Selection of optimum fish oil fuel blend to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions in an IC engine—A hybrid multiple criteria decision aid approach

The increasing demand on energy due to population growth and rising of living standards has led to considerable use of fossil fuels which has in turn, had an adverse impact on environmental pollution and depletion of fossil fuels in Internal Combustion (IC) engine sector. Alternative fuel blend evaluation in IC engine fuel technologies is a very important strategic decision involving decisions balancing within a number of criteria and opinions from different decision maker of IC engine experts. The selection of appropriate source of biodiesel and proper blending of biodiesel plays a major role in alternate energy production. This paper describes an application of hybrid Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) technique for the selection of optimum biodiesel blend in the IC engine. The proposed model, Analytical Network Process (ANP) is integrated with Technique for Order Performance by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) to evaluate the optimum blend. Here the ANP is used to determine the relative weights of the criteria, whereas TOPSIS is used for obtaining the final ranking of alternative blends. An efficient pair-wise comparison process and ranking of alternatives can be achieved for optimum blend selection through the integration of ANP and TOPSIS. The obtained preference order for the blends are as B20 > B40 > Diesel > B60 > B80 > B100. This paper highlights a new insight into MCDM techniques to evaluate the best fuel blend for the decision makers such as engine manufactures and R&D engineers to meet the fuel economy and emission norms to empower the green revolution.     

Transesterification of hazelnut oil by ultrasonic irradiation

Ultrasonic irradiation is considered an effective way to increase mass transfer between immiscible liquid–liquid phases in a heterogeneous system leading to faster transesterification and higher yield and saving excess methanol and catalyst. In this study, the transesteri?cation of hazelnut oil with methanol and ethanol was performed in the presence of potassium hydroxide or sodium methoxide as a catalyst using two types of ultrasonic irradiation with a probe (20 kHz, 200 W) and a bath (35 kHz, 400 W); a conventional production method was also used. The reaction time, alcohol:oil molar ratio, catalyst type (KOH or NaOCH₃), and catalyst amount (wt.% of oil) were studied as experimental parameters. The highest methyl ester conversion was obtained as 98.12% by using ultrasonic probe at a 5:1 methanol:oil molar ratio with KOH 1 wt.% of oil as catalyst in 20-min reaction time at autogenous temperature. The application of ultrasonic irradiation by using a probe decreased the level of energy consumption, showing that this method may be a promising alternative compared with the conventional production method.     

Biodiesel production from a free fatty acid containing Karanja oil by a single-step heterogeneously catalyzed process

Karanja oil, containing 6.2% free fatty acids (FFAs), was considered for biodiesel production using a single-step solid-phase acid catalyzed process. Different types of zeolites and Amberlyst15 catalysts were tested and biodiesel was produced. Under similar conditions, the highest biodiesel yield was achieved using an Amberlyst15 catalyst, which contained 3–5% of moisture. The effects of operating parameters of the reaction such as reaction temperature, catalyst amount, and methanol-to-oil ratio were studied. An increase of methanol:oil ratio revealed a non-monotonic increase in biodiesel yields. Similar non-monotonic behavior was observed when Jatropha oil was used. Leaching and catalyst reusability were also considered. No significant effects of leaching were observed and catalyst reusability appeared to be affected by methanol interactions. The presence of a co-solvent, Tetrahydrofuran (THF), increased the biodiesel yield. Furthermore, an optimum amount of THF (THF:methanol volume ratio of 1:2) gave rise to the highest biodiesel yield. A biodiesel yield of 93% was achieved at 120 °C using a single-step process with Amberlyst15 as a catalyst, THF as a co-solvent, and a methanol:oil ratio of 30:1.     

Oil-Induced environmental Kuznets curve in organization of petroleum exporting countries (OPEC)

This study investigates the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis in 10 of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). To realize the study’s aims a time series model is built based on the period 1977–2008, utilizing the ecological footprint as an environmental indicator and income, labour, capital, oil consumption and oil price as economic indicators. Employing the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach, by comparing the short and long-run income elasticities, the EKC hypothesis is present in six OPEC countries namely Algeria, Iraq, Venezuela, Nigeria, Qatar and Kuwait. Moreover, the Toda–Yamamoto–Dolado–Lütkepohl (TYDL) causality tests outcome show that, after oil consumption, the most significant factors in increasing ecological footprint are labor and capital. This implies the relocation of pollution intensive industries to almost all of the OPEC countries. However, oil prices reduce environmental damage by its negative effect on the ecological footprint. From the outcome of this study it is important for the investigated countries to reduce their consumption of fossil fuel energy since it represents an important source of pollution. This can be achieved by allocating more labor and capital in projects and investments on renewable energy, energy efficiency and energy saving.     

Experimental investigation on engine performances,combustion characteristics and emission of exhaust gases of VCR engine fuelled with cottonseed oil methyl ester blended with diesel

This research work investigates the engine performances, combustion characteristics, and emission of exhaust gases of variable compression ratio engine fuelled with cottonseed oil methyl ester (COME) and diesel at different blends. The analysis showed that heat release rate and cylinder pressure is higher for diesel than COME blends. Higher BTE is obtained at the maximum load condition. The higher BTE and lower SFC are obtained for blend B15 as 42.17% and 0.2 kg/kW-hr at brake mean effective pressure (BMEP) of 4.64 bar. Also it is found that the peak cylinder gas pressure and combustion duration increases when the BMEP increases. At the BMEP of 3.51 bar, higher HRR is observed as 18.12 J/deg. Increase in HRR is obtained as 6.07% for B30 at BMEP of 4.64 bar when compared to diesel. Ignition delay decreased by 13.16% for B100, by the increment of blend proportions when compared to diesel, at BMEP of 4.64 bar. Lower smoke, HC and CO emissions are observed when increasing the blend proportions, whereas the nitric oxide emissions increases due to the better combustion resulted in higher temperatures. At BMEP of 4.64 bar, the CO emissions are reduced to 25.24% for neat biodiesel when compared with the diesel.     

电解液对直流电场处理石油污染土壤的影响

直流电场处理石油污染土壤技术是一种发展中的土壤修复技术,有诸多优点。在该修复过程中,电解液的成分、电解液p H值控制对通过土壤的电流、土壤含水率、土壤含油率产生了影响。直流电场处理中通过土壤的电流与电解液成分、电解液p H值、土壤电导率和土壤湿度等因素密切相关。采用直流电场处理石油污染土壤效果明显,最低石油去除率达到73.6%。当电解液为0.1 mol/L的Na2CO3时,通过调节p H值,可使通过土壤的电流达到1.6 A、土壤电导率达到0.9S/m。处理后阴极、阳极和中间3个位置的土壤含油率分别从0.4672%降到0.0696%、0.0684%、0.0625%,石油去除率达到了85.1%。     

旋流萃取分离技术处理石化电脱盐废水

采用旋流萃取分离技术处理某炼油厂常减压装置电脱盐废水(初始废水含油量约为5 000 mg/L),优化了废水除油的工艺条件。试验结果表明,废水除油的最佳工艺条件为:旋流萃取分离机中心转子的转速960 r/min、废水流量2 000 L/h、废水温度80℃。废水经旋流萃取分离后,废水的含油量小于200 mg/L,废水除油效果较好;分离后油相的含水量约为0.1%(w),盐质量浓度小于20 mg/L,可回注到常减压装置原料罐循环利用。对于2 Mt/a的常减压装置,采用旋流萃取分离技术后,每年可减少支出100.4万元。     

The Tasman Spirit oil spill: implications for regulatory change in Pakistan

An oil spill in July 2003 from the tanker Tasman Spirit attracted considerable public and media attention in Pakistan. This paper focuses on the experience of a developing country such as Pakistan in dealing with a major oil spill and its impact on bringing about change in the national regulatory framework. A major outcome has been the ratification of the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage 1992, which came into force in March 2006 in Pakistan. The convention provides a compensation mechanism for victims incurring oil pollution damages from maritime casualties involving oil laden ships. Several additional changes are still required to improve the country's ability to cope with marine oil spills. These include the development of a comprehensive domestic regulatory framework, implementation of an effective contingency plan, and capacity building of all relevant agencies.     

Life Cycle Assessment of Ultra-clean Micronized Coal Oil Water Slurry

Life cycle assessment is applied to assess the ultraclean micronized coal oil water slurry （UCMCOWS） with SimaPro and the environmental impact of UCMCOWS on its whole life cycle is also analyzed. The result shows that the consumption of energy and products are increasing along with the deepening of UCMCOWS processing, UCMCOWS making and combustion are the two periods which have a bigger impact on eco-system and human health. As a new substitute of fuel, UCMCOWS merits to be utilized more efficiently and reasonably.     

三元复合驱采出水乳化稳定性及破乳的研究

由于三元复合驱原油中新型驱油用化学品的应用以及原油劣质化使得采出水乳化严重.而且三元复合驱采出水经油水分离后含油量升高.基于此.通过对不同类型的破乳剂的分析及其工艺条件的考察,探讨了影响三元复合驱采出水破乳的因素,其中破乳剂FB94具有较好的破乳效果.采用模拟三元复合驱采出水(碱为1 200 mg/L、聚合物为200 mg/L、表面活性剂为400mg/L),投加破乳剂FB94为160 mg/L,控制沉降时问为120 min、温度为45℃,当初始含油量为5 000 mg/L时.破乳后水中含油量降至195 mg/L,脱油率为96.1%,当初始含油量为1 500 mg/L时,破乳后水中含油量降至87 mg/L.脱油率为94.2%.