Evaluating the properties of a novel diesel-like fuel produced by biochar-assisted catalytic cracking of waste motor oil

Abstract

In light of the need for sustainable and eco-friendly alternatives to conventional fuels, waste-based diesel-like fuels have emerged as a promising solution. This study explores the chemical, physical, and rheological properties of a diesel-like fuel (DLF) produced via chemical recycling of waste motor oil (WMO) using an alkali-treated rice husk biochar as a catalyst. DLF from biochar-assisted cracking (DLFB) resembles commercial diesel hydrocarbon distribution better than DLF from thermal cracking, which shows to many molecules in the gasoline range. DLFB meets the minimum requirements for commercial diesel as per ASTM standards. The study also presents the rheological properties of the DLFB and its blends with commercial diesel, assessing their flow behavior under various operating conditions. The results indicate that all samples exhibit Newtonian behavior. The shear stress rises with the shear rate in a linear manner. Moreover, rheograms indicate that viscosity gradually decreasing with temperature. The obtained DLFB resembles commercial diesel in chemical composition when analyzed via through FTIR and GC-MS analysis, though with a small presence of low-molecular-weight hydrocarbons. In summary, these results demonstrate the potential of this novel DLFB as a sustainable fuel, given its favorable properties and the circular approach applied to the valorization of WMO.

Highlights

• Biomass-based catalytic recycling of waste motor oil to obtain diesel-like fuels (DLFs).

• DLFB meet commercial diesel standards and exhibit favorable rheological properties.

• DLFB potential as sustainable fuel with a similar composition to commercial diesel.

Keywords:

• Diesel-like fuel
• chemical recycling
• waste motor oil
• biochar
• sustainable fuel

Author contribution

Evelyn Juiña: Investigation, Writing - original draft, Formal analysis.

Sebastian Taco-Vasquez: Investigation, Formal analysis.

Karla Vizuete: Visualization, Writing - review & editing, Validation.

Alexis Debut: Visualization, Writing - review & editing, Validation.

Herman A. Murillo: Data curation, Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Writing - original draft.

Sebastian Ponce: Data curation, Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Writing - original draft.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study.

Additional information

Funding

This research has been supported by the Poligrant 2022–2023 and Collaboration Grant 2022–2023 programs provided by Universidad San Francisco de Quito.