A study published online in Sustainability has explored this research area, Introducing an engine concept that runs on plastic waste fuel and recirculated exhaust fumes.
Ending the Dominance of Oil
Although the world is progressively decarbonizing, demand for oil remains strong. According to a recent BP analysis, oil meets 31.2% of the world’s primary energy production demands, followed by coal and natural gas. Oil has both advantages and disadvantages as a fuel. It is a dependable source of energy and may readily provide energy security. However, like all fossil fuels, use comes with a massive, well-documented environmental cost.
The environmental cost of oil is in the form of greenhouse gas emissions, which are causing global climate change. Emissions are growing on a worldwide scale. According to data collected by the Global Carbon Projects emissions from 9.35 million tonnes in 1750 to 13.98 billion tonnes in 2020. This statistic reflects a +149,369% relative change.
Recognizing the gravity of the situation, governments throughout the globe have vowed to cut their emissions to zero by 2050. Many technical alternatives, including renewable energy generation, have been proposed to accomplish these goals. However, while renewable energy’s capabilities are growing, it still has certain limitations when it comes to addressing expanding global energy demands. A lack of a systems approach, a lack of social innovation and acceptance, and critical technology concerns are among the challenges.
While there has been a tremendous drive to transform the transportation sector and develop low-emission cars, demand for liquid fuels remains and may continue to exist beyond 2040. Exploring alternate liquid fuels, such as biofuels and waste-derived fuels. As well as different design paradigms might fulfill the demands of both engine performance and environmental impact reduction.
Converting Waste Plastic into Fuel
In addition to greenhouse gas emissions is the rising volume of plastic waste. Plastic waste valorization through conversion into sustainable fuel might give major benefits to the automobile sector. As well as pollution-reduction initiatives. Plastic waste can turn into a liquid fuel comparable to diesel using an electrical pyrolysis process. And any pollutants are removed using fabric and micron filters.
Recent research has looked into the use of alternative fuels and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) in compression injection engines. Because of the requirement for a balance between resource circularity and consumer needs, oil from waste plastic will be a key player. Furthermore, contemporary research has revealed the possibility of constructing multi-commodity production systems that employ a low-value commodity for CI engines and a high-value commodity for carbon capture.
However, research has focused on employing system design elements and heat barrier coating technologies to improve compression injection engine performance. Nano-coating materials have lately emerged as attractive alternatives for thermal barrier coating materials.
Alternative fuels have been extensively researched for their ability to reduce emissions. However, thermal efficiency constraints are under observation. As a result, we may see that combining alternate fuels and EGR might improve thermal efficiency. There is a growing corpus of literature in this field of study.