Abstract:
Depletion of petroleum resources lead to the increasing energy price and the need for renewable energy development. Direct use of vegetable oils in the engine is usually limited because of the high viscosity of the oils. Microemulsion is one of the methods that can be used to reduce the viscosity of vegetable oils. Microemulsion biofuel is the mixture of vegetable oils and ethanol in the present of surfactants and co-surfactants. This research study the effect of the addition of glycol ethers, fuel additives, on the properties of microemulsion based biofuel from palm oil. Vegetable oils blend with diesel at a ratio of 50:50 (v/v), surfactant, cosurfactant mixed with additives and ethanol volume of 60 20 and 20 percent by volume respectively. 5 additives, Ethylene glycol butyl ether, Diethylene glycol ethyl ether, Propylene glycol ethyl ether, Dipropylene glycol methyl ether and Ethyl acetate were used in the study. The results show that the addition of glycol ether can improve the properties of microemulsion based biofuel. These additives at ratio 1:3:5 can improve the properties of the biofuel by decreasing the viscosity, and decreasing pour point and cloud point. Ash content and gross heat of combustion were not met standard. According to the exhaust emissions study, it is found that carbon monoxide emissions and nitrogen oxide emissions released from biofuel derived from additives, Diethylene glycol ethyl ether and Ethyl acetate were met the diesel standard. Therefore, it is possible to produce biofuel with microemulsion containing additives as an alternative energy.