Study on Optimum Diesel Combustion of Waste Plastic Oil Blended with Biofuel

Abstract

  Plastic waste is one of the biggest issues for the marine environment as it riddles our oceans and it will take more than 450 years for it to biodegrade even if it ever does so. When considering the protection of the marine environment, another big issue is greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ships, as pointed out by the Initial IMO GHG Strategy for the shipping sector.

  Considering the need to address these issues, we have carried out combustion tests of Waste Plastic Oil (WPO), Biofuel and mixtures of these two fuels, by using a small-bore one-cylinder four stroke diesel engine. WPO has low viscosity and a low flash point, and Biofuel has high viscosity and a high flash point. We have tested several types by combining the two fuels to analyze their combustion performance and identified an optimal mixture of the two fuels for the small-bore diesel engine. The results found that blending Biofuel with WPO led to proper viscosity for diesel combustion, and that mixing up to around 50% of Biofuel produced positive results for the combustion of the diesel engine regarding NOx and smoke emissions, without jeopardizing many other parameters like CO and thermal efficiency. Since the flash point of WPO is lower than 60 °C, it is necessary to pay sufficient attention to the safe handling of mixed oils containing WPO.