Nanobubble enrichment of water-in-diesel nanoemulsions

改善燃料质量、提高燃料效率并降低排放是21世纪的持续挑战之一。卡尔加里的一家小型初创公司Ktal Energy一直在开发一种技术，以生产与传统(柴油)燃料相比质量更高的柴油水纳米乳化燃料。该公司相信，气体纳米气泡可以进一步提高其目前纳米乳化燃料的质量。然而，目前在水或燃料中产生气体纳米气泡的方法无法产生和稳定高浓度的纳米气泡。在这个项目中，卡塔将与卡尔加里大学的一个研究团队合作，实现富含纳米气泡的燃料介质，并更好地了解气体纳米气泡的形成和稳定。卡尔加里大学的实验室规模的纳米气泡发生器将被用于高效和高浓度地产生气体纳米气泡，并将测量这些溶液的各种性质。研究小组还将利用计算化学工具，研究气体纳米气泡的形成和稳定机制，重点是它们在纳米乳化燃料的复杂环境中的潜在作用。然后，卡塔将使用卡尔加里大学团队提供的纳米气泡解决方案来生产富含纳米气泡的燃料纳米乳液，并进行发动机测试，以研究纳米气泡对燃料性能的影响。这一合作将使KATAL能够更好地了解燃料乳化液中气体纳米气泡的稳定性，并使他们能够调整自己的工艺，以生产具有减少排放和提高发动机效率的优质纳米乳化液燃料。作为该项目的一部分，一名研究助理、两名博士生和一名本科生将接受培训，该项目的实验、理论和工业方面将为这些受训人员提供丰富的多学科经验。

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.