An experimental comparison between two methods for biofuels emulsification
Résumé
The scope of this investigation is to formulate and characterize emulsified fuels using a micro-channel emulsifier and compare this against emulsions produced using a magnetic stirrer. The emulsified fuels are formulated using a blend of rapeseed oil in diesel fuel as continuous phase and water as dispersed phase, as well as Sorbitan Sesquioleate as surfactant. Several stable dispersed systems classified as emulsions based on their optical appearanceand dispersed droplet size are obtained. A better stability time and smaller mean droplet size for the emulsions formulated with micro-channel emulsifier is observed, compared to the same systems obtained through magnetic stirrer. The dynamic viscosity measured as a function of shear rate indicated non-Newtonian behavior with a shear-thinning response for all emulsions. An increase of water percentage led to emulsified fuels with higher viscosity levels,highlighting a strong dependency of the dispersed phase content on dispersed system viscosity.