Effect of dimethyl carbonate addition on ethanol-gasoline fuel blend.

The growing need for renewable and environmentally friendly sources of energy has motivated a lot of researchers to direct their efforts to meet these challenges. The use of renewable additives to gasoline, such as ethanol and methanol, has been a successful solution. However, blending ethanol into gasoline has some drawbacks, including increased gasoline volatility and significant changes in the distillation curve. This study investigated the effects of blending the eco-friendly dimethyl carbonate (DMC) with various concentrations into ethanol-gasoline fuel blend (E10) on some volatility parameters and octane number, which have not been previously reported in the literature. The fuel samples were formulated by mixing E10 with (0.0%, 2.0%, 4.0%, 6.0%, 8.0%, and 10.0%) of dimethyl carbonate. The main properties of the fuel samples were measured such as distillation curve, and octane number. The distillation process was carried out in accordance with ASTM-D86 while vapor pressure was measured in accordance with ASTM-D5191. The obtained results revealed interesting outcomes that may spark the interest of refineries in this promising fuel additive. Addition of DMC to gasoline-ethanol blend was found to have insignificant impact on the volatility of fuel. The results demonstrate that addition of ethanol to gasoline causes a significant decrease in T50 by about 20 °C, while addition of 10 volume percent of DMC to E10 causes an increase in T50 by about 2 °C. The obtained results showed also that the addition of 10 vol% of DMC to E10 fuel blend considerably increases the RON and MON by about 4 and 3.5 points, respectively.

Volatility criteria and physicochemical properties of the promising dimethyl carbonate-gasoline blends.

Increased need for energy resources, as well as the urgent need to improve the air quality, have prompted further research to meet these challenges. Great efforts have been directed to reducing the impact of exhaust emissions. In literature, the effect of blending dimethyl carbonate (DMC) into fuel on engine performance and exhaust emissions has been investigated, and the obtained results were promising in decreasing exhaust emissions. In the present work, the effect of blending DMC into gasoline on the physicochemical properties was studied. Six fuel blends were prepared by blending base gasoline (G) with (0%, 2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, and 10%) of DMC. The volatility characteristics of the fuel blends were studied, such as the distillation curve, vapor pressure, and driveability index. The octane rating and the physicochemical properties of the fuel blends were also studied. The results of the study showed interesting findings that encourage refineries to be interested in this promising fuel additive. The results showed that the addition of DMC to gasoline has a very slight effect on the volatility of gasoline, unlike other oxygenated additives like short chain alcohols which cause a significant increase in the fuel volatility. The addition of DMC to gasoline causes an insignificant increase in the vapor pressure as the addition of 10% of DMC increases the vapor pressure by 2 kPa while it does not affect the values of T10, T50, and T90, which are the most important parameters of the distillation curve. The results also showed that its addition causes a remarkable increase in the octane rating. The RON has increased for the G-10DMC blend by about 5 points making the DMC a promising octane booster.

Enhanced Nanofiltration Process of Thin Film Composite Membrane Using Dodecyl Phenol Ethoxylate and Oleic Acid Ethoxylate for Oilfield Calcite Scale Control.

This research studied the enhancing effect on the nanofiltration composite (TFCNF) membrane of two non-ionic surfactants on a thin-film composite nanofiltration membrane (TFCNF) for calcite scale (CaCO3) inhibition in oilfield application to develop a multifunctional filtration system: nanofiltration, antiscalant, and scale inhibitors. The effectiveness of dodecyl phenol ethoxylate (DPE) and oleic acid ethoxylate (OAE) as novel scale inhibitors were studied using the dynamic method. Scaling tests on the membrane were performed to measure the scaling of the inhibited membrane with and without scale inhibitors for salt rejection, permeability, and flux decline. The results revealed that the TFCNF membrane flux decline was improved in the presence of scale inhibitors from 22% to about 15%. The rejection of the membrane scales increases from 72% for blank membranes, reaching 97.2% and 88% for both DPE and OAE, respectively. These confirmed that scale inhibitor DPE had superior anti-scaling properties against calcite deposits on TFCNF membranes. Inhibited scaled TFCNF membrane was characterized using environmental scanning electron (ESEM), FTIR, and XRD techniques. The results of the prepared TFCNF membrane extensively scaled by the calcite deposits were correlated to its morphology.