Future combustion engine power plant - WP4 fuel flexibility: Periodic report of 2nd year

"Future fuels for engine power plants" seminar was held on 22.11.2011. Potential alternative fossil fuels and biofuels were considered for engine power plants, ships and high-speed engines. Twelve high-class speakers and 125 participants were present. LNG in shipping is answer to future ECA requirements, but infrastructure aspect is challenging. Various steps in the LNG logistics process and solutions were explored in report D4.2. Possible LNG distribution network in the Finnish market will probably be phased. LNG in shipping offers considerable emission reductions. Biogas upgrading is studied in two aspects. The first task focuses on upgrading technologies providing sufficient gas quality for the supply to the natural gas grid. There are several biogas upgrading plants in many countries, and different technologies are favoured in depending on capacity classes. The most popular technologies are currently water scrubbing and pressure swing adsorption. The demand for more plants has led to the standardized upgrading units, which decreases the costs. The literature study on this task is progressing. The second task regards minimum upgrading of biogas for medium speed engines, for which siloxanes were deemed to be a weak spot. A review of costs of siloxane removal techniques, and construction of a test bench to study selected siloxane removal techniques are ongoing. Simulated biogas in laboratory conditions will be used in the actual tests on siloxane removal technologies. Prediction methods were developed to predict diesel engine performance on various fuels. However, it appeared that calibration is required for each case, thus still making engine testing a necessity. The model could possibly be improved. A library of fuel component data is needed and simulations should be run again. The report D4.5 and a seminar presentation were published. Doctoral thesis is under progress. Medium-speed engine tests for prediction method focused on the "pre-environmental fuels". The main effort was given to the modification of GD injection system for using LPG. Also hexane study continued and tyre pyrolysis oil was tested. Milestone M4.4.2 was reached and report D4.6 is under progress. High-speed engine test bench at UV was tuned and new instruments were calibrated with test runs on diesel fuel oil and fatty acid methyl esters. Work on 1st generation ester-type biodiesel, "Biofuel deterioration", was completed in the 1st year of FCEP program (Deliverable 4.10). In 2011, Deliverable D4.4 and a conference paper were published. Doctoral thesis is under progress. Compatibility of 1st generation biodiesel (FAME) with emission control devices was reported in D4.8. ASP allows FAME only as blends in standard diesel fuels for the machines with exhaust aftertreatment. 2nd generation biodiesel (BTL, HVO) may be addressed with fuel system durability concerns in some conditions. Discussions on 1st and 2nd generation biodiesel are followed. The experimental study of the dual-fuel engine with ethanol as primary fuel was completed 1-2 and a master s thesis has been written. It was possible to use 80/20 ethanol/diesel ratio, but the modifications were too extensive for engine's operation with diesel fuel only. In the next step of development, an engine closer to a standard diesel engine will be built. As concerns diesel-ignited biogas engine, a generating set has been built using a standard diesel engine with a low pressure injection system for non-purified biogas. At this stage the main target is to get experience from the operation in long-term use.