Project # 4 Measurement of Air Pollutant Emissions from Biodiesel Blends

Faculty Sponsor

Dr. Mingming Lu

Associate Professor

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

University of Cincinnati

Office: 797 Rhodes Hall

E-mail: Mingming.Lu@uc.edu

Phone: (513)-556-0996

Project Summary

Inhalable diesel particulate matters (DPM) are in µm sizes and once DPM enters the respiratory system it can result in asthma, allergies, bronchitis, and lung cancer.  Children are at a higher risk since their respiratory systems are still developing and they breathe faster.  Many of you may have heard of the “Clean Schoolbus USA ” initiative.  The Hamilton County Environmental Services has installed many diesel oxidation catalysts (DOC) in the school buses in the Tri-state public schools.  This 6-week project will show how the DOC and biodiesel can reduce diesel particulate matter (DPM) emissions.  Although we do not have a school bus, we have a on-road diesel generator to measure the pollutants with.

Biodiesel can be obtained from renewable sources, such as plant oil, recycled cooking oil, and animal fat.  The chemical structure is mainly fatty acid esters and contains almost no aromatics and sulfur.   It is expected that the use of biodiesel can result in less DPM emissions.  With this context, the goal of this project is to investigate the impacts of DOC and biodiesel in the reduction of diesel emissions and develop lesson plans related to alternative energy use.  We will compare DPM emissions from the use of regular diesel and biodiesel, and see how the DOC installed in your schoolbuses can further cut down pollutant emissions.  The teachers will take samples from a diesel generator at the UC Center Hill Research Facility, and will collect DPM at various engine loads (idle, low, medium and full load).  They will learn standard sampling techniques, setting up generator loads, filter preparation, conducting gravimetric measurements, and calculate concentrations of the DPM.  The graduate student will assist them in their work.  T hu s, they will better understand air quality issues caused by diesel trucks, busses, and machines and why the use of DOC and biodiesel can result in less pollutant emission.

The tentative schedule of the project is as follows:

Week 1:  Introduction to the project, the current status of DPM emissions and the site visit.  This includes: training on the DPM sampling methods and familiarization with various sampling equipment; and the calibration of pump flow rate and other equipment.  It is expected that B50 (50% biodiesel with 50% regular diesel) will be used.  If we have time and interests, we will do B100.  The teachers will learn the working principles of the DOC and how to install it.

Week 2:  Making biodiesel from used cooking oil, or vegetable oil.  This will give the teachers a first hand experience how to implement this experience into their class. 

Week 3-5: Sampling of pollutant emissions from burning bio-diesel, including DPM , CO , NOx and carbonyl compounds.  The pollutants at various engine loads (idle, low, medium and full load) will be measured.  CO and NOx will be measured with a combustion gas analyzer.  Carbonyl compounds will be measured by a sorbent cartridge.  Each sampling will require about 2-3 hours: one hour sampling and the rest of the time preparation, setting up, and cleaning up.  The measurement of DPM will use a dilution method that we have developed.  These emissions will be compared with results from burning only petroleum diesel (also known as our baseline emissions).  Duplicate samples will be taken at each load.  Data analysis will be performed.  The graduate student will discuss the compositional differences between the pure diesel and blended diesel fuels.

Week 6: Data analysis and project summary.

Instruments/devices to be used include the following:

  1. The high volume sampling pump
  2. The Testo gas analyzer
  3. The filter system
  4. The Freedom Fueler for making biodiesel
  5. The gas chromatography mass spectroscopy system for pollutant analysis
  6. The diesel generator with a load simulator

Possible Ideas for Classroom Implementation 

Learning modules on global and local air quality issues and preventive measures can be developed for use in general science, math, chemistry, and earth science courses.   The use of renewable biodiesel will greatly reduce our nation’s dependence on imported petroleum, and DPM emission reduction can also be expected.  This experience will convince the teachers of the benefit of using biodiesel in school buses, and they can potentially promote biodiesel adaptation to better protect school children’s health.  They can design a class project for their general science class to compare particulate emissions from biodiesel and regular diesel.  In various science classes (e.g., general science and earth science) they can present the regional, global, and local air quality issues and preventive activities.  The data from the class project comparing particulate emissions with and without control technologies can be used in math classes to teach data analysis techniques and graphical display of data using Excel.   Students can practice making biodiesel in their chemistry class.  Principles of sampling, concentration calculation, and the math balance of the filter can be integrated in math and physics classes.

Figure 1.  The High Volume Sampling Pump

Figure 2.  The Testo ™ Gas Analyzer

Figure 3.  The Filter System

Figure 4.  The Freedom Fueler for Making Biodiesel

Figure 5.  The Gas Chromatography Mass Spectroscopy System for Pollutant Analysis

Figure 6.  The Diesel Generator with a Load Simulator


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