Performance and exhaust emission tests of fuels obtained from waste lubrication oil by pyrolitic distillation

In this study, production of engine fuels from waste lubrication oils (WLO) by pyrolitic distillation method and investigation effects of the produced fuels on engine performance and exhaust emission are proposed. The system is mainly consisted of a waste oil storage tank, filter, a reactor, a product storage tank, normal and hot oil pumps, variac, heaters, thermostats and control panel. Firstly, the WLO is purified from contaminants such as dust, heavy carbon soot, metal particles, gum-type materials and other impurities in the WLO. A mixture of the waste purified oil and additives named as sodium carbonate (Na2CO3), zeolite and lime (CaO) with ratio of % 2, % 4, % 6 % 8 and % 10 are treated to thermal degradation, and fuels are produced applying pyrolitic distillation. Characteristics and distillation tests of the fuels are performed using test equipments. The most important result is obtained that the sulfur in the oil decreases at the lowest value when the WLO was blended with a ratio of 2 % CaO. The fuel obtained as 80 percent of the total WLO is separated into two samples, which are light fuel with 20 % and heavy fuel with 60 % of the total WLO. Characteristic and distillation test results of both fuels are compared with those of standard diesel and gasoline fuel, and it is observed that the results resembles to those of standard gasoline and diesel fuels. Therefore, the light and heavy fuels are named as Gasoline-Like Fuels (GLF) and Diesel-Like Fuel (DLF), respectively. After producing the GLF and DLF, series of tests for determining effect of the GLF and the DLF on engine performance and exhaust emission are performed using the gasoline and Diesel test engines. Force, air and fuel mass flowrate to the engine, engine speed, exhaust temperature and emissions of CO, CO2, O2, NOx and HC for each test are measured using the fuels. It is observed that the produced GLF and DLF can be used in gasoline and Diesel engines without any problem in terms of characteristics, distillation and performance tests. It is understood that the GLF and DLF increase torque, brake power, brake mean effective pressure and thermal efficiency but they decrease brake specific fuel consumption. According to the sulfur test results, it is decreased below to 420 ppm using hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and formic acid. Costs of the GLF and DLF are obtained as 0.718 TL/liter and 1.032 TL/liter, respectively.