Emulsification and Performance Measurement of Bio-oil with Diesel

To overcome the drawbacks of pyrolytic bio-oil, such as high acidity, viscidity, corrosivity, oxygen content and low heating value, a novel method of emulsifying bio-oil with diesel was investigated in this study. The effects of various factors on the stability of emulsified oil were examined. The optimal emulsification conditions of diesel and bio-oil are by using an emulsifier (mixture of Span 80 and Tween 80) dosage of 6% by mass and co-emulsifier (2-octanol) dosage of 4% by the mass of emulsifier, hydrophile lipophilic balance value of 7, shear velocity of 15,000 rpm, emulsifying time of 5 min, and emulsifying temperature at 40 degrees C. The stability time of emulsified oil is up to 384 h under the above optimal conditions. Some fuel properties were also measured to characterize the emulsified oil. The results show that the density, viscosity, corrosivity and heating value of emulsified oil at the optimal conditions are close to those of diesel oil. In addition, the mechanism model for the emulsion of bio-oil and diesel was also proposed.