Biogenous Ethers - Production and Operation in a Diesel Engine

Abstract

Fuels from lignocellulosic biomass have the potential to contribute to sustainable future mobility targets by reducing the fossil CO 2 emissions of the transport sector. Of special interest for the diesel engine are oxygenated fuels, since they can help to solve traditional conflicts of objectives like the soot-NOx trade-off or the efficiency-NOx compromise. Dibutyl ether (DBE) and oxymethylene ethers (OME) are among the most promising fuel candidates. The suitability of these compounds for diesel engines is investigated in this study. The fuels are injected in pure form as well as a diesel-biofuel blend with 20% volumetric biogenic share. During the course of these investigations special attention is given to soot and particle emissions, and also to measured engine efficiency. The combustion tests are combined with an analysis of suitable production paths of the evaluated bio-ethers as second generation biofuels. Production simulation shows high greenhouse gas savings potential, but also high investment costs.

Particle emissions of a heavy-duty engine fueled with polyoxymethylene dimethyl ethers (OME)

“…In addition to the possibility of renewable production, OME also provides the advantage of soot-free combustion. [6][7][8][9][10] The reason for this is the intramolecular lack of C-C-bonds, which suppresses the formation of soot precursors such as polyaromatic hydrocarbons. 11 This resolves the trade-off between soot and nitrogen oxide (NO x ) emissions from diesel engines 6 and opens up the opportunity for massive NO x reduction in the raw exhaust by measures such as high exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) rates or decreased injection pressure.…”

Numerical analysis of the combustion process of oxymethylene ethers as low-carbon fuels for compression ignition engines

“…9 Interest has been recently gained by oxymethylene ethers (OME X ). Different life-cycle assessments reported the potential reduction of greenhouse gas emissions of these fuels in comparison to conventional Diesel [11][12][13] either completely or partially replacing fossil fuels. However, the use of renewable energies is the key to achieve this.…”

Ultra-low emissions of a heavy-duty engine powered with oxymethylene ethers (OME) under stationary and transient driving conditions

“…4 They meet the requirements of both a carbon-neutral production, 5,6 and of air pollution control because the combustion in a diesel engine is soot-free. [7][8][9][10][11][12] The lack of intramolecular C-C bonds suppresses the formation of soot precursors like acetylene and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons 13 and therefore resolves the trade-off between soot and nitrogen oxide (NO x ) emissions. For this reason, OME show a high tolerance against exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) for an inner-engine NO x reduction.…”