Aluminum nanoparticles from liquid packaging board improve the competitiveness of (bio)diesel

Abstract

Abstract: To date, no sustainable way of processing liquid packaging boards as a whole has been defined. The cardboard is occasionally recycled; however, there is no reliable demand for the resulting mixture of polyethylene and aluminum (PE-Al). Since Al leaching from landfills destroys both soil and water, it was proposed to prevent PE-Al landfilling by transforming Al into nanoparticles (nAl), which would be used as low-cost (bio)diesel additive. It is reported for the first time that the concept has been proved to be technically feasible and financially promising on a pilot scale. A series of tests with a single-cylinder water cooled combustion engine under various loading conditions revealed that the nAl obtained (375.6 m2g−1) is capable of significantly increasing the reaction surface of the combustion process which manifests itself by (a) higher brake-specific fuel consumption, (b) enhanced brake thermal efficiency, and (c) significant drops in the production of combustion gases (CO; HC; CO2 and NOx in particular). Nevertheless, data indicate that there are untapped challenges regarding the presence of O2 and further increasing the surface area of the nAl. Although the addition of nAl slightly reduced the oxidative stability and lubricity, these properties can be easily compensated by antioxidants and lubricants. Graphical abstract: