The Effect of Using Hydrogen Peroxide as Fuel Oxygenates for Enhancing Combustion Performance

The price of crude oil is increasing annually due to the depletion of hydrocarbon production. In order to cope with the high demand from the market, researchers are working on improving the performance of the fuels by applying fuel oxygenates. Fuel oxygenates are chemical compounds that has the function of increasing the oxygen content in the fuel. The presence of fuel oxygenates promotes more complete combustion and hence, better engine performance and fuel consumption can be achieved. Besides, better combustion process also lowers the emission of harmful gases.
In this research, the main objective is to determine the effects of applying hydrogen peroxide as diesel oxygenates. Due to the difference in polarity, the blending of hydrogen peroxide and diesel fuel requires emulsification process to achieve a stable mixture. After emulsification, stability test was conducted on the oxygenated diesel samples based on the separating layer. Characterization tests were then carried out to identify the effects of hydrogen peroxide application. The major parameters of the oxygenated diesel are cetane number, calorific value, oxygen and sulphur content. From the analysis of the characterization tests, the application of hydrogen peroxide increases the oxygen content of the diesel from 5.47 % to 7.01%. The presence of additional oxygen improves the combustion quality and simultaneously reduces the emission of harmful gases, such as carbon monoxide and sulphur dioxide by increasing the cetane number from 41 to 71.2. However, there are some tradeoffs for the application of hydrogen peroxide. The major disadvantage is the heating value of oxygenated diesel. It reduces from 39,581 kJ/kg to 38,322 kJ/kg due to the presence of hydrogen peroxide.