Preparation And Life Cycle Energy Analysis Of Alternative Fuels Of Palm Oil And Palm Kernel Oil

High fuel prices,fossil fuel resources depletion and air pollution caused by fossil fuels combustion have stimulated scientists and engineers to the production of new,sustainable and cleaner fuels.Bio oils and lower carbon alcohols can be used as alternative energy source.Due to the higher viscosity and density of palm oil and palm kernel oil,which limits its application in diesel engines,the method of blending of these fuels with lower alcohols in this paper improves the characteristics of fuel.In this research,lower carbon-alcohols,namely ethanol and methanol were used to produce a blend with palm-oil and palm-kernel oil.In view of the poor mutual solubility of the mixture,several co-solvents were used to build ternary mixed system,including butanol-isomers(2-butanol,n-butanol and iso-butanol),tetrahydrofuran(THF)and polyoxymethylene dimethyl ether(PODE).In addition,in order to study the effect of temperature on the blend system,different experimental temperatures were selected in this paper,which were 30°C,40°C,50°C and 60°C.The results showed that the solubilization properties of co-solvents were THF > PODE > n-butanol > 2-butanol > iso-butanol.In addition,with the increase of temperature,the solubilization effect also increased,and the solubilization dose needed more butanol isomer > PODE > THF addition.According to the experimental results of fuel blending and life cycle evaluation theory,the whole life cycle process of palm and palm kernel oil blending fuel(PBF)produced from palm oil and palm kernel oil was evaluated and studied.Life cycle factors such as oil palm planting and harvesting,crude oil extraction,refining,transportation and fuel blending were evaluated.The net energy value and net energy ratio of palm oil and palm kernel oil blended fuel were 18.561 MJ /(kg PBF)and3.867 respectively.The main energy consumption comes from the steam part in the extraction stage,accounting for 30.6% of the total energy consumption.Electricity is the second largest contributor to energy consumption,accounting for 26.9 percent.By comparing the energy efficiency of different types of energy,PBF is found to have higher energy efficiency.This is of great significance to alleviate energy crisis and reduce environmental pollution.