Investigation of Ethylene Glycol Monomethyl Ether Soyate as a Biofuel

In the present paper, a new biofuel ethylene glycol monomethyl ether soyate has been developed. The biofuel was synthesized with a refined soybean oil and ethylene glycol monomethyl ether as reactants and sodium as catalyst under 90°C. The synthesized crude product was purified and structurally identified through Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrum (FT-IR), ¹H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (¹H NMR) and Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC) analyses. The physicochemical properties of the biofuel and its addition effects on properties of diesel fuel were measured according to China national standard test methods. A single cylinder diesel engine was employed to evaluate the influences of the biofuel on engine fuel economy and engine-out emissions of CO, HC, NOx and smoke. Test results reveal that when the diesel engine is fueled with this biofuel, engine-out smoke emissions can be decreased by 54.7% to 85.7%, CO emissions reduced by up to 79.1% and unburned HC emissions lessened by 61.6%. When the diesel engine burns a 1:1 by volume mixture of the biofuel and diesel fuel, smoke emissions can be diminished by 46.5% to 83.3%, CO decreased by up to 69.8% and HC emissions reduced by 59.6%. NOx emissions generally do not change significantly, fuel consumption increased by 1.4% to16.9%, but energy consumption decreased by 3.2% to 7.9%.