VATIS UPDATE Article

Researchers from Kaiserslautern, Bochum, and Rostock, Germany, have developed a method for producing a petroleum diesel-like fuel from conventional biodiesel at low temperatures. The new biofuel fulfils the current EU and US requirements. It can be used undiluted in modern diesel engines or mixed in any ratio with petroleum diesel. The findings have been published in the journal Science Advances.

In collaboration with chemists Kai Pfister and Sabrina Baader from the collaborative research centre 3-MET at the University of Kaiserslautern, Dr. Lukas Gooßen has developed an innovative technique for treating biodiesel. “With virtually no energy input, we convert a mixture of plant-derived fatty esters and bio-ethylene, another chemical compound, into fuel. This can be combusted undiluted in modern diesel engines,” said Dr. Gooßen.

The particular advantage of this new technique is that the researchers are able to precisely adjust the chemical properties of the mixture. This process changes the ignition and combustion properties of the biodiesel. Combustion starts at lower temperatures. oreover, the process is environmentally friendly: it neither requires solvents, nor produces waste. The two methods were synchronised with each other using mathematical simulations by Mathias Baader from the University of Kaiserslautern.