel fuels can be used up to blend of 50% with JetA-1 in gas turbine engines with slight enhancement in engine performance and significant improvements in exhaust emissions. The engine static thrust is increased with 2% for B50 at lower and medium engine speeds and decreased with 11% at high engine speed compared to conventional JetA-1 fuel. The thrust-specific fuel consumption for biodiesel blends is lower than that for regular JetA-1 fuel. The gas turbine engine efficiency is increased for biodiesel blends by 14% compared to JetA-1, and this is reported for CTME B50. For oxygen concentration in exhaust gases emissions, the higher the biodiesel blend, the higher the O2 concentration in the exhaust compared with JetA-1 fuel. The O2 level increased by 6% for biodiesel blend of B50 compared to JetA-1 fuel. The emissions of CO and HC emissions decreased by 5 and 37%, respectively, compared with conventional JetA-1. Additionally, the biodiesel blends achieve a higher CO2 and NOx emissions with 11 and 27%, respectively, compared to JetA-1. The sulfur dioxide SO2 decreased by 75% compared to the regular JetA-1 fuel.

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Abbreviations

A/F:

Air-to-fuel ratio

ASTM:

American Standard for Testing and Materials

Bio-SPK:

Bio-Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene

BSFC:

Brake-specific fuel consumption (kW/kg h)

Bxx:

Blend of xx% of biofuel

CO:

Carbon monoxide

CO2 :

Carbon dioxide

CRME:

Corn methyl ester

Cst:

Centi stoke (mm2/s)

CTME:

Cotton methyl ester

CV:

Calorific value (kJ/kg)

DME:

Dimethyl ester

ECU:

Engine control unit

EGT:

Exhaust gas temperature (°C)

H2SO4 :

Sulfuric acid

HC:

Hydrocarbons

\(\dot{m}\) :

Mass flow rate (kg/s)

NDIR:

Nondestructive infrared

NOx :

Nitrogen oxides

P 1 :

Inlet pressure

P 2 :

Compressor exit pressure

P 3 :

Exit pressure from combustor

P 4 :

Turbine exit pressure

P 5 :

Exhaust pressure

P a :

Atmospheric pressure (kPa)

P e :

Exhaust pressure at the nozzle exit (kPa)

PPM:

Particle per million

RPM:

Rad per second, engine rotational speed (rad/s)

SO2 :

Sulfur dioxide

SVO:

Straight vegetable oil

T:

Static thrust (N)

T 1 :

Inlet temperature

T 2 :

Compressor temperature

T 3 :

Combustor temperature

T 4 :

Turbine temperature

T 5 :

Exhaust temperature

TSFC:

Thrust-specific fuel consumption (N/kg h)

u :

Gas velocity

f :

Fuel-to-air ratio

ϕ :

Equivalence ratio

ρ :

Density (kg/m3)

η :

Engine efficiency (%)

act:

Actual

Stoich:

Stoichiometric

e:

Nozzle exit

f:

Fuel

i:

Intake inlet

α:

Air

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Acknowledgments

The author Mohamed Noureldin Ibrahim would like to acknowledge the Mission Department, Ministry of Higher Education of the Government of Egypt for the scholarship to study Ph.D. Degree at the Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology, E-JUST.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Assiut University, Assiut, 71516, Egypt

    A. H. H. Ali

  2. Energy Resources Engineering Department, Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology E-JUST, New Borg El Arab, Alexandria, 21934, Egypt

    M. N. Ibrahim

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  1. A. H. H. Ali
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Correspondence to A. H. H. Ali.

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Editorial responsibility: J Aravind, M.Tech.

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Ali, A.H.H., Ibrahim, M.N. Performance and environmental impact of a turbojet engine fueled by blends of biodiesels. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 14, 1253–1266 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-016-1228-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-016-1228-4

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