Study on combustion characteristics of bio-oil/ethanol blends

Thermal weight loss curves of bio-oil/ethanol blends were determined by TG-DTA method in the oxygen atmosphere, kinetic parameters were calculated by both the Achar differential method and the Coats-Redfern integral method, and the properties of blend fuel pyrolysis chars were also tested. The thermogravimetric cures of bio-oil and its blends with ethanol can be divided into three steps: volatilization, secondary char formation, and char combustion. With the increasing of heating rate, the volatility and char combustibility of bio-oil turned better. With the increasing of ethanol content in the blend fuels, the active energies of volatilization and char combustion were both decreased first and then increased. The mass fraction of ethanol should not exceed 26%, otherwise the active energy of char combustion increased and the contained organic function groups in char decreased, which indicated higher stability and lower combustibility of the char.