{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,19]],"date-time":"2026-02-19T09:36:22Z","timestamp":1771493782731,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,1]],"date-time":"2025-01-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1735689600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"\u201cDunarea de Jos\u201d University of Galati, Romania","award":["RF2474\/31.05.2024"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RF2474\/31.05.2024"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sustainability"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Agriculture may hold the key to a sustainable future. By efficiently capturing atmospheric CO2, we can simultaneously produce food, feed, biomass, and biofuels. For more eco-friendly soil processing practices, biofuels can replace diesel in agricultural machinery, significantly reducing the carbon footprint of crop production. Thus, biofuel production can be a sustainable solution for a future with a decreasing carbon footprint. This paper examines the possibility of replacing petroleum-based fuels with 100% biofuels to continue powering heavy-duty vehicles, where the use of electric vehicles is not the optimal solution. This study particularly focused on the operating scenario of heavy-duty engines under medium to high loads, typical of transport or soil processing in agriculture. Diesel was used as a benchmark, and each alternative, such as vegetable oil, methyl ester (B100), and methyl ester\u2013ethanol blends (90B10E, 80B20E, and 70B30E), was tested individually. To find a sustainable fuel substitute, the goal was to identify a biofuel with a kinematic viscosity similar to that of diesel for a comparable spray process. Experimental results showed that an 80% methyl ester and 20% ethanol blend had a kinematic viscosity close to that of diesel. In addition to diesel, this blend resulted in a 48.6% reduction in exhaust gas opacity and a 6.54% lower specific fuel consumption (BSEC). The main aim of the tests was to find a 100% biofuel substitute without modifying the fuel injection systems of existing engines.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/su17010253","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,1]],"date-time":"2025-01-01T11:24:19Z","timestamp":1735730659000},"page":"253","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Experimental Investigation of Methyl Ester\u2013Ethanol Blends as a Sustainable Biofuel Alternative for Heavy Duty Engines"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8196-3137","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Michael","family":"Fratita","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Engineering, \u201cDunarea de Jos\u201d University of Galati, 47 Domneasca, 800008 Galati, Romania"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3383-5800","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Robert-Madalin","family":"Chivu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Engineering, \u201cDunarea de Jos\u201d University of Galati, 47 Domneasca, 800008 Galati, Romania"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6899-8442","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Eugen","family":"Rusu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Engineering, \u201cDunarea de Jos\u201d University of Galati, 47 Domneasca, 800008 Galati, Romania"}]},{"given":"Gabriel Bogdan","family":"Carp","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Engineering, \u201cDunarea de Jos\u201d University of Galati, 47 Domneasca, 800008 Galati, Romania"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0396-8079","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ion","family":"Ion","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Engineering, \u201cDunarea de Jos\u201d University of Galati, 47 Domneasca, 800008 Galati, Romania"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0252-9413","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francisco P.","family":"Brito","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Mechanical Engineering and Resource Sustainability Center (MEtRICs), Mechanical Engineering Department, Campus of Azur\u00e9m, University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimaraes, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"(2024, September 12). 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