Effect of Iodine Number on NO_x Formation in Laminar Flames of Oxygenated Biofuels

Abstract

The present study employed a recently developed experimental technique to investigate the effect of iodine number on NO_x formation in laminar partially premixed flames of three vaporized biofuels: canola methyl ester, soy methyl ester, and methyl stearate. The iodine numbers for the selected fuels varied over a wide range from 0.5 to 141. Key measurements included NO_x concentration and temperature fields. The peak NO_x concentration occurred in the near-burner region for all biofuels: 1166 ppm for soy, 1067 ppm for canola, and 414 ppm for the methyl stearate. We observed that the peak NO_x concentration significantly increased with the iodine number, indicating a strong correlation between the chemical structure of the fuel and NO_x emission.

Keywords:

• Biofuel
• NO_x
• Flame
• Iodine number

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The financial support provided by the Oklahoma Department of Energy and the U. S. Department of Education through the Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) fellowship to the first author is gratefully acknowledged.