Mixing-Controlled Compression-Ignition Combustion with Diesel-Like Alternative Fuels
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Mueller, Charles J. [Sandia National Laboratories ↗
SEARCH · Engineering Papers
Results for “alternative fuel”
Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Alternative Fuels Data Center Fuel Properties Comparison
This chart compares the physical fuel properties and considerations associated with gasoline/E10, low sulfur diesel, biodiesel, propane, compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas, ethanol, methanol, hydrogen, and electricity for use as vehicle fuels.
47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
Investigation of Flash Boiling for Alternative Fuels Under Flashing Conditions.
Abstract not provided.
Arienti, Marco↗
Alternative Fuels Data Center Fuel Properties Comparison
This chart compares the physical fuel properties and considerations associated with gasoline/E10, low sulfur diesel, biodiesel, renewable diesel, propane, compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas, ethanol, methanol, hydrogen, and electricity for use as vehicle fuels.
ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
Sustainability assessment of alternative jet fuel for the U.S. Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD) is considering replacing the 2.8 billion gallons of petroleum jet fuel consumed within the continental United States (CONUS) annually with alternative jet fuels to reduce vulnerability to price and supply fluctuations and improve sustainability. We evaluate the feasibility of replacing DoD CONUS jet fuel with alternative jet fuel from domestic feedstocks and assess the cost, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, energy balance, land, water, and fertilizer impacts of nine alternative jet fuel pathways. The feedstocks include terrestrial crops (soy, corn, wood, and grass), marine microalgae, and by-products (forestry residue, municipal solid waste, and waste oil) converted by extraction, fermentation, or thermo-chemical conversion, paired with upgrading steps. We found that domestic biomass feedstocks can meet the DoD CONUS jet fuel demand without significantly affecting food supply. Alternative pathways cost more than petroleum jet fuel ($0.78 l -1 and emitting 89 g CO 2 equivalent (CO 2e ) MJ -1 ), but many lowered GHG emissions. The forestry residue and waste oil pathways yielded the lowest costs ($\$0.92$ and $\$0.82$ l -1 , respectively), decreased emissions (23 and 35 g CO 2 e MJ -1 , respectively), and had negligible effects on land, water, and fertilizer resources. Finally, tradeoffs among sustainability metrics are further explored with a sensitivity analysis and by evaluating carbon-cost scenarios.
09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
Connected and Learning Based Optimal Freight Management for Efficiency
The management of the future heterogenous fleet is a complex decision-making problem. The heterogenous fleet is emerging as decarbonization technologies are deployed by fleets toward lowering the freight operation emissions in Medium and Heavy-duty vehicles. Traditionally, in fleets characterized by a homogeneous Diesel Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) powertrain, the process of fleet planning and operational optimization unfolds sequentially without the necessity to account for powertrain and vehicle-specific characteristics during dispatch decisions. Fleets with trucks less than 5 years old tend to maintain stable vehicle efficiency with minimal operational reliability risks for fleet managers. However, the landscape changes with the incorporation of emerging powertrain technologies, which lack extensive operational data and service experiences. This includes technologies like hybrid, Electric, Fuel Cell, or alternative fuel ICE. Operational decisions for fleets featuring heterogeneous powertrain technologies and facing limited access to alternative fueling and charging stations become intricate, requiring careful consideration and optimization at each dispatch. The difference in efficiency characteristics of emerging technologies, their range limitations, and the restricted availability of charging/alternative fueling infrastructure, coupled with sensitivity to driving conditions (e.g., EV range reduction in low temperatures) and their impact on component aging (such as batteries), become pivotal factors influencing the reliable and efficient freight transportation. To make the path toward low emission freight transportation efficient and reliable, an AI-assisted fleet management software is developed in this project to help fleet managers in optimizing both adoption of emerging powertrain decarbonization, connected and automated technologies and also operating the fleet after such technologies are deployed as schematically. Freight transportation requirements are different depending on the cargos to be shipped, customer requirements and regions of operations. This further highlights the need for software and digital solutions to tailor deployment and operation of emerging powertrain, connectivity, and automation technologies toward the specific fleet operation requirements. The fleet management optimizer was also integrated with a model of the fleet to simulate the operation of the fleet over 1 year of the baseline fleet operation (250,000+ shipments) indicating the significance of day-to-day variations on emissions and energy consumption of a freight transportation fleet. The results demonstrate ≥20% improvement in freight efficiency in terms of WTW CO2 per ton-mile of cargo shipments while all fleet operation constraints are enforced, and the cost (CapEx and OpEx) is minimized.
33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
Primer on the Cost of Marine Fuels Compliant with IMO 2020 Rule
This report aims to provide information for owners and operators of U.S. ocean-going marine cargo vessels on the cost of different approaches to compliance with the IMO mandate to reduce the sulfur content of marine fuels (outside emission control areas) to no more than 0.5%. The IMO 2020 rule came into effect on January 1, 2020. The report discusses a suite of options for compliance including low-sulfur petroleum-based fuels and alternative fuels. Since fuel prices are a primary factor in determining the cost of the various alternatives, the document also includes a discussion of the main drivers of marine fuel prices. The cost analysis compares the average annual costs (capital and fuel) out to 2050 of each compliance approach under alternative scenarios regarding fuel prices, policy, and technology innovation. The cost calculations focus on representative U.S. fleet vessels for containership and tanker types. Even though the analysis focuses on average cost of approaches to comply with IMO 2020, the comparison of approaches also acknowledges other benefits or risks including fuel price risk and the contribution of the approach to achieving other potential environmental performance objectives or regulations.
02 PETROLEUM↗
Federal Best Practices: Core Principles of Sustainable Fleet Management
This document is designed to help agency fleet managers understand and implement optimal petroleum reduction strategies for each fleet location by evaluating the most appropriate combination of the four core principles of sustainable fleet management: Right-sizing the fleet to agency mission by implementing a vehicle allocation methodology study; Minimizing vehicle miles traveled; Increasing fleet fuel efficiency by replacing inefficient vehicles with more fuel-efficient vehicles, maintaining vehicles, driving more efficiently, and avoiding excessive idling; Optimizing cost-effective alternative fuel use, including maximizing utilization of existing alternative fuel infrastructure, installing alternative fuel infrastructure where practical (including electric vehicle charging stations), and aligning deployment of alternative fuel vehicles with fueling infrastructure.
30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
Propane Fueling Infrastructure Trends: A Decade in Review
This report provides information on propane fueling infrastructure and industry trends over the last 10 years. It is informed primarily by propane fueling station location data collected through the Alternative Fuels Data Center's Alternative Fueling Station Locator from 2011 through 2021. Industry stakeholders, including the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) and other members of the Alternative Fuels Data Center Station Locator Propane Working Group, also provided data and additional context around trends seen in the data.
33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
Federal Best Practices: Core Principles of Sustainable Fleet Management
This report helps agency fleet managers understand and implement optimal petroleum reduction strategies for fleet locations by evaluating the most appropriate combination of the four core principles of sustainable fleet management: right-sizing the fleet to agency mission by implementing a vehicle allocation methodology study; minimizing vehicle miles traveled; increasing fleet fuel efficiency by replacing inefficient vehicles with more fuel-efficient vehicles, maintaining vehicles, driving more efficiently, and avoiding excessive idling; and optimizing cost-effective alternative fuel use, including maximizing utilization of existing alternative fuel infrastructure, installing alternative fuel infrastructure where practical (including electric vehicle charging stations), and aligning deployment of alternative fuel vehicles with fueling infrastructure.
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
I-80 Mid-America Clean Fuels Corridor: Deployment Plan Report
The I-80 Mid-America Clean Fuels Corridor, which spans I-80 from Fort Lee, New Jersey, to Council Bluffs, Iowa, was designated an Alternative Fuels Corridor (AFC) in Round 1 of the Alternative Fuels Corridor program administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT’s) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Originally called the “I-80 Mid-America Alternative Fuels Corridor,” it is now named the “I-80 Mid-America Clean Fuels Corridor.” As of Round 6 AFC designation, parts of the corridor have sufficient direct current fast charging (DCFC) stations to be designated Electric Vehicle (EV)-Ready and sufficient compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling stations to be designated CNG-Ready. However, much of the corridor’s approximately 1,240 miles (mi) are not yet EV- or CNG-Ready. This includes about 1,130 mi that are designated EV-Pending and 700 mi that are designated CNG-Pending. This report presents a plan to develop EV charging and CNG fueling infrastructure sufficient to convert the entire length of the corridor to EV-Ready and CNG-Ready. Specific sites are not identified for future infrastructure. Rather, priority exits are identified, and information, analysis, and additional steps are recommended to support further refinement of these locations, as well as additional outreach and deployment efforts.
24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
Evolution of Plug-In Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure in the United States: Preprint
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center (AFDC) has tracked alternative fueling and electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the United States since 1991. This paper explores the history of the AFDC Station Locator, which was launched in 1999, and discusses the growth of electric vehicle supply equipment. It also looks at how electric vehicle drivers access public charging, and evaluates challenges, gaps, and opportunities facing both electric vehicle drivers and the industry as a whole.
ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
Machine learning models for maintenance cost estimation in delivery trucks using diesel and natural gas fuels
The maintenance costs can represent about 15%–60% of the cost of produced goods depending on the type of goods transported. To comply with stringent emissions regulations, diesel engines are incorporated with complex after-treatment systems that demand increased maintenance. The availability of alternative fuels such as natural gas and propane has fostered the natural gas and propane powertrain systems as well as electrification options for heavy- and medium-duty vehicles. A critical barrier to adopting alternative fuel vehicles has been the lack of knowledge on comparative vehicle maintenance/repair costs with conventional diesel. Moreover, the region of operation, the type of vehicle operation, and seasonal temperature changes also affect the duty cycle which impacts the maintenance and repair costs. This study focuses on estimating the cost-per-mile for heavy-duty vehicles using machine learning models such as random forest, xgboost, neural networks, and a super-learner model. The super-learner model achieved an error as low as 0.0068 $/mile for mean absolute error and 0.0086 $/mile for root mean square error with a coefficient of determination/R-Squared of 97.28%. Specifically, the paper investigates the data collected from the maintenance and repair costs associated with delivery trucks using diesel and natural gas fuels. Since the availability of data is the major constraint, we leveraged the data collected by West Virginia University and the partnership with fleet companies. This allows for additional information related to maintenance costs and fleet-specific maintenance practices of alternative fuel vehicles. This study promotes clean fuel technologies and enables fleet management companies to adopt alternative fuel vehicles in case of similar or lower cost of maintenance compared to diesel vehicles resulting in reduced emissions and total cost of ownership.
Katreddi, Sasanka↗
Life cycle greenhouse gas emissions and carbon intensity of U.S. fuel use and projection for the next 10 years-based on built capacity and expansion plans
The U.S. Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 supports biofuel production expansion through the 45Z clean fuel production tax credit, replacing previous 40A and 40B credits. This follows on the Renewable Fuel Standard from the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and its expansion in 2007. States like California, Oregon, and Washington also offer clean fuel credits. Meanwhile, federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Energy, have advanced alternative fuel technologies through research and development funding. The surging interest in the biofuel industry has spurred the demand for biofuel supplies in the markets, although achieving profitability for advanced biofuels and low-carbon e-fuels remains challenging. This study aims to track U.S. alternative fuel production capacity expansion plans over the next 10 years and estimate impacts on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. By tracking built capacity and industry announcements of planned expansion, this study complements other studies which use models to predict changes in energy technologies and the associated GHG implications. Modeled projections of future technologies are often criticized for over or underestimating the cost and potential role of new technologies. The study focuses on sustainable aviation fuel, renewable diesel, ethanol, biodiesel, and renewable natural gas. Using facility-level data, we conducted a bottom-up analysis linking biofuel production pathways with corresponding pathways and parameterizations in the Argonne R&D GREET model. Results indicate that biofuel capacity could reach 3.8 exajoules in 2035, potentially reducing U.S. GHG emissions by 179 million tonnes, including the full life cycle. This corresponds to a 20% reduction in transportation and 5% in industry sector emissions by 2035, or a 3.6% reduction in economy-wide emissions. Overall, this study shows that while biofuel production capacity in the U.S. is expanding, the capacities remain limited compared to fuel demand. Uncertainty regarding the durability and extension of incentives may be dampening the pace of growth. Meanwhile, demonstrating the commercial potential for alternative fuels and climbing the learning curve for new technologies could lead to an increased pace of expansion in later years. This study offers insights for bioenergy stakeholders, highlighting biofuel technologies' contribution to U.S. energy system and emissions reduction over time based on producers' plans.
Biofuel Producers↗
Combustor assembly for low-emissions and alternate liquid fuels
Implementations of a combustor assembly yield low emissions, require low power, are suitable for alternate liquid fuels, including highly viscous fuels, and are scalable for various heat release rates. The combustor assembly includes a fuel injector and a swirler. The fuel injector may include a choke portion and a spacer. The choke portion is disposed just upstream of an outlet of a liquid fuel conduit and prevents atomizing gas from interrupting continuous flow of the liquid fuel through the liquid fuel conduit. The spacer is disposed downstream of the outlet to precisely control the gap and thus, bifurcation of atomizing gas flow, between the outlet of liquid fuel conduit and an inlet of an orifice plate. The swirler is disposed radially outwardly and adjacent the fuel injector and includes a plurality of angled vanes.
42 ENGINEERING↗
Computation of conventional and alternative jet fuel sensitivity to lean blowout
Large Eddy Simulations (LES) are performed to compute the sensitivity of a conventional (A-2) and an alternate bio-jet (C-1) fuel to Lean Blowout (LBO). A realistic aviation gas turbine engine combustor configuration is considered. Reliable experimental LBO data and OH* chemiluminescence data for the conventional and alternate jet fuel in the combustor configuration have recently become available. The present work utilizes a highly automated, on-the-fly meshing strategy, along with adaptive mesh refinement, to demonstrate the feasibility of capturing the realistic combustion processes. A Lagrangian framework, with initial conditions specified using measurements of spray statistics, is used to model the fuel spray. Newly developed compact reaction mechanisms based on fuel surrogates are validated for the A-2 and the C-1 fuels. The compact reaction mechanisms are implemented using a detailed finite rate chemistry solver. Spray statistics computed by the present LES simulations compare well with available measurements at stable flame conditions near the lean blowout limit. The computed shape of the stable flame as represented by line integrated OH concentrations compares well with the experimental OH* chemiluminescence data. Lean blowout is reached by gradually decreasing the fuel flow rate in the computations, similar to that in the experiments. The results of the LES simulations effectively capture the fuel composition effects and estimate the sensitivity of the LBO limits to the fuel type. The computed trends in LBO limits agree within engineering accuracy with the experimental results for conventional and alternative aviation fuels. The methodology for predicting the fuel composition effects on the lean blowout limits in a fully resolved realistic, complex combustor is established for the first time.
Adaptive mesh refinement↗
Air Emissions Impacts of Fuel Substitution in the United States Cement Industry
High-heat industrial processes cannot be easily electrified, often rely on comparatively high-emitting solid fuels, and are essential for economic growth. Cement production in particular is critical to supporting construction and the expansion and maintenance of infrastructure systems in countries around the world. Fuels for cement production include petcoke, coal, and waste solvents, and their combustion contributes approximately 40% of the CO 2 emissions from global cement production. Broadening the fuel resources to include agricultural residues and other wastes can reduce emissions and divert waste from landfills. We assess the potential to use 16 different alternative fuels across the 88 integrated cement plants in the United States. The share of alternative fuels in the cement production sector could increase from the current level of 17% to as high as 73%. Fuel substitution can reduce the current fuel-related life-cycle emissions (28.6 ± 5.7 Mton CO 2 /year) by 19–45%. The greatest national-scale human health cobenefits occur when alternative fuels are prioritized at facilities currently using coal and petcoke. NO x emissions outcomes from this strategy are mixed, but SO x and particulate matter emissions reductions drive net human health benefits. These results suggest that targeted fuel substitution in heavy industries can yield outsized emissions benefits.
alternative fuels↗
Evaluation of methods and improvement of predictions for specification properties of petroleum-based and alternative aviation fuels
To support our research and process modeling for liquid fuels, including blends, from petroleum and synthetic sources such as from biomass intermediates, we evaluated composition-based prediction methods and improved predictions for five key specification properties of petroleum-based and alternative aviation fuels, namely distillation temperatures (10 % distilled, t 10 , and final boiling point, t FBP ), density, flash point, net heat of combustion, and freezing point. The types of fuels included were petroleum-based jet fuels, jet-fuel surrogate mixtures, synthetic blending components obtained from different sources, and blends of Jet A with many synthetic blending components. Expanded datasets to update associated parameters allowed significant improvements for one of the prediction methods used in earlier work, namely the Modified Weighted Average method published initially by Shi et al. By considering the importance of lighter compounds for flash points and heavier compounds for freezing points, the revised Modified Weighted Average method was further improved. For liquid density, the revised Modified Weighted Average method gave the best overall results. The revised Modified Weighted Average method, the American Society for Testing and Materials D7215 method, and the D7215 method modified by another group gave comparable results for flash point, while the revised Modified Weighted Average and D3338 methods gave the best results for net heat of combustion. Freezing point was well predicted using the revised Modified Weighted Average method and showed the most significant improvements over current predictions. Distillation temperature t 10 was not well predicted, while t FBP was predicted with a mean absolute error comparable to experimental reproducibility.
09 BIOMASS FUELS↗