Investigation into the performance and emissions of a stationary diesel engine fuelled by sewage sludge intermediate pyrolysis oil and biodiesel blends

• Intermediate pyrolysis oil derived from sewage sludge has been blended with biodiesel.
• An unmodified Lister diesel engine has been operated with pyrolysis oil blends.
• 30% pyrolysis oil blend has comparable engine performance to pure biodiesel.
• 30% pyrolysis oil blend has comparable exhaust emissions to pure biodiesel.
• Pyrolysis oil blends give significant carbon deposits and increased injector erosion to.

This paper studies the characteristics of blends of biodiesel and a new type of SSPO (sewage sludge derived intermediate pyrolysis oil) in various ratios, and evaluates the application of such blends in an unmodified Lister diesel engine. The engine performance and exhaust emissions were investigated and compared to those of diesel and biodiesel. The engine injectors were inspected and tested after the experiment. The SSPO-biodiesel blends were found to have comparable heating values to biodiesel, but relatively high acidity and carbon residue. The diesel engine has operated with a 30/70 SSPO-biodiesel blend and a 50/50 blend for up to 10 h and there was no apparent deterioration in operation observed. It is concluded that with 30% SSPO, the engine gives better overall performance and fuel consumption than with 50% SSPO. The exhaust temperatures of 30% SSPO and 50% SSPO are similar, but 30% SSPO gives relatively lower NOx emission than 50% SSPO. The CO and smoke emissions are lower with 50% SSPO than with 30% SSPO. The injectors of the engine operated with SSPO blends were found to have heavy carbon deposition and noticeably reduced opening pressure, which may lead to deteriorated engine performance and exhaust emissions in extended operation.