Reducing emissions using biofuel blends from engines with SCR catalytic converters

Optimisation potential confirmed for biodiesel with exhaust aftertreatment

Berlin, 28th March 2014 – By optimising the dosing quantity of urea in the exhaust aftertreatment (AdBlue), a further reduction of nitrogen oxides at higher levels of biodiesel in diesel fuel is possible. These are the findings of the project undertaken at the Thünen Institute of Agricultural Technology in Braunschweig, which studied the effects of biofuel blends on the emissions of a commercial vehicle engine with an SCR catalytic converter. As part of this project, both regulated emissions as well as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and the mutagenicity of the exhaust gas were determined. While no consistent effect of the biofuel blend could be determined in terms of regulated emissions, the SCR catalytic converter did lead to significant reductions in the emission of PAHs and in the mutagenicity of the exhaust gas.

The Union zur Förderung von Oel- und Proteinpflanzen (UFOP) has funded this project as part of a multi-year scholarship. The main aim was to investigate the effect on the emissions at higher levels of biodiesel (RME) in diesel fuel (up to 50%). Cooperation partners were the University of Coburg and the Institute for Prevention and Occupational Medicine of the German Social Accident Insurance in Bochum. 
The main results of the research project are published in German and English in the Technical Automobile Journal and are also available as a reprint here. The comprehensive report will also be made available as a dissertation on the UFOP website in the course of the year.