Experimental and Computational Studies on Alternative Liquid Fuels in Laminar Coflow Diffusion Flames

This thesis examines the combustion properties of renewable fuels by employing a flame setup that resembles the familiar candle flames. The study comprised three stages, with Stage 1 uncovering the effect of the partial replacement of simple hydrocarbon fuel with ethanol and Stage 2 shedding light on the fundamental combustion properties of biodiesel. Based on these findings, a solution is proposed in Stage 3 by adding ethanol or methyl formate as an additive to biodiesel. These additives have significant effects on the flame structure and stability but are able to mitigate the inherent drawbacks of biodiesel and reduce pollutant emissions.