DefinePK

Abstract

The spray characteristics of an emulsified biofuel are assessed by its droplet size and velocity distribution within the spray, spray pattern, spray propagation, entrained air characteristic and spray volume distribution pattern. The spray characteristics of emulsified biofuel can be optimized by characterizing fuel type, formulation of fuel with water and surfactant, nozzle geometry, kinematic viscosity, density of fuels, pressure of liquid injected fluid and so forth. Formulation of fuel refers to an emulsification process where a mixture of two or more liquids which are normally immiscible is performed. The surfactant agent is introduced to stabilize the emulsion of water and oil. The surfactant is a chemical additive that works as a surface active agent to attract and to form the immiscible liquid into stable solution. The selection of a surfactant agent with particular HLB rating is a vital stage to ensure a correct form of emulsion has been developed as to whether the mixture is oil in water (O/W) or water in oil (W/O) basis. In this study, it is proven that the variation of surfactant agent formulation in emulsified biofuel has significantly influenced its spray characteristics to be comparable to the baseline diesel.