View the report: High efficiency enabled by hydrous ethanol use in dual‐ fuel engines
About this report:
The purpose of this project is to use hydrous ethanol to demonstrate high efficiency with reduced emissions in a modified diesel engine where ethanol provides up to 80% of the fuel energy input. Our approach improves on traditional ethanol fumigation in diesel engines and opens up new applications for ethanol as a diesel fuel replacement. A key motivation for this work is previous research that suggests hydrous ethanol is less expensive to produce than anhydrous ethanol and more renewable due to lower fossil energy consumption.
Conclusions:
This work has successfully shown that significant emissions reductions can be obtained using hydrous ethanol in a diesel engine with complete control of the engine fuel injection calibration.
Project outcomes:
Expanding the market for fuel ethanol could have a significant impact on Minnesota’s economy. This project has shown that hydrous ethanol can replace a significant amount of diesel fuel use in Minnesota if dual-fuel engines were commercially available. An additional market for fuel ethanol could help growers and producers by allowing them to reduce risk and potentially expand their operations. Despite the potential of hydrous ethanol, dual fuel engines will not be produced by engine OEM’s unless fuel infrastructure is installed and a clear market demand from consumers is proven.
Questions?
For questions or additional information, please contact AURI at 800.279.5010.
