How to Double the World's Supply of Diesel -- And Make It Better!

GCC
Researchers at Annamalai University in India have discovered how to blend ethanol and dimethyl ether -- both potentially renewable chemicals -- with diesel to produce a significantly improved fuel. The graphic above shows the results of comparative testing with pure petro-diesel, a 50:50 emulsion of diesel and ethanol, and a mix of 93% 50:50 diesel:ethanol and 7% DME. The best results were obtained from the mixture containing 46.5% diesel. Widespread use of such a mixture could result in doubling the effective supplies of diesel.

In a study published in the ACS journal Energy & Fuels, M. P. Ashok of Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu, India reports that adding dimethyl ether to an ethanol/diesel emulsion results in an increase in brake thermal efficiency and a decrease in specific fuel consumption (SFC), particulate matter, smoke density, and oxides of nitrogen compared to either the emulsion or a base diesel fuel.

...Ashok added DME on a 7% by volume basis with the selected emulsified fuel ratio of 50D/50E and carried out performance, emission, and combustion tests, along with performance and emission tests with diesel no. 2 and emulsified fuel 50D/50E.

Testing was done in a one-cylinder, four-stroke 5.2 kW engine with a compression ratio of 17.5:1. Speed was constant 1500 rpm, injection timing was 23 ° before TDC, and injection pressure was 220 kgf/cm2 (215 bar). _GCC

Much more at the link above.

Engineers and scientists worldwide have barely begun to discover how to extend the supplies and effectiveness of the Earth's finite supplies of fossil fuels. As the price of oil edges upward by fits and starts, booms and busts, our facility for substituting additives and fuels for petroleum will only get better.

Bio-DiMethylEther from Black Liquor in Sweden: More On the Way

The European Union has approved the SEK 500 million (€55 million, $75 million) R&D grant awarded by the Swedish Energy Agency towards the industrial scale demonstration biofuels plant based on Chemrec’s gasification technology at the Domsjö Fabriker biorefinery in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. The plant will produce the renewable and environmentally compatible biofuels biomethanol or bioDME using forest harvest residues as energy feedstock.

...Chemrec AB and our partner the Domsjö Fabriker biorefinery were awarded the R&D support in September 2009 by the Swedish Energy Agency. The plant will be based on the Chemrec black liquor gasification technology combined with advanced technology for fuels production. The project investment cost is estimated at approximately SEK 3 billion for a production capacity of 140 000 ton biomethanol or 100 000 ton bioDME per year in a dual product plant. _Chemrec_via_BiofuelsDigest

Chemrec Domsjo Biorefinery
Sweden possesses vast forests which are harvested for timber, specialty cellulose, and paper/pulp. A by-product of the paper/pulp industry is black liquor, which can be converted to useful biofuels via gasification.

Biofuels produced using our gasification technology reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 95% compared to gasoline or diesel and replace imported fossil fuels with renewable fuels. The global potential of the technology is equivalent to replacement of approximately 30 million tons of diesel oil. The Domsjö plant will have the capacity equivalent to the fuel demand of over 2000 heavy trucks. _Chemrec Press Release

The bio-DME and bio-methanol produced by these plants will replace significant amounts of diesel fuel, and other petroleum products. But the process is but a niche application -- an add-on to a pre-existing industry which is itself an add-on (or offshoot) to the lumber industry.

That is one way in which market capitalism works -- by locating waste products of pre-existing enterprises which can be converted to valuable feedstocks and end-products.

Chemrec's Swedish BlackLiquor to DME Plant Takes Shape

Black liquor is a waste by-product of paper pulp processing. Chemrec plans to gasify the black liquor and convert the syngas directly to dimethyl ether in an efficient process. The new Swedish demo plant will have a capacity of 584,000 gallons per year of DME.

In Sweden, the steel towers forming the main process units of the new BioDME-plant were put in place beside Chemrec’s development plant in Piteå. On July 21 the world’s first demonstration plant for the energy-efficient automotive fuel DME, dimethyl ether, will be ready for commissioning and start-up. The demonstration plant will have a capacity of 584,000 gallons of BioDME per year, using black liquor gasification of pulp and paper mill waste. _BiofuelsDigest

Sweden has developed a reputation for innovation, along with neighbor Finland.

Europe in general is developing some encouraging plans for developing its bioenergy resources.

For several centuries, Europe has been the world's hotbed of research, innovation, and development of a wide range of technologies and sciences. Unfortunately, unless something is done about the rapid implosion of Europe's population, the best days of European innovation are likely behind us -- other than a last hurrah! which is being largely squandered on the green energy hoax and carbon hysteria.

Dimethyl Ether from Black Liquor Gasification

Black liquor is a waste product of pulp and paper mills. For every ton of pulp produced, about 7 tons of black liquor by-product results. Finding an economical use for this waste will change the economics of the paper / pulp industry significantly. Dimethyl ether (DME) is one of many valuable products that could be made from pulp wastes.

In Sweden, Chemrec announced that they will break ground in September on a BioDME (dimethyl ether) demonstration plant project in Piteå. The project will be completed in mid-2010, and will demonstrate the production of an advanced diesel fuel, DME, from forest biomass over the black liquor route....

DME is generally used today as a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) substitute, but diesel truck and bus manufacturers have operated DME-fueled prototype vehicles.....Approximately 7 tons of black liquor is produced in the manufacture of a ton of pulp. _BiofuelsDigest

Learning to take a waste product and turn it into energy builds character. It is much harder than printing money on a government printing press, and spending money that doesn't exist. But not all of us can be as smart or wizardly as presidents and congresspersons.

Black Liquor Waste Stream from Paper Plants Could Provide 2% of Global Fuel

Black liquor is a waste byproduct of the paper/pulp process. As environmental regulations grow stricter, the paper/pulp industry has been under pressure to find an economical use for the waste stream. Chemrec has developed a Black Liquor Gasification (BLG) process to turn the waste fluid into syngas, then into CHP or fuel.

Chemrec’s black liquor gasification (BLG) technology converts the black liquor waste stream from the paper pulping process into synthesis gas. The synthesis gas can then be processed into a variety of fuels—likely dimethyl ether (DME) and methanol (MeOH), although fuels such as Fischer-Tropsch diesel (FTD), Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG), or hydrogen are also possible.

The global potential of this is equivalent to more than 45 billion liters a year of gasoline, according to Chemrec—2% of global fuel demand. _GCC

Any carbon based organic matter can be converted into syngas using gasification, or into bio-oil and bio-char by using pyrolysis. The syngas and bio-oil can be chemically refined into fuel, or can be used to fire CHP generators directly. The bio-char can be used for soil enrichment, or for the many other uses to which charcoal is put.