Experimental study of the physicochemical properties of new biofuels

Abstract

In this work, some physical properties of several biofuels, which are used in compression ignition engines, of which no reference publications have been found, are experimentally obtained. These properties are essential when simulating engine processes such as injection and fuel spray. The measured properties are density and surface tension. Density is measured by the use of a pycnometer and surface tension by means of commercial equipment (Krüss-EasyDyne). Diesel fuel, biodiesel, as well as biodiesel-ethanol blends are tested. Density and surface tension are quantified, verifying that the density is proportional to the concentration of each fuel in the blend. Nevertheless, this is not the case of the surface tension, which fits a second-order polynomial.