Water-in-Diesel Emulsion Fuels: Temperature Stability and Thermoreversibility

The emulsion fuels consist of water drops dispersed in a continuous pool of water. The inclusion of a small quantity of water along with fuel is know to have several advantage in terms of reduced engine emissions, for example, nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter. One of the simple way of introducing water into the fuel is via the formation of water-in-fuel emulsions. Typical concentration of water in such fuels is less than 20% by volume. The objective of this proposal is to investigate water-in-diesel emulsion fuels. In order to load emulsion in fuel tanks and their use in internal combustion (IC) engines, it is necessary to design emulsions that exhibit long term storage an temperature stability. Emulsion fuels at various fuel-water ratio will be formulated by considering surfactants as stabilizers and their nanostructure and stability of the resulting emulsion fuels.

本乳化燃料由分散于连续燃油相中的水滴构成。研究表明，在燃油中掺入少量水分，可在降低发动机排放方面具备多重优势，例如减少氮氧化物（nitrogen oxides, NOx）与颗粒物排放。向燃油中引入水分的简便方法之一，便是制备燃油包水型乳化液（water-in-fuel emulsions）。此类乳化燃料的典型水含量（按体积计）低于20%。本研究方案的目标为探究柴油包水型乳化燃料（water-in-diesel emulsion fuels）。为实现乳化燃料加注至燃油箱并在内燃机（internal combustion, IC engines）中使用的目标，需研发具备长期储存稳定性与温度稳定性的乳化燃料。本研究将以表面活性剂（surfactants）作为稳定剂，通过调控不同燃油-水配比制备系列乳化燃料，并对所得乳化燃料的纳米结构与稳定性展开分析。