What Does Bulk Diesel Fuel Exhaust Contain?

Centuries ago, the components of bulk diesel fuel exhaust remained a mystery to scientists/chemists.

Recently, bulk Diesel fuel, AGO, has been used in diesel fuel engines for lots of operations. One thing that’s common with all these operations is “power generation”.

Bulk Diesel fuel engines are one of the most standard and necessary aspects of, virtually, every industry with a worrying factor.

The power many machines and vehicles including trucks, buses, private vehicles, farm machinery, and construction equipment.

These vehicles and heavy-duty machinery are potential sources of the exposure of diesel fuel engine exhaust fumes in the workplace.

Introducing Bulk Diesel Fuel and Gasoline Engines; Components of Exhausts

Significantly, bulk Diesel fuel (AGO) and gasoline (PMS) engines are the primary power sources common to heavy duties and vehicles.

That’s why, they are regularly internal, intermittent combustion engines or turbines.

With the bulk diesel fuel engines, the fuel auto-ignites itself, and the ignition occurs when the compression heats-up the air and injects the bulk diesel fuel.

Unlike bulk diesel fuel engines, ignition takes place in the gasoline engine by sparking-plugs.

Therefore, it’s important to note that the fuel consumption of a diesel fuel engine differs from that of gasoline engines.

The bulk diesel fuel consists of higher boiling-point range petroleum fractions because of its higher density.

In this article, What are the Standard Diesel Quality Ratings for my Power Plant? We noted that a litre of bulk diesel fuel contains approximately 15% more energy than a litre of gasoline.

Major Categories of Diesel Fuel Engines

There are two main categories of diesel engine:

1. Open-chamber or Direct-injection engines: They offer a high-class standard for heavy-duty applications because of their best-in-class, minimal, fuel economy consumption rate.
2. Divided-chamber or Indirect-injection engines: You will probably go for this category when you need engines for light-duty applications.

They are less sensitive to;

– differences in fuels,

– have a wider range of speeds and greater power to weight ratio.

– Also, they run more quietly with little or no noise and they emit fewer pollutants to the atmosphere.

Facts About Diesel Fuel Exhaust

Firstly, bulk Diesel fuel exhaust is a complex mixture of various degrees of gases, vapours, aerosols and particulate substances.

The particulate substances are commonly known as soot. It contains more than 40 toxic air contaminants.

Tentatively, the toxic air is mostly poisonous; containing cancer-causing substances, such as benzene, arsenic, and formaldehyde.

Also, it also contains other deadly pollutants like nitrogen oxides (one of the products of combustion of bulk diesel fuel).

Similarly, very small particles are known as Diesel Particulate Matter (DPM). They consist primarily of solid elemental carbon (EC) cores with organic carbon (OC) compounds adhered to the surfaces.

However, when a diesel fuel engine burns or combusts, its result is diesel fuel exhaust.

Components of Diesel Fuel Exhaust

Firstly, bulk Diesel fuel is a mixture of hydrocarbons. During an ideal or perfect combustion process, it produces only carbon dioxide (CO₂) and water vapour (H₂O).

So, diesel fuel exhaust gases are primarily composed of CO₂, H₂O and the unused portion of engine charge air.

Furthermore, diesel fuel engines produce one-twenty-eighth the carbon monoxide (CO) more than gasoline engines do. This occurs as they burn their fuel in excess air even at full load.

From the particle emission standpoint, exhaust from bulk diesel fuel vehicles is significantly harmful.

However, the exact nature of the bulk diesel fuel exhaust depends on several factors which include;

• the type of diesel fuel engine
• the type of bulk diesel fuel
• how well serviced/maintained the diesel fuel engine is
• the speed and load on the diesel fuel engine and
• the emission control systems.

Vital Parts of Diesel Fuel Exhaust

Consequently, bulk diesel fuel exhaust consists of two main parts:

1. Gases and
2. Soot or Particle

Each of these two, in turn, comprises of many different substances such as:

1. The gas portion of diesel fuel exhaust: This is mostly made up of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur oxides. Others include hydrocarbons and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).
2. The soot (particulate) portion of diesel fuel exhaust: This consists of particles like carbon, organic materials (including PAHs), and traces of metallic compounds.

Usually, the challenge is not that both the gases and soot portions of the bulk diesel fuel exhaust contain PAHs. The disturbing fact remains that the exhaust of the bulk diesel fuel engines also produces other complex mixtures of soot and gases to the roadways.

Hence, these emissions cause air and environmental pollution, resulting in climate change.

Other Chemical Components of Bulk Diesel Fuel Exhaust

Generally, the following identifies chemical compounds that are common with bulk diesel fuel exhaust emissions;

Major Components include:

1. Carbon, C (soot), Carbon monoxide, CO and Carbon dioxide, CO₂
2. Oxygen, O₂
3. Water vapour, H₂O
4. Nitrogen, N
5. Oxides of Nitrogen (e.g; Nitrogen oxide, NO and Nitrogen dioxide, NO₂)
6. Oxides of Sulphur (e.g; Sulphur dioxide, SO₂)
7. Alcohols
8. Aldehydes
9. Ketones
10. Hydrocarbons
11. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)
12. Diesel Particulate Matter (DPM)

Minor Components include:

1. Acrolein
2. Benzene
3. Formaldehyde
4. 4-Hydroxycoumarin
5. 3′-Hydroxyacetophenone
6. 2-Hydroxy-4-methoxyacetophenone
7. Menadione
8. 6-Methoxytetralone
9. 6-Methylcoumarin
10. 3-Methyl-2-cyclopentene-2-ol-one
11. Trimethylbenzene (mixed isomers)
12. Polynuclear Aromatic HydrocarbonsAcenaphthene
    • Acenaphthylene
    • Anthracene
    • Benz(a)anthracene
    • Benzo(b)fluoranthene
13. Benzo(ghi)perylene
14. Benzo(a)pyrene
    • Benzo(e)pyrene
    • Crysene
    • Coal tar pitch volatiles
    • Coke oven emissions
    • Dibenz(a,h)anthracene
    • Fluoranthene
    • Fluorene
    • Indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene
    • Naphthalene
    • Phenanthrene
    • Pyrene

Finally, inhaling one or two of these components of bulk diesel fuel exhaust for longer periods will cause a serious health hazard.

When this happens, they can reach deep down the lungs in a jiffy.

Hence, weakening the victim’s respiratory organs.

Therefore, here is how the bulk Diesel fuel exhaust can affect your health.

Not only will it give you a broader understanding of health hazards but also, the harmful and side effects of bulk diesel fuel exhaust.