---
title: Advantages of Ultrasound for Producing Emulsion Fuels
description: Stable emulsion fuels can be commercially produced by high-intensity ultrasound.
image: https://blog.sonomechanics.com/hubfs/Images_for_Blog_Posts/m_Truck.jpg
---

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# Sonomechanics Blog

## [Advantages of Ultrasound for Producing Emulsion Fuels](https://blog.sonomechanics.com/blog/emulsion_fuels_produced_by_high-intensity_ultrasound)

 \[fa icon="calendar"\] Aug 1, 2015, 8:38:00 AM / by [Alexey Peshkovsky, Ph.D.](https://blog.sonomechanics.com/blog/author/alexey-peshkovsky-ph-d)

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![Truck](https://blog.sonomechanics.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Images_for_Blog_Posts/m_Truck.jpg?width=420&name=m_Truck.jpg "Truck")Combustion equipment (e.g., diesel engines, power boilers) emits significant amounts of hazardous gasses, such as Nitrous Oxides (NOx), hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2) as well as particulate matter (PM) and black smoke. Due to the widespread use of this equipment, the resulting damage to human health and the environment is tremendous. Adding 5 – 25% of water to the base fuel, such as diesel or kerosene, in the form of a very fine emulsion (nanoemulsion) significantly reduces these harmful emissions.

#### Environmental Benefits

 In terms of environmental benefits, water-in-diesel emulsion is one of the most attractive petroleum-based alternative fuels. It can be used in unmodified diesel engines, and has been shown to reduce the NOx emission by up to 35% because water reduces the local adiabatic flame temperature. In addition, PM is reduced by up to 60% and black smoke commonly associated with the use of straight diesel is dramatically reduced because the emulsion fuel burns much more completely.

#### Economic Benefits

There is also an immediate economic benefit to using emulsion fuels. The addition of finely dispersed water reduces fuel consumption by improving its atomization and burning efficiency. Since water has a much lower boiling temperature than the fuel, it is vaporized much more readily upon heating. At the “superheat limit temperature” of about 270 C, micro-explosions of the fine water droplets occur throughout the emulsified fuel. This enhances atomization and leads to better mixing of fuel and air in the engine. The presence of a large low-tension water-oil interface improves the atomization further. Therefore, although water replaces part of the fuel, the loss in energy content is mostly compensated by the increase in the remaining fuel’s combustion efficiency. The net result is a significant fuel cost reduction, which commonly exceeds any emulsion manufacture expenses.

#### **Achieving Stability**

The main challenge faced by emulsion fuel manufacturers is how to achieve long-term stability of the final product while minimizing the costs of production. While stable **[microemulsion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microemulsion)**-based fuels have been introduced to the market before, they had limited commercial success because they required prohibitively high surfactant ( surface-active agents used to stabilize emulsions) concentrations. **[Nanoemulsion](http://www.firp.ula.ve/archivos/pdf/06_JPCM_Mason.pdf)**-based fuels, on the other hand, are much more promising, as their **[stability](https://blog.sonomechanics.com/blog/achieving-stability-of-oil-in-water-and-water-in-oil-emulsion-products)** comes with much lower surfactant content requirements. Since strong shear forces are necessary for the production of stable nanoemulsions, special equipment, such as a high-pressure homogenizer or a high-intensity **[ultrasonic processor](http://sonomechanics.com/technology/barbell_horn_ultrasonic_technology/)**, must be used. While this results in additional production costs, these are commonly outweighed by cost benefits due to the reduction in surfactant content. 

#### Ultrasonic Production

![ISP-3600-turn-key-flow-through-configuration-scaled edied13Aug2021 (1)](https://blog.sonomechanics.com/hs-fs/hubfs/ISP-3600-turn-key-flow-through-configuration-scaled%20edied13Aug2021%20(1).jpg?width=392&height=249&name=ISP-3600-turn-key-flow-through-configuration-scaled%20edied13Aug2021%20(1).jpg)

 Ultrasound is a simple and effective technique for producing stable water-in-fuel emulsions with nanometer-size droplets (nanoemulsions). The driving force of ultrasonic emulsification is acoustic cavitation, which creates violently and asymmetrically imploding vacuum bubbles, causing micro-jets and strong shear forces that break up water droplets down to nanometer sizes. A lab-scale demonstration of this process is available in this **[video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ac2s_fiTl0E)**. 

**[Laboratory](http://sonomechanics.com/products_services/500_w_laboratory-scale_processor/)**, **[bench](http://sonomechanics.com/products_services/1200_w_bench-scale_processor/)** and[ **industrial**-scale](https://www.sonomechanics.com/3600_w_industrial-scale_processor/) ultrasonic processors are available for the production of emulsion fuels with exceptional stability. Once the fuel formulation is finalized and the procedure is **[optimized](https://blog.sonomechanics.com/blog/achieving-stability-of-oil-in-water-and-water-in-oil-emulsion-products)** in the laboratory, the process can be directly **[transferred](https://blog.sonomechanics.com/blog/scaling-up-the-production-of-stable-nanoemulsion-based-products)** to the production scale, where the quality of the final product is maintained while the productivity is increased by a predictable "scale-up factor". Watch this [**video**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAc-glwNAto) for more information.

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 Topics: [Emulsion-based Products](https://blog.sonomechanics.com/blog/topic/emulsion-based-products)

![Alexey Peshkovsky, Ph.D.](https://app.hubspot.com/settings/avatar/6ff53a996fadbdd6cf3c0528dcf919d5)

#### Written by [Alexey Peshkovsky, Ph.D.](https://blog.sonomechanics.com/blog/author/alexey-peshkovsky-ph-d)

Dr. Alexey Peshkovsky is the Founder, President, and Chief Scientific Officer of Industrial Sonomechanics. He holds a B.A. in Chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Columbia University. With more than 30 years of experience as a researcher, entrepreneur, product developer, and scientific director, his work has focused primarily on the design of ultrasonic instrumentation and the development of ultrasonic processes for a broad range of industrial applications. Dr. Peshkovsky is the lead author of an extensive body of scientific work, including journal publications, patents, conference presentations, and books.

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- [Emulsion-based Products (39)](https://blog.sonomechanics.com/blog/topic/emulsion-based-products)
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- [Ultrasonic Degassing (7)](https://blog.sonomechanics.com/blog/topic/ultrasonic-degassing)
- [Theory of Ultrasonic Processing (6)](https://blog.sonomechanics.com/blog/topic/theory-of-ultrasonic-processing)
- [Wet Milling and Dispersing (4)](https://blog.sonomechanics.com/blog/topic/wet-milling-and-dispersing)
- [Deaeration (3)](https://blog.sonomechanics.com/blog/topic/deaeration)
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- [Cavitation (1)](https://blog.sonomechanics.com/blog/topic/cavitation)

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