Experimental Investigation on a DI Diesel Engine Fuelled with Diesel-Like Fuel Obtained by Waste Lubricant Oil Pyrolysis

In the last decades, waste lubricating oil (WLO) has attracted a great attention due to its strong effect on the environment degradation. Due to the high content of hydrocarbons in the WLO, these huge quantities could be interesting for recovery as a fuel for internal combustion engines. In the present work, an experimental study is conducted on a DI diesel engine operating with a diesel-like fuel (DLF) obtained by converting WLO via a catalytic pyrolysis process. The DLF physicochemical properties have shown a good agreement with those of diesel fuel, except for the viscosity which is slightly higher than that the values recommended by the international standards. For the engine tests, a single cylinder DI diesel engine, operating at a constant speed (1500 rpm) and under various engine load conditions, is fuelled with either DLF or its blends supplemented with various diesel fuel ratios (10, 20 and 30 % by volume). The combustion parameters, engine performance and its exhaust emissions are evaluated. The results show that all tested fuel present a significant improvements in the exhaust emissions accompanied with an equivalent performance to those of diesel fuel.