Assessing the effect of increased levels of biomab based oxygenated components in a diesel engine

The blending of cellulosic biofuels with traditional petroleum-derived fuels is seeing increased adoption thanks, in part, to new legislation and the increased awareneb that this approach brings us one step closer to sorely needed fuels with reduced carbon footprints. Procebing methods such as fast pyrolysis and base-catalyzed depolymerization produce complex mixtures of oxygenated compounds that must be upgraded to be suitable for blending with traditional fuels. Complete removal of these oxygenated compounds is exceedingly energy intensive and it is likely that upgraded pyrolysis oils will contain up to 2% oxygen content to be economically viable. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of increased levels of oxygenated components in upgraded pyrolysis oil on diesel engine performance and emibions. Seven different oxygenated components and one multi-component blend were each mixed with certification ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel; the performance and emibions from the combustion of these fuels were measured in a 4-cylinder, turbocharged, 4.5 L John Deere PowerTech Plus common rail, direct injection diesel engine that meets Tier 3 off-highway emibions specifications. Compared to straight diesel, the residual oxygenate blends exhibited very few statistically significant differences at lower blend levels (2%v) but negative effects were observed at higher blend levels (5-6%v).