Emulsion Stability and Combustion Characteristics Glycerol-Water Mixture

The main purpose of this project is to study the emulsion stability of glycerol-water
mixture and its combustion characteristics. Glycerol, as by-product from biodiesel
production emerges as significant worth chemical that can be converted into high value
products or alternative use. The concerned problem statement-includes crude glycerolwater
emulsion which would most likely separate into 2 or 3 phases after a period of
time. Therefore, proper mixing and proportioning of glycerol, water, additive and/or
surfactants are very important to create very stable emulsion that is necessary for
smooth combustion. The objectives for this work are to study the behavior of
interaction and mixing between glycerol, water and additives in various proportions to
study the effect of alcohol on combustion characteristics and flame stability of glycerolwater
mixture. The methodology of this research project starts with preparation of
glycerol-water at specific volume ratio for emulsion stability test. The emulsion stability
needs within 24 hours to be observed. Testing on chemical and physical properties such
as viscosity measurement and heating value test has been done for before proceed to
combustion characteristics or flame stability test. The final stage of glycerol-water
mixture testing is the combustion characteristics or flame stability. Alcohol such as
ethanol is added to glycerol-water mixture to induce volatility, thereby increasing the
ease of combustion. In this research, for emulsion stability, the best ratio of the
glycerol-water mixture was found to be 90 ml of glycerol and 10 ml of deionized water
because glycerol is already miscible with water, therefore, no surfactant or additive is
needed to stabilize the emulsion. For combustion characteristics, the best ratio of
glycerol-water mixture was found to be 90 ml of ethanol and 10m! of glycerol. At the
end of this project, the objectives are achieved but further research of this project is still
ongoing in improvising the method