Biodiesel de dendê em trator agrícola: desempenho em função do tempo de armazenamento e da proporção de mistura na operação de preparo do solo

Abstract

Biodiesel is a renewable fuel, biodegradable and produced from vegetable oil or from animal fat through transesterification. The viability of this product as a source of alternative energy depends on various factors, among which the mixture proportion and the stability during storage time stand out. This is because the availability of the raw material is seasonal and varies in accordance with the harvests of different cultures. The objective of the present work was to evaluate the operational performance of an agricultural tractor working with palm oil biodiesel while performing the operation of tillage with a chisel plow, also opacity, the density of the fuel and the outflow from the filling pump were studied regarding storage time and biodiesel/diesel mixture proportion. The experiment was conducted in the Department of Rural Engineering at UNESP, Jaboticabal, Brazil, in partnership with LADETEL/USP-Ribeirão Preto. Storage time was with new fuel (soon after production), three months and six months, and the percentage proportions used for biodiesel + diesel were B0 (0+100), B5 (5+95), B50 (50+50) e B100 (100+0). When comparing the treatments, we evaluated the fuel consumption, the real velocity of displacement, the sliding of the wheels, the strength of the traction bar, the fuel density, the outflow from the filling pump and the opacity of the fuel smoke. The results show an increase in consumption specific to a mixture starting from 25% biodiesel, although the storage time did not affect consumption. In relation to the opacity of smoke, there was a reduction, even with only 5% biodiesel in the mixture, again with the storage time having no influence.