Abstract: Ethanol-diesel blended fuel was prepared by physical mixing in the presence of emulsifier. The effects of different emulsifiers including their various mixtures, the dosage of emulsifier and the content of ethanol on the performance of blended fuel were investigated. Results showed that under the optimum preparation conditions of a blended fuel with a ethanol content of 16%, using a mixed emulsifier (31381 cation emulsifier and 1202 emulsifier) having a mass mixing ratio of 3 to 7, and a dosage of the mixed emulsifier (HLB=6.95) of 3.3%, the viscosity and the surface tension of the emulsified blended fuel were 3.06 mPa•s and 26.82 mN/m, respectively. The particles distribution of the emulsified blended fuel shown by transmission electron microscopy was uniform. Test results also showed that the combustion rate of said blended fuel was similar with that of 0# diesel fuel, its pitch of smoke reduced by 59.2% as compared with 0# diesel fuel, and its corrosive behavior met the requirement of National Standard. A 6-month storage test at ambient temperature showed that the emulsified blended fuel was stable.

Key words: ethanol, diesel fuel, emulsifier, stability