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Biofuels are receiving increased scientific attention, and recently different biofuels have been proposed for spark ignition engines. Different biofuels, mainly ethanol, methanol, i-butanol-n-butanol, and acetone, are blended together in single dual issues and evaluated as renewables for SIE. Each blend showed some advantaged and drawbacks in terms of emissions and performance.
The world is on the edge of an energy crisis, due to limited energy sources along with ever-increasing energy demand [1]. Statistics show that energy needs will increase by about 50% in 2025. Currently, the available sources of energy mainly depend on fossil fuel, which is limited with a non-renewable capability. The main sources of energy are oil (32%), coal (27%), and natural gas (22%) [2]. The problems of environmental pollution and global warming, related to fossil fuels, as well as the oscillation of oil prices can significantly support searching for alternative fuels for the future. Among the most promising alternatives, biofuels are recommended [3]. Biofuels are fuels produced from bio-origin sources, such as biomass.
Biofuels were used in the early decades of the last century but due to the low price of fossil fuels, biofuels were limited in entering into commercial play. Historically, at the beginning of the Second World War, biofuels, especially alcohols, were reused as fuel sources. Later on, in the beginning of the seventies of the last century, an oil crisis was revealed where the gulf countries refrained from exporting oil [2]. This led to a steep rise in the crude oil price, whereby the price of a barrel increased from USD 3 to USD 45. This, in turn, led to the world being directed towards biofuels again [4]. Currently, several countries are using biofuels; in particular, the largest biofuel-producing countries are the United States of America, Brazil, China, and India, respectively, due to their benefits, as discussed later [5].
Despite the benefits of biofuels as a renewable source of energy, especially the reductions in greenhouse gases emissions and global warming, in comparison with fossil fuels, biofuels represent less than 1% of the global market for automobile fuels, and such biofuels depend strongly on governmental support [6][7]. Many countries have started to take serious steps toward producing and using biofuels as a main source of energy in their different energy applications, in order to meet the jump in their energy needs and reduce their imported energy dependency. In particular, Brazil is one of the leading countries in the production of biofuels, where 30% of the biofuels are used in its transport trucks [8]. The United States, for example, plans to replace 30% of liquid oil with biofuels in 2025 [6]. India increased biofuel rates from 5% to 20% [9]. India plans to reduce its dependency on oil by 10% in 2022 [10]. The European Union (EU) countries increased their dependency on biofuels [11]. Biofuel production doubled from 2003 to 2017 in some EU countries. The biggest producers of ethanol in the EU are Germany, France, and Poland. The greatest biofuel consumers in the EU are considered in Latvia (31.2%), Finland (26.7%) and Sweden (24.8%) [12]. China aims to increase its biofuel production capacity from 76 Mt in 2015 to 152 Mt in 2030 [13].
Biofuels are currently among the most important sources of renewable fuels, unlike other natural sources such as petroleum, coal, and other fossil fuels. Biofuels could be derived from plants and animal wastes (mostly horse and cow manures). The agricultural residues are also used for biofuels production. In detail, there are several sources of biofuels from agricultural residues, such as coconut and palm oils [14][15]. There are also available sources such as sunflower seeds, soybeans, peanuts, cones, wheat, sugar beet and maize [16][17]. In general, biofuels can be produced from dedicated crops, also called energy crops, or from wastes produced by agro-industry and agriculture, or from food waste or food by-product wastes. Biofuels are generated by a series of biological processes, such as hydrolysis, fermentation, and microbiological enzymes, which convert sugar molecules into fuels. Using such methods, hydrocarbons are extracted from the biomass sources; as such, biofuels are classified as natural organic compounds.
In comparison with fossil fuels, biofuels offer several benefits, as discussed next. Biofuel is a renewable source of energy; it turns the agriculture residues into energy; it makes an efficient use of residues with additional income instead of useless disposal; it helps towards a cleaner environment by turning residues into fuel instead of farmers burning them; and finally, it is an available source of energy in all countries, thus meeting strategy needs [18].
One of the main benefits of biofuels as promising future fuels includes their being carbon-free. Carbon dioxide, which is emitted from biofuels in combustion conditions, is extracted from the atmosphere while plants grow. This means that there is no emission of carbon dioxide in biofuel combustion. Biofuels also include oxygen in their structure, which makes fuel burn more completely, e.g., reduces the fuel pollutant emissions produced from volatile organic compounds [19][20]. Biofuels also have a high octane number, which eliminates the need to add lead to increase the octane number of regular fuels, as in the fossil fuel condition [21]. In addition, biofuels are degraded biologically, and are mostly non-toxic fuels [22].
Despite the several benefits of biofuels, as discussed above, there are some drawbacks. One of problems of biofuels is their production from food agriculture sources, such as maize and wheat; this, in turn, leads to an increase in food prices, and that can directly affect the lives of poor people [23][24]. Recently, this problem has been partially solved by imposing domestic legislation to prevent the production of biofuels from food sources, using agricultural and animal residues instead [25][26]. One further problem is the increased costs of biofuel production; however, this problem gets better with time, and in the near future the price would be competitive with other fuels.
Biofuels are reviewed in the literature, and some studies have focused on biofuel types [27]. McDowall et al. [28] reviewed the future of biofuels. Global production methods of biofuels in recent utilizations were reviewed by Refs. [29][30][31]. Recent technologies for biofuel productions from different residues were reviewed by Ref. [32]. Biofuel production systems from the modeling point of view were reviewed by Ref. [33]. The future of biofuel as renewable energy sources is reviewed by Refs. [34][35][36]. In spite of all such review studies, there is still a gap in the reviewing of biofuels [37]. There are few studies focusing on the review of biofuels for Spark ignition engines (SIE) [13].
Spark ignition engines (SIE) generally work based on the principle of receiving a mixture of air and gasoline fuel, compressing it, and igniting it using a spark-plug to produce a high temperature/pressure in the cylinder(s). At the time of the invention of the SIE (at the beginning of the last century), biofuels (from feed energy corps and food) were used as an energy source in the engine [38]. The first use of biofuels (ethanol) was in the 1800s. Later on, in 1826, the scientist Sawmill Morey worked to improve the engine’s performance using biofuels/bioethanol [38]. In 1860, the German engineer Nicholas Otto used biofuels (alcohols) in one of his engines [38]. In 1908, Henry Ford designed an engine using biofuels (ethyl alcohol) as an energy source [38]. In 1917, the famous scientist Alexander Graham Bell presented a paper in National Geographic about biofuels (ethanol) [38]. However, due to the low cost of fossil fuels, the using of biofuels was limited. Currently, researchers are directed toward biofuel blend technique. The first time gasoline was mixed with biofuels was in 1930 [38]. Biofuels were in development for the first time as fuels for transportation via a fermentation process of sugars into ethanol [39]. Several countries marketed biofuel blends for use in the SIE, such as Germany, Brazil, the Netherlands, France, United States of America and many other countries [40][41][42].
Biofuels are generally classified into four generations, according to early studies [43][44][45][46][47][48][49]. In the first generation, the biofuels were generated from food energy corps. This led to increased food prices due to food shortages [50] and, accordingly, the world moved into the next generation. In the second generation, the biofuels were from non-food corps, such as wheat, straw, and corn husk. The technology of biofuel production is scarce and complex, which makes biofuel production expensive and, in turn, the third generation was introduced. In the third generation, the biofuels were manufactured from microbial algae and cyanobacteria. In the fourth generation, the biofuels are generated from genetic microorganisms using thermochemical processing of CO2. However, the fourth generation is still under development. In the following is a detailed discussion of using different biofuel blends in spark ignition engines.
The investigation on ethanol and methanol fuels showed many advantages in terms of engine efficiency, released emissions and high thermal proportion, which led to development of widespread use of such fuel [51][52]. Up to 10 percent n-butanol and iso-butanol in gasoline was investigated by Elfasakhany [53][54]; emissions and mixed fuel efficiency are improved for mixed fuels compared to clean gasoline. Elfasakhany [55] examined SIE pollutant emissions and engine efficiency. Compared to clean gasoline, the findings showed better engine efficiency and lower pollutant emissions for fuel blends. In literature, Elfasakhany [56][57][58][59][60][61][62], examined performance and pollutant emissions of SIE using ethanol, methanol, n-butanol, i-butanol, and acetone, at same blend rates (3, 7, and 10 vol.%) and engine working conditions. The comparison focused on the engine emissions via CO2, CO, and UHC and performance via volumetric efficiency, brake power, and torque in a wide range of engine speeds from 2600 to 3400 r/min. Additionally, Elfasakhany [63][64] compared between different blends under same conditions. Results recommended some blends (especially ternary ones) than the dual types.
Biofuels show many benefits, such as decreasing greenhouse gases (GHG) and global warming, and shortening the dependency on fossil fuels. In the literature, some studies have discussed the advantages of specific biofuels in terms of combustion and emissions. In particular, Ryojiro Minato [65] discussed the advantages of bio-ethanol; Liu et al. [66] discussed the advantages of bio-methanol; Veza et al. [67] discussed the advantages of butanol. In other studies, researchers discussed the disadvantages of biofuels [68]. One study summarized the advantages and disadvantages of different biofuel types. The benefits and weaknesses of using biofuels in SIE either in single or dual blended conditions with gasoline are summarized by Elfasakhany [69]. The study concluded that the biofuels can offer promising well-to-wheel CO2 balance in our environment, and increase engine efficiency and output power. Biofuels’ oxygen content also offers benefits for the fuel combustion. Nevertheless, biofuels showed some weaknesses, such as minor carbon and hydrogen contents and heating values, and some corrosiveness of engine systems for some biofuel type(s). Boiling temperature, absorption with water, vapor toxicity and autoignition of biofuels showed benefits for some types and weaknesses for others; a summary of the benefits and weaknesses of using biofuels in cars is given in Table 1.
Table 1. Benefits and weaknesses of using biofuels compared to gasoline in SI engines.
Properties |
Bio-Ethanol |
Bio-Methanol |
I-Butanol |
N-Butanol |
Acetone |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Performance |
Ben. |
Ben. |
Ben. |
Ben. |
Ben. |
Emissions |
Ben. |
Ben. |
Ben. |
Ben. |
Ben. |
Oxygen content |
Ben. |
Ben. |
Ben. |
Ben. |
Ben. |
Hydrogen content |
Wek. |
Wek. |
Wek. |
Wek. |
Wek. |
Carbon content |
Wek. |
Wek. |
Wek. |
Wek. |
Wek. |
Absorption with water |
Wek. |
Wek. |
Ben. |
Ben. |
Ben. |
Boiling Temp. |
Wek. |
Wek. |
Ben. |
Ben. |
Wek. |
Vapor toxicity |
Ben. |
Ben. |
Wek. |
Wek. |
Ben. |
Heating value |
Wek. |
Wek. |
Wek. |
Wek. |
Wek. |
Autoignition |
Ben. |
Ben. |
Wek. |
Wek. |
Ben. |
Corrosion |
Wek. |
Wek. |
Ben. |
Ben. |
Wek. |
Ben: benefits, Wek: weaknesses.
Different biofuels are compared with each other and with the commercial gasoline under same rates and conditions. Ethanol and methanol showed many benefits and some drawbacks as alternative fuels for spark ignition engines, in comparison with gasoline. They have the capability to improve engine performance and pollutant emissions; however, they showed some problems in terms of engine starting condition in cold environment as well as a vapor lock in hot climate condition. They showed also incompatibility with some engine material and their miscible with water is another disadvantage.