A Batch Blending System for Continuous Production of Multi-Component Fuel Blends for Engine Laboratory Tests
Abstract:
The increased rates of research on complex fuel blends in engine applications
poses a need for more efficient and accurate fuel blending processes in engine
laboratories. Making the fuel blending process automatic, effective, accurate
and flexible saves time, storage space and cost without compromising the tests
of future fuel alternatives. To meet these requirements, an automatic fuel
blending system, following a sequential batch process, was designed and tested
for engine laboratory application.
The fuel blending system was evaluated in terms of functionality, safety,
accuracy and repeatability. The functionality and safety was evaluated through a
risk analysis. Whereas, the accuracy and repeatability of the system was
investigated through blend preparation tests. The results show that the minimum
fuel mass limitation of the system is 0.5 kg. This allows for blends with fuel
ratios as low as 7 vol-% to be prepared by the system. The mean relative errors
for all tested fuels are below 5% by mass, enabling a wide range of fuels to be
used in the system. The absolute error in fuel ratio is 0.5 vol-% or less. In
addition, the relative error in fuel ratio of the prepared blends is below 4%
for all but one of the tested blends. Moreover, the system can prepare all of
the tested fuel blends in 5 minutes.