Waste plastics as fuel additives: Study of solubility in biodiesel and performance of plastic-biodiesel-diesel blends in a diesel engine

This study investigated the suitability of using waste plastics as an additive in biodiesel through assessing the performance, emissions and combustion characterises of a diesel engine. Firstly, the waste plastics were dissolved into different biodiesels. Then, the dissolved solution was mixed with standard diesel to make diesel-biodiesel-plastic blends. These plastic blends were then tested in a 4-cylinder, 4-stroke, diesel engine. These analyses indicated that waste plastics can potentially be used as fuel additives along with the diesel-biodiesel blends in diesel engines. There exists little research in this field, so the comprehensive study reported in this thesis is important and significant. The novelty of this work lies in identifying the biodegradable solvents that can properly dissolve waste plastics and demonstrate the beneficial effects of plastics in reducing harmful gas emissions and improving engine performance.