Review of thermodynamic and transport properties of 1-butanol as renewable component of new biofuels

Abstract

Paper presented to the 10th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Florida, 14-16 July 2014.

Alternative and renewable energy technologies are being sought throughout the world to reduce pollutant emissions and increase the efficiency of energy use. Oxygenates produced from renewable resources, including higher alcohols (those containing more than two carbon atoms) and several other oxygenated compounds, have been proposed as blend components in gasoline for reduction in petroleum consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Amongst these oxygenates, butanol has been proposed as an alternative to conventional gasoline and diesel fuels. Interest in butanol as a second-generation biofuel has increased because it has many advantages over other potential alternative fuel candidates such as ethanol. Oxygenated fuels such as butanol have been shown to improve reforming activity and reduce carbon monoxide emissions, and are less susceptible to separation in the presence of water than ethanol/gasoline blends, therefore allowing use of the industry’s existing distribution infrastructure without requiring modifications to blending facilities, storage tanks or retail station pumps. This paper concerns thermodynamic and transport properties of 1-butanol. The evaluation of experimental properties has become of high importance in the scientific community. Accurate empirical equations, models and simulation programs need to be fed with such experimental data to be useful. Moreover, for the optimized design of several industrial processes (storage, transport, separation and mixing processes), reliable experimental data are needed. Experimental property studies of pure 1-butanol and its mixtures with hydrocarbons and other oxygenates can provide valuable information about the fluid behavior under various temperature and pressure conditions The paper presents a review of thermodynamic (density, vapor-liquid equilibrium, specific heat, excess enthalpy) and transport (viscosity) properties of 1-butanol and its mixtures with hydrocarbons and oxygenates representatives of gasoline. This review could be of interest for the fuel and biofuel industry, within the production, transport and end-users (automotive) sectors.