P. Mohammadi, A.m. Nikbakht, M. Tabatabaei, Kh. Farhadi,
Volume 2, Issue 3 (7-2012)
Abstract
Global air pollution is a serious threat caused by excessive use of fossil fuels for transportation. Despite the
fact that diesel fuel is a big environmental pollutant as it contains different hydrocarbons, sulphur and crude
oil residues, it is yet regarded as a highly critical fuel due to its wide applications. Nowadays, biodiesel as a
renewable additive is blended with diesel fuel to achieve numerous advantages such as lowering CO2, and
CO emissions as well as higher lubricity. However, a few key drawbacks including higher production cost,
deteriorated performance and likelihood to increase nitrogen oxide emissions have also been attributed to
the application of diesel-biodiesel blends. Expanded polystyrene (EPS), known as a polymer for packaging
and insulation, is an ideal material for energy recovery as it holds high energy value (1 kg of EPS is
equivalent to 1.3 liters of liquid fuel). In this study, biodiesel was applied as a solvent of expanded
polystyrene (EPS) during a special chemical and physical treatment. Various percentages of EPS in
biodiesel blended diesel were tested to evaluate the fuel properties, emissions and performance of CI
engine. The results of the variance analysis revealed that the addition of the additive improved diesel fuel
properties by increasing the flash point as well as the reduction of density and viscosity. Despite a 3.6%
reduction in brake power, a significant decrease in brake specific fuel consumption (7.26%) and an increase
in brake thermal efficiency (7.83%) were observed at the full load and maximum speed of the engine.
Additionally, considerable reductions of CO, CO2, NOx and smoke were achieved.
