Downstream: Refining, processing and derived products
Use Cases
What are the properties of diesel-biodiesel-ethanol blends?
​
​
Reference: Pradelle, F., Braga, S. L., de Aguiar Martins, A. R. F., Turkovics, F., & Pradelle, R. N. C. (2019). Experimental assessment of some key physicochemical properties of diesel-biodiesel-ethanol (DBE) blends for use in compression ignition engines. Fuel, 248, 241-253.
​
Biofuels constitute a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. By partially replacing fossil fuels in a blend, they limit pollution and reduce the dependency to fossil fuel resources. In this paper, the authors focus on two mature liquid biofuels: biodiesel and ethanol and characterize the physicochemical properties of diesel-biodiesel-ethanol blends (DBE). In particular, wetting properties of DBE blends have been characterized through contact angle measurements thanks to an automatic drop tensiometer (TRACKER™). The results show that when ethanol content increased in regular blends, the fuel was more wettable in the glass substrate and the contact angle decreased. However, for ethanol content higher than 10 vol%, evaporation was almost immediate and irregular films remained on the substrate (probably diesel fuel and biodiesel). In presence of additive, the contact angle decreased up to 10.0% vol of anhydrous ethanol and, for higher ethanol content, increased to a value higher than the initial values.
​
TECLIS product: TRACKER™ automatic drop tensiometer
​
Key words: fuel, diesel, biodiesel, ethanol, contact angle, additives.
How effective is solvent/surfactant washing technique for the remediation of crude-oil contaminated soils?
​
​
Reference: Wang, M., Zhang, B., Li, G., Wu, T., & Sun, D. (2019). Efficient remediation of crude oil-contaminated soil using a solvent/surfactant system. RSC advances, 9(5), 2402-2411.
​
​
In this paper, solvent/surfactant washing technique is characterized in terms of its ability to decontaminate oil-contaminated soils. Three kinds of solvent/surfactant systems are studied: methanol, acetone and toluene mixed with the surfactant AES-D-OA. The ability of solvent/surfactant systems to remove crude oil from soils was determined by different techniques including contact angle measurements using an automatic drop tensiometer (TRACKER™). The results showed that toluene/AES-D-OA is the most efficient system and that more than 97% of crude oil could be removed at a high toluene ratio.
​
​
​
TECLIS product: TRACKER™ automatic drop tensiometer
​
​
​
Key words: Crude-oil, contaminated soil, contact angle, solvent/surfactant washing.