MIXTURES OF DIETHYL ETHER AND LINSEED OIL AS AN ALTERNATIVE FUEL FOR DIESEL ENGINES

Abstract

The physical and chemical properties of diethyl ether and linseed oil (DEE/LO) fuel mixtures were em-pirically tested in this article for the first time. In particular, kinematic viscosity, density, lower heating value, cold filter plugging point, and surface tension were examined. Prediction models for the mentioned empirical data were also proposed. For this research diethyl ether (DEE) was blended with linseed oil (LO) in volumetric ratios of 10, 20 and 30%. The results obtained were compared with the literature on diethyl ether rapeseed oil (DEE/RO) fuel. These tests were focused on the fundamental engine work parameters such as overall efficiency, and ignition delay. Therefore, the combustion process is more efficient with adequate lower exhaust gases. According to different applications, vegetable oils can be successfully used in engines based on classic fuels and modified engines. More and more attention is turned on inedible vegetable oils affected by the depletion of resources and the necessity for edible oils as food. Linseed is practically used for industrial purposes instead of the most popular rapeseed oil, but based on its technical characteristics it can be used also as a fuel under certain conditions. Results of this study showed that the viscosity of LO is significantly lower in comparison with RO allowing to reduced amount of DEE added to plant oil. For example, LO containing 30% DEE has the same viscosity as RO containing 40% DEE. It should be pointed out that both these mixtures allow to increase a viscosity value in comparison to DF. The results confirmed that the kinematic viscosity of tested mixtures is expressed by exponential regression based on the Frenkel-Andrade equation.