Toward Sustainable Fuel Formulations: Thermophysical Assessment of a Synthetic Oxygenated Blend Formed by hexane + cyclopentyl methyl ether + propan-1-ol

Abstract

his study provides a comprehensive thermophysical characterization of a new potential oxygenate fuel composed of hexane as a surrogate for fossil fuel, cyclopentyl methyl ether (CPME) as a synthetic fuel, and propan-1-ol as a biofuel. The thermophysical characterization of this ternary mixture is based on the main thermophysical properties involved in the gasoline formulation and evaluation, namely the vapor-liquid equilibria (VLE) at 94 kPa from 338 to 365 K, the liquid mass density, the liquid viscosity, and the surface tension at 298.15 K and 101.3 kPa. All thermophysical properties are measured in the whole mole fraction range. These experimental data are accurately and fully predicted using the SAFT-VR Mie EoS coupled with Helmholtz Scaling Theory and Square Gradient Theory. According to the results, the mixture is zeotropic with a positive deviation from Raoult's law, while the liquid mass density, the liquid viscosity, and the surface tension show negative deviations from the ideal behavior. Complementary, the interfacial theory reveals that CPME does not exhibit surface activity; propan-1-ol adsorbs at high hexane concentration and hexane adsorbs at low hexane concentration.