The+Future+of+Diesel+Fuel+Technology

Anthony Magnoli Diesel Engines (EN-7142) Final Project 12/20/2011

__ The Future of Diesel Engine Fuel Production __

__Introduction__ Diesel fuel was a very broad term given to any liquid fuel obtained from petroleum distillation that is used in Rudolf Diesel’s compression ignition engine design. Diesel fuel has a relatively low ignition temperature; 410 °F compared to Gasoline, 475F °and is ignited by the heat of compression. __Production process__ To produce this fuel we first must start with the naturally occurring liquid, crude oil. This is made up of millions of years of organic compounds sealed beneath the earth’s surface. Once the crude is drilled and transported to a refining facility the distillation process can begin. The problem with crude oil is that it contains hundreds of different types of hydrocarbons all mixed together. You have to separate the different types of hydrocarbons to have anything useful. Fortunately there is an easy way to separate things, and this is what oil refining is all about. (How Oil Refining Works) A hydrocarbon is a string of Hydrogen and Carbon atoms that make up every petroleum product that we refine or that occurs naturally in the earth. Different string lengths all have progressively higher boiling points, so they can all be separated by distillation. (How Oil Refining Works) The simplified version of the process heats the crude and extracts the different chains of hydrocarbons as they vaporize and rise inside the fractioning tower which divides the different products up into a number of smaller quantities. A similar method involving Chemical Processing can refine the crude as well. This involves a catalyst or extreme temperatures to bond smaller strings of hydrocarbons together or break “crack” them apart. Focusing on what petroleum product is in greater demand chemical processing may be the more profitable form of distillation. Depending on the crude oil source, the diesel fuel end product may be on the high or low end of the prescribed heat energy scale in BTU’s per gallon. This is why individual diesel fuel grades may vary slightly from one supplier to another. (Norman) Regardless of the regional differences in the crude the refining process stays the same. __Diesel vs. Gasoline__ The two most abundant fuels on the road today are Diesel and Gasoline and are both made up from hydrocarbons. Gasoline has a longer hydrocarbon string and after it is vaporizes in the distillation process it condenses at a lower temperature than Diesel. That is how the two fuels are separated from crude oil along with several other different petroleum products. Choosing between Gasoline or Diesel engine comes down to the nature of the work the engine will endure. One example we can look at is "Say you drive your truck like a car." You desire quick, quiet acceleration. You rarely haul a heavy load, and you do not have any plans to keep it past 100,000 miles, you may want to consider a gasoline engine. They run smoother, fuel is easier to purchase, and they are easier to start in cold weather. However, if you use your truck for towing, value good fuel economy, and plan on racking up a lot of miles, diesel is for you. (Truck Trend) Another point to note is that a Diesel application may cost more initially due to the strengthening for compression ignition, but have fewer components associated with it. With fewer parts there is less of a chance for something to go wrong. __Compression Ignition__ Unlike a conventional gasoline engine the compression ignition engine uses high compression ratios to heat the air trapped in the compression chamber to the auto-ignition temperature of the injected fuel. The engine waits until the mixture is completely compressed and sprays the required amount of fuel into the chamber. The fuel injection pressure is set very high to overcome the compression ratio in the cylinder. The high ratio makes the engine more efficient because more compressed air equals more oxygen in the cylinder. The additional oxygen aids in burning the fuel better, meaning a more efficient engine. The elimination of spark plugs, coils, ignition wiring, distributers and ignition controls is a major selling point for the compression ignition engine. Another major advantage to the compression ignition engine is the durability of the major components due to the sheer size needed to withstand the high compression ratios and temperatures these engines endure. The fact that the engines simplicity, low maintenance and durability make it the perfect prime mover in an industrial or heavy duty application. __Fuel Sources available__ Regular diesel fuel holds a higher energy density than regular gasoline. On average, 1 gallon (3.8 L) of diesel fuel contains around (147,000 BTU), while 1 gallon of gasoline contains around (125,000 BTU). This, combined with the improved efficiency of diesel engines, explains why diesel engines get better mileage than equivalent gasoline engines. This, combined with the improved efficiency of diesel engines, explains why diesel engines get better mileage than equivalent gasoline engines. (Diesel Fuel) When considering a fuel source for your Diesel engine there are several factors that come into play. The first on everyone’s mind is cost per mile. Second would be availability and last would be the environmental effects. Unless a company has a reason to drastically change their image to a green energy player, they are in the money making business. Investing in fuel technology now, could save money and drastically reduce the company’s carbon footprint in the near future. The first fuel that comes to mind would be biodiesel. Biodiesel is a renewable fuel that can be produced from vegetable oils, animal fats and alcohols. They then can be used as a substitute for conventional diesel. (BP Diesel) This renewable fuel source can be manufactured from recycled restaurant grease like peanut or vegetable oil. A more technical description is that biodiesel is comprised of mono-alkyl esters of long fatty acid chains derived from animal fats or vegetable oils that meet the requirements of the ASTM “American Society for Testing and Materials”. Biodiesel is said to be safe, biodegradable, nontoxic and essentially free of sulfur and aromatics. It is a renewable resource, based on soybean and other oil crops that are regrown each year. There is an excess production of soybeans in this country, so biodiesel is an economic way to utilize this surplus while reducing our dependence on foreign oil (Baker). Biodiesel contains no petroleum, but it can be blended in any percentage with petroleum diesel to create a biodiesel blend. Such blends are labeled Bxx, where the xx denotes the percentage of biodiesel in the blend. For example, B20 would be 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent petroleum diesel. B100 is pure biodiesel fuel. (Baker) The next fuel that comes to mind is synthetic diesel. This man made fuel is produced from a gas to liquid technology using the Fischer Tropsch method that creates liquid hydrocarbons from synthetic gas and biomass which can be made from a variety of fossil fuels and environmental organisms. This process also involves bonding smaller strings of hydrocarbons together. Synthetic Diesel production in the U.S. could become the nation’s newest export as huge reserves of low-priced natural gas mainly from Alaska or off shore are waiting to be mixed in a chemical reaction. With very small sulfur content and compatibility with pre-existing combustion engines and components synthetic may someday be the leader in the U.S. fuel market. The last fuel that could change the way industries operate is Natural Gas. To use this to power the transportation industry it first must be compressed or liquefied. Doing this requires almost 3 times the fuel tank capacity as a conventional diesel setup would and would not have the range of a conventional diesel. Stationary engines or inner city transit would be the best suited for this application. Unlike Synthetic or biodiesel the fuel system of the compression ignition engine would have to be redesigned to handle such an application. (Norman)The positive to natural gas is that it has very low sulfur emissions and the U.S. has a reserve of natural gas off shore. __Overall Cost__ Although there are many different fuels available to power compression ignition engines to most consumers there choice comes down to the cost. At first glance natural gas may seem like the best deal but you ultimately need almost twice the amount to equal the BTU’s produced buy the other fuel choices. Another consideration is maintaining the standards of the Clean Air Act. By doing so newer vehicles may also be subject to tax exemptions for their service using alternatives to the conventional diesel fuel. The final consideration takes into the availability of each fuel. Conventional diesel is readily available in the U.S. as well as certain blends of biodiesel but natural gas and synthetic diesel stations are few and far between. Some savvy people invest in a small home vegetable oil refiner and waste oil conversion kit for their diesel cars and trucks and after an initial overhead cost spend 70 to 80 cents per gallon on biodiesel. The only caveat to this route is finding an institution to donate the waste oil to you. __Companies involved__ One company that has been in the news lately has been involved in the future of diesel fuel production for many years. Currently British Petroleum offers a Biodiesel blend of B5, containing 5% biodiesel. It conforms to the National Diesel Fuel Quality Standard and is classified as diesel not biodiesel but still contains the 5% biodiesel. It is suitable use in vehicles that are designed to run on conventional diesel and is fully compatible and may be readily mixed with the conventional diesel already in your vehicle tank. BP also offers ultra-low sulphur diesel containing less than 10 parts per million (ppm), 5ppm lower than the U.S. standard which when compared to the previous government standard 50ppm, has far less sulphur which can deliver 9% less carbon monoxide, 7% less unburnt hydrocarbons, 1.5% less nitrogen oxides, .4% less carbon dioxides and up to 6% less sooty exhaust fumes into the atmosphere. The only drawback seen from British Petroleum is that B5 and less than 10ppm ultra-low sulphur diesel is only available in Australia. (BP Diesel) Shell has distributed 2.6 billion gallons of biofuel in the year 2010 alone. Shell’s biofuels offer a lower-carbon alternative to petrol and diesel. One staple of their biofuel manufacturing is Ethanol made from Brazilian sugar cane. The Ethanol produces around 70% lower CO2 emissions from production to use than conventional petrol. By shell’s projections biofuels are expected to account for as much as 9% of the world’s road transport fuel mix by 2030. The CO2 performance of current biofuels can also vary greatly depending on the raw materials and production techniques involved. (Biofuels) Unlike BP and Shell Exon Mobile has invested their time and money into an algae biofuels program and a facility to support evaluation of most productive strains of algae and most efficient production methods. Biofuel from algae could result in economically viable, low net carbon emission transportation fuel and the next major milestone is there outdoor test facility, expected to be completed in mid-2011. (ExxonMobil) A major advantage to algae oil is it has the potential to yield greater volumes of biofuel per acre of production than other biofuel sources. Algae could yield more than 2000 gallons of fuel per acre per year of production compared to Palm, 650 gallons per acre per year, Sugar cane, 450 gallons per acre per year, Corn, 250 gallons per acre per year and Soy, 50 gallons per acre per year. One major advantage of algae is it can use water and land unsuitable for plant or food production, unlike other biofuel feedstock’s and takes advantage of natural photosynthesis. (ExxonMobil) __Retrofitting__ The major advantage to pure biodiesel in any application is that is non-toxic, biodegradable and essentially free of sulfur and aromatics. At the 20 percent blend level, biodiesel shows improved lubricity with low sulfur petroleum diesel containing high or low aromatic levels and having a lower wear scar than traditional fuel. Start-up, power, range and cold-weather performance characteristics are similar to diesel and since biodiesel is oxygenated, diesel engines have more complete combustion than with petroleum. (Easier) For research or commercial vessels, biodiesel offers a more environmentally-friendly alternative to regular diesel. Because it is non-toxic and biodegradable, consumers and researchers may pressure owners for biodiesel use, especially in sensitive or protected waterway areas. For a traditional application biodiesel can be operated in any diesel engine with little or no modification to the engine or the fuel system. Biodiesel also offers low-pressure storage at ambient temperatures handles like diesel and is safer to transport due to its higher flash point - a minimum of 200 degrees versus about 125 degrees Fahrenheit for regular #2 diesel. (Easier) To compare Biodiesel to another candidate a compressed gas fuel system would require new storage tanks and a separate fuel system and so far has only been used on LNG applications. Minimal work would go into retrofitting a vessel to biodiesel. The only issue a consumer may have is biodiesel has a solvent effect that may release deposits accumulated on tank walls and pipes from previous diesel fuel storage. This may result it more frequent filter changes on initial retrofit. The solvent properties may also break down rubber hoses and components faster than a traditional fossil fuel. On a more positive note the use of biodiesel and biodiesel blends results in a noticeable change in exhaust odor. The reduction in smell and change of odor are easier on average boaters and ship workers. Some have even compared it to the smell of French fries. Users also report having no eye irritation when near the exhaust source. __Environmental Law__ For the marine application, Biodiesel should have less of an impact to aquatic and marine organisms than petroleum diesel if accidentally spilled or inadvertently discharged over the side in its 100 pure state. However, the US EPA still considers spills of animal fats and vegetable oils harmful to the environment despite the fact that it is non-toxic and biodegradable. In an October, 1997 ruling under the Clean Water Act, as amended by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, vegetable oils are considered "oil" like petroleum. (Von Wedel) Discharging or spilling Biodiesel into the water would be as illegal as discharging petroleum fuels overboard. Birds, mammals and fish that get coated with vegetable oils could die from hypothermia or illness, or fall victim to predators. Even though the Biodiesel is relatively non-toxic and less viscous than vegetable oil, it can still have a serious impact on marine and aquatic organisms in the event of a big spill. Biodiesel should always be handled like any other fuel to avoid contamination of our ocean and waterways. Both boaters and the shipping industry should obey all laws governing the handling of engine fuels and oils. (Von Wedel) __Conclusion__ Although the big players seem to invest in the future of compression fuels they are still in the business of making money and rapidly switching there mediums with a significant cost involved to do so doesn’t seem to be happening in the near future. As laws are passed and standards are raised to create more green fuel and greater efficiency from engines that is when the conscious consumer will notice a change in the fuel we use in our everyday activity. A major point to note is there are 138 biofuel producers and distributers in the U.S. alone that are independent from any major corporation selling bio-blends ranging from B5 to B100 (Retail Fueling Sites). Until major changes are made these small pioneers will continue to offer a comparable alternative to Diesel fuel and lower the Earths carbon footprint one tank at a time. Diesel is used to power a wide variety of vehicles and engines. It fuels the trucks you see cruising down the highway, but it also helps move boats, buses, trains, cranes, farming equipment and various emergency vehicles and power generators. Think about how important diesel is to our nation’s economy. Without its high efficiency, both the construction and farming industry would suffer from an investment in fuels with low power and efficiency. About 94 percent of all freight, whether transported on train, ship or truck rely on diesel (Diesel Fuel). Investing in diesel fuel development now could be the answer for the future.
 * **Fuel Type** ||  **Btu’s per 1 gallon**  ||  **$ US Currency**  ||
 * **Diesel # 2** ||  147,000  ||  3.72  ||
 * **Biodiesel B100** ||  130,000  ||  4.13  ||
 * **Synthetic Diesel** ||  143,000  ||  3.97  ||
 * **CNG** ||  75,000  ||  2.07  ||
 * **(GGE)** ||  ** (Alternative Fuel Price) (Report) **  ||

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Von Wedel, Ph.D., Randall. "Technical Handbook for Marine Biodiesel." CytoCulture International, Inc. Web. .

Truck Trend - "Diesel Cost, Advantages & Maintenance” New & Used Trucks, SUVs Reviews at the Pickup & SUV Authority - Truck Trend Magazine. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. .