ASSESSMENT OF THE EMISSIONS FROM COMBUSTION OF DIFFERENT GASOLINE/ETHANOL BLENDS IN A POWER GENERATOR
Matheus Viola1; Ivonete Ávila1; Luiz C. R. Quiroga1; Thais S. Castro1; Teófilo M. Souza1
1 UNESP - FEG
doi:10.20906/CPS/COB-2015-1101
Resumo
In the energy field, one of the great current discussions is the availability of energy resources and energy supply. Therefore, it is highly important to know what type of fuel more suitable to certain desired situation. It is must know the useful power generation capacity that a given fuel has and compare it to others and determine what is the most appropriate fuel, or which has the best cost-benefit ratio. In addition, due to increasing of greenhouse gases (GHG), the need arises to minimize the pollutant emissions from combustion of fossil fuels. The addition of ethanol in the gasoline to the energy generation is one of the alternative to minimize the GHG. Thus, this study aims to assess the emissions from the combustion process in a power generator as a function of the applied load and of the ethanol percentage in the gasoline. It was used gasoline and ethanol commercialized at gas station. The ethanol present in the gasoline was removed to obtain the gasoline-ethanol blends adopted in the tests with a greater precision. The tests were performed in a Buffalo's power generator, which has an electric generator 1,2kW/115V coupled to an internal combustion engine (Otto Cycle). Different equipment were used to measure the values of voltage, current, power and emissions generated on combustion. During the operation of the power generator, two parameters were varied: the ethanol percentage in the gasoline and the applied load. The statistical planning methodology called RSM (Response Surface Methodology) was applied with 3 replicates at the central point, 4 axial points, and 4 plus point configuration were performed randomly. The statistical significance was determined by analysis of variance (ANOVA). From the measurements, the response surfaces were obtained and the behavior of emissions in function of the parameters studied were assessed. The results showed that the behavior of the O2 emissions was opposite to the behavior observed for carbon dioxide. The highest nitrogen oxides emissions occurred for maximum loads
Palavras-chave: power generator; gasoline; ethanol; emissions