Experimental Capabilities

Bio-Blendstock/Fuel Production Research

Producing, recovering, and purifying bio-derived materials of interest for advanced fuels, including production at a scale sufficient for property and performance testing.

• Synthetic biology & Advanced Fermentation Strategies for biofuels
• Thermochemical process development
• Catalytic process development and blendstock production
• Fully equipped organic synthesis capabilities
• Feedstock selection and formulation

Bio-Blendstock/Fuel Property Research

Experimental determination of fundamental thermophysical and fuel-specification properties of bio-derived blendstocks and blended fuels.

• Experimental determination of fundamental thermophysical properties and fuel-specification testing of bio-derived blendstocks and blended fuels
• Fuel/oxygenates and lubricant interactions
• Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS)
• Materials/component compatibility with advanced fuels

Bio-Blendstock/Fuel Performance and Combustion Research

Research on the performance of bio-blendstocks and blended fuels in the fuel distribution system, and in engines or under combustion conditions relevant to fuel combustion in engines.

• Engines for fuels research
• Emissions characterization and control
• Devices for fuel-spray characterization, including soot formation
• Fundamental emission catalysis capabilities
• Advanced emission catalysis capabilities

 

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Computational Capabilities

Performance

Modeling of combustion in engines or under conditions relevant to engine performance.

• Multi-dimensional simulations and combustion modeling in engines or under engine-relevant conditions

Kinetic Models and Surrogate Mixtures Needed for Simulation of Combustion in Engines

Development of detailed chemical models, reduced chemical models and surrogate mixtures needed to represent real fuels. Exercising kinetic models over pressure-temperature trajectories to understand kinetic-based fuel-specific differences with engine operating conditions.

• Chemical kinetic models for new fuels blended with gasoline and diesel fuels
• Reduced kinetic mechanisms for new fuels and blended with gasoline or diesel fuels
• Surrogate mixtures developed to represent real fuel properties

Properties

Development of predictive models based on molecular structure or based on correlations of properties of bio-blendstocks alone and in blended fuels.

• Physical and chemical fuel property prediction

Impacts

Economic, environmental, societal, and market models to predict implications of future fuel/engine systems.

• Automotive Deployment Options Projection Tool (ADOPT) and Biomass Scenario Model (BSM)
• Bioeconomy Air Emissions, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Energy Consumption Model (Bioeconomy AGE)
• Jobs and Economic Development Impact (JEDI)
• Life-cycle analysis (LCA)
• Refinery Integration Analysis
• Techno-economic analysis (TEA)

Target Identification

Use of computational tools to identify bio-blendstocks likely to have advantageous properties and performance in any particular type of engine and operating regime.

• Computational tools to identify bio-blendstocks with advantageous properties

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