Page 209 - Biofuels Refining and Performance

192 Chapter Seven

100

Desired
demand
80 Gap

60
Potential
supply

40

20

Figure 7.1 Difference in demand
and supply of petroleum products.
0
1970 1985 2000 2015

Oxides of nitrogen and unburned hydrocarbons from exhausts cause
environmental fouling by forming photochemical smog. Their interac-
tion involves the formation of certain formaldehydes, peroxides, and
peroxyacylnitrate, which cause eye and skin irritation, plant damage,
and reduced visibility. Present day leaded gasoline contains lead com-
pounds. Lead coming out with the exhaust finds its way into the human
body, and causes brain damage in infants and children.
Vehicular exhaust fouling of the environment has already become a
serious problem in Western countries and is a growing menace in devel-
oping countries like India [1]. They exhaust huge quantities of harmful
pollutants in urban areas. Everyday, vehicles running in Delhi dis-
charge about 240 tons of CO, 30 tons of HC, 20 tons of NO , and 2 tons
x
of SO . The disastrous effect of these pollutants on human health, animal
2
and plant life, and property are well known.
In view of these problems, attempts must be made to develop tech-
nology to produce alternative, clean-burning synthetic fuels. These fuels
should be renewable, should perform well in the engine, and their poten-
tial for environmental pollution should be quite low.
Various fuels have been considered as substitutes for petroleum fuels
used in automobiles. The most prominent of these include ethanol,
methanol, NH , H , and natural gases [2]. The suitability of each of these
3
2
fuels for internal combustion (IC) engines used in automobiles has been
under investigation throughout the world. Afew of them are already in use
in different countries. This chapter introduces different types of uncon-
ventional fuel such as ethanol and methanol, their burning properties
when used in IC engines, their performance characteristics compared