Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - December 2024 - 14

IMPROVING THE AGELESS ICE
Clean-burning fuels, aftertreatment and other
innovations place the heavy-duty combustion
engine on a low-carbon emissions trajectory.
by Kami Buchholz
A
griculture, industrial, mining, construction,
freight transport and other major global
economy sectors rely on vehicle power to
thrive. " Internal combustion engines - those
powered by gasoline, diesel, natural gas or propane -
really are key to our current economy, and we see [the
ICE] as a key part of our energy future, " Allen Schaeffer,
executive director of the Engine Technology Forum, a
U.S.-based educational organization, said during a
September webinar.
Hosted by the Engine Technology Forum, the
" Taking Internal Combustion Engines to the Next
Level " session focused on current and under-development
innovations aimed at increasing engine efficiency
and lowering emissions.
Bio-fueling ICE
" With biodiesel, it's a very sustainable industry for food
and fuel, " said Steve Howell, founding partner of MarcIV
Consulting (M4) and chair of the American Society
of Testing and Materials Biodiesel Task Force. Biomassbased
diesel fuels can be made from animal fats or various
oils, including soybean oil and distillers' corn oil.
Production of biodiesel and renewable diesel has risen
dramatically over the past 15 years. In 2010, fuel production
reached 200 million gallons and soared to more
than 4.5 billion gallons in 2023. " We're right around
14 December 2024
FPT Industrial's first single-base
multi-fuel engine, the XC13, is
installed in the Iveco S-Way.
50/50 renewable diesel and biodiesel in North America today, " Howell
said. The long-term projection is 6 billion gallons by 2030 and 15 billion
gallons by 2050. Feedstock capacity can support an additional 1.8 billion
gallons of biomass-based diesel production through 2025, according
to industry research.
Using low-carbon biomass diesel in internal combustion engines
could reduce atmospheric carbon by 70%, according to Howell. " The
industry is doing the work. So B100 [pure, unblended biodiesel], RD100
[renewable diesel] or a blend of the two will be viable options for low
net-carbon combustion in 2030, 2050 and beyond, " Howell said.
Diesel-fuel sulfur content in the U.S. market is 15 ppm maximum,
although certain off-road applications can use a higher sulfur diesel.
Mary Dery, Innospec's Performance Additives technical director,
pointed out that untreated diesel fuel can create engine performance
issues. For example, if a fuel injector is dispensing a direct stream
versus an aerosol spray, that's problematic. " It means the fuel is not
going to combust properly in the combustion chamber, which leads
to poor fuel economy. And it ends up making more particulates, "
Dery said, adding a fuel detergent can resolve the issue.
Dery cited several field-trial examples to illustrate how a diesel fuel
additive can improve engine performance. In a field test involving a John
Deere 5100E farm tractor with 1,800-plus hours of operation, the vehicle's
untreated fuel injector was removed, revealing deep caverns of deposits.
" It looked like a volcano. But after only 100 hours of operating on a
detergent additive in the fuel, the deposits around the [fuel injector]
holes eroded away, and the NOx emissions were reduced by 30 percent, "
Dery said. She also noted that there was a 34% reduction in 2.5
PM particulate emissions and a 30% reduction in soot emissions.
TRUCK & OFF-HIGHWAY ENGINEERING
IVECO
Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - December 2024

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