Changes in evaporative emissions from gasoline in the Nigeria market

ABSTRACT

The evaporative emissions from multicomponent fuel are expected to change significantly with the progress of evaporation. This study presents the findings of air emission associated with changes (increase) in evaporation process of gasoline. The parameters measured in the experiment included the weight loss, density, viscosity of gasoline, and the evaporation rate. Results showed that the parameters changed significantly as evaporation progressed. The weight loss was from 3.02% to 5.45% after 30 m and presented a logarithmic curve with time. The density measurements of the gasoline samples were 728.5–746.7 kg/m³. The evaporation rate which was 1.22 × 10⁻⁵–2.14 × 10⁻⁵ kg/s showed great increase with decrease in density and kinematic viscosity at ambient temperature with sample C (from Lagos) having the highest evaporation rate. The emission rate was observed to be inversely proportional to the sample density. Most of the changes might be attributed to the air emission of volatile hydrocarbons such as benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, and xylene (BTEX) from gasoline surface to the environment.

KEYWORDS:

• air emission
• density
• evaporation rate
• gasoline
• volatility