Biodiesel research against the backdrop of more stringent emissions legislation and fuel chemistry requirements

Congress for Renewable Mobility: experts discuss current research outcomes.

Berlin, 13th November 2017. The 15th International Congress for Renewable Energy, which will be held in Berlin from 22nd – 23rd January 2018, once again offers the international biodiesel and biofuel industry a platform to meet with experts from the world of science for discussions on current research outcomes and new topics shaping biodiesel’s prospects. These research results are not relevant solely for the German and European biodiesel market, but are of global interest, as more stringent engine technology and fuel chemistry requirements are also being introduced in important production sites in North and South America, as well as in Asia.

With a view to demonstrating prospects for biodiesel as a pure fuel (B100) against the backdrop of growing demands on engine technology and increasingly stringent emissions legislation, Dr. Volker Wichmann, Chair for Piston Engines and Combustion Engines at Rostock University, addresses results from test-stand studies in agricultural and industrial machinery in exhaust-gas category EU V.

Globally biodiesel is deployed above all as a blend component (B7 / B10). In order to ensure smooth continuous operation, the quality of the biodiesel and potential interactions between fossil fuels and biofuel-carrying vehicle components must be taken into account. This is particularly relevant when the biodiesel/diesel blend remains in plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles’ (PHEV) fuel tanks for long periods.

Fuel consumption drops when vehicles are preferably powered by electricity, leading to longer refuelling intervals. Against this backdrop, Jens Staufenbiel, Coburg Technology Transfer Centre Automotive, Coburg University of Applied Sciences, addresses development of on-board sensor systems for prompt identification of possible deposit formation in biodiesel-containing fuels, in order to implement appropriate preventive strategies. A further issue in this context, ageing of diesel exhaust gas catalysts when utilizing biofuels, has been studied by Felix Link, Institute of Technical Chemistry, Leipzig University, who will present his research results.

Drawing on selected analytical results on biodiesel element load as a potential cause of catalyst poisoning, Dr. Richard Wicht from the Quality Management Working Group Biodiesel e.V looks at ways to meet and even outperform the quality requirements stipulated in the European biodiesel norm (EN 14214) by optimising process technology and quality assurance systems.

The “Biodiesel Research – Presentation of Selected Projects” Forum on 23rd January 2017 (9 a.m. to 11 a.m.) is moderated by Professor Dr. Jürgen Krahl, President of Ostwestfalen-Lippe University of Applied Sciences and Chairman of UFOP’s (Union for the Promotion of Oil and Protein Plants) Expert Commission on Biofuels and Renewable Resources.

The Forum is aimed at research and development experts in the field of biodiesel production and marketing.

Further information: http://www.kraftstoffe-der-zukunft.com/