Stoichiometric analysis of air oxygen consumption in modern vehicles using natural and synthetic fuels

Abstract

The study presents analysis results obtained for stoichiometric reactions of fuel oxidization in air for various motor fuels (such as gasoline, diesel fuel, gaseous fuel) and for biomass-converted and coal-based artificial fuels (such as ethanol, methanol, etc.) and also for hydrogen. Based on the analysis results, comparison is carried out for the specific air consumptions and carbon dioxide emissions of the combustion products. At a temperature of, which is an ultimate combustion process temperature to be dictated by the achievable properties of structural materials made available for the state-of-the-art engine engineering, the air excess factors are found, the actual air and fuel consumptions are determined, and carbon dioxide emissions are evaluated for the variety of fuels. The calculated data are presented for the greenhouse effect caused by the use of the various natural and synthetic fuels in transport applications. In the cases of using hydrocarbon and hydrogen fuels, an abnormally high consumption of the atmospheric air is theoretically evaluated. To reduce the environmental impact, methane-based fuels, bio-ethanol and bio-methanol-based fuels are to be recommended for wider transport vehicle applications. The analysis method presented in the study offers a universal tool to be instrumental in performing analysis of any fuel compositions both already existing and to be developed for future applications. © 2018 Institute of Physics Publishing. All rights reserved.