Nanobubble enrichment of water-in-diesel nanoemulsions

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Improving the quality of fuels, increasing their efficiency and also producing lower emissions is one of the ongoing challenges of the 21st century. A small Calgary startup, Katal Energy, has been developing a technology to produce water-in-diesel nano-emulsion fuel with superior quality compared with traditional (diesel) fuel. The company believes gas nano-bubbles can improve further the quality of its current nano-emulsion fuel. However, the current methods of producing gas nanobubbles in water or fuel are unable to produce and stabilize high concentration of nanobubbles. In this project, Katal will work with a research team at the University of Calgary to achieve a nanobubble-enriched fuel media and to better understand the formation and stabilization of gas nanobubbles. Lab-scale nanobubble generators at the University of Calgary will be employed to generate gas nanobubbles efficiently and in high concentration, and various properties of these solutions will be measured. The research team will also investigate the formation and mechanism of stabilization of gas nanobubbles, focusing on their potential role in the complex environment of a nano-emulsion fuel, using computational chemistry tools. Katal will then use the nanobubble solutions provided by the University of Calgary team to produce fuel nano-emulsions enriched with nanobubbles and run engine tests to investigate the effect of nanobubbles on the fuel performance. This collaboration will enable Katal to gain a much better understanding of stability of gas nanobubbles in the fuel emulsions and will allow them to adapt their process to generate a superior nano-emulsion fuel that features reduced emissions and increased engine efficiency. A research associate, two PhD students, and one undergraduate student will be trained as part of the project, where the project's experimental, theoretical and industrial aspects will provide these trainees with an enriching multidisciplinary experience.