Application of Fatty Acids Distillation Products as a Substitute for Heavy Fuel Oil in Stationary Combustion Chambers

Featured Application: The application of fatty acids distillation products as fuel allows the substitution of heavy fuel oil and decreases the use of fossil fuels. As a result, it reduces CO₂ emissions, and is a way to obtain sustainable energy transition. Liquid biofuels are of special interest due to the possibility of their application as a substitute for fossil liquid fuels. The necessary step is to investigate the possibility of bio-fuel application in terms of its properties and similarities to fossil liquid fuels (e.g., crude oil, heavy fuel oil, diesel). The properties and combustion performance of heavy fuel oil (HFO) and products of the fatty acids distillation residues (FADR) were analyzed in this study. The application of animal-fat-delivered fuels is fully suggested in the literature. Nevertheless, the investigations focused on the raw materials or their transformation into diesel. The novelty of this paper is the utilization of FADR as a substitute for HFO. The utilization of FADR allows the use of this material as a feedstock to obtain valuable products (fuel) and avoids generating waste after animal fat processing. The experimental investigations were carried out using a technical-scale 150 kW_th combustion chamber. FADR can be recognized as a substitute for HFO due to its beneficial calorific properties and viscosity. Other beneficial effects are the significantly lower emission of SO₂ (lower than 1 ppm) and PAHs (i.e., 355 µg/m³_n) during the combustion of FADR. Finally, the application of FADR requires less energy demand for fuel heating and pressurization.