Combustion characteristics of ternary fuel Blends: Pentanol, butanol and vegetable oil

Ternary blends of pentanol, butanol and soybean oil are investigated and compared to binary blends of pentanol/soybean oil and butanol/soybean oil. Ternary blends are examined in an effort to create more intense and longer lasting puffing events and microexplosions, with the overall goal of increasing reaction rates and improving combustion of heavy bio-oils. Several blend ratios were tested for the ternary mixture. All the blends tested exhibit significant puffing events. The size of puffing event is closely linked to the amount of secondary atomization that occurs and therefore the overall shortening of reaction time. An equivolume blend of pentanol, butanol and soybean oil exhibits the most violent microexplosions and leads to the shortest reaction time. A hypothesis is suggested for the difference in combustion behavior between binary and ternary fuel blends.