A new type of fuel injector can enable the combustion of biofuels with near-zero emissions — even highly viscous biofuel combinations that are currently disposed of as waste.
The Swirl Burst injector works by turning fuels into an extremely fine spray, enabling complete combustion. The injector can be “dropped in” to conventional gas turbine engines, replacing traditional fuel injectors, claims Lulin Jiang, a professor of mechanical engineering at Baylor Univ. and the lead inventor of the technology. “That will enable us to burn conventional fuels much cleaner and also allow us to enable cleaner combustion and more complete combustion for biofuels, regardless of fuel composition,” says Jiang.
Biofuels can be made from crops, oils, animal fats, cellulose, or algae. A trans-esterification process reduces the viscosity of the source oils so that these fuels can be used in conventional engines with conventional fuel injectors, but this process generates crude glycerol as a waste...
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