Acetone-Butanol-Ethanol (ABE), an intermediate product in the ABE fermentation process for producing bio-butanol, is considered a promising alternative fuel because it not only preserves the advantages of oxygenated fuel which typically emit less pollutants compared to conventional diesel, but also lowers the cost of fuel recovery for each individual component during the fermentation. With the development of advanced ABE fermentation technology, the volumetric percentage of acetone, butanol and ethanol in the bio-solvents can be precisely controlled. In this respect, it is desirable to estimate the performance of different ABE blends to determine the best blend and optimize the production process accordingly.
ABE fuels with different component ratio, (A: B: E: 6:3:1; 3:6:1; 0:10:0, vol. %), were blended with diesel and tested in a constant volume chamber. The combustion features are investigated by analyzing both the apparent heat release and the natural flame imaging at ambient temperatures of 900 K and 1100 K with a fixed 21% oxygen concentration. The premixed combustion for D100 and ABE20(6:3:1) were found to be very similar, and much stronger than that of ABE20(3:6:1) and ABE20(0:10:0). The ignition delay decreased and the combustion duration shortened with the increase of acetone. The natural flame luminosity suggests lower soot temperature and concentration with the ABE mixture. It can be concluded from the results that the addition of acetone and ethanol is very effective in suppressing soot emission since the mixture of ABE presented a stronger soot reduction capability than butanol.