Why alcohols will replace gasoline and diesel fuel to be the fuels of the future?

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Robert Falco, PhD Professor of Mechanical Engineering Director of the Institute for Energy Resourcefulness President, Solar Clean Fuels, LLC Why alcohols will replace gasoline and diesel to be the fuels of the future?

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Gasoline is not only expensive, it is harmful to you health. We review the effects of lead, and MTBE additives that were in gasoline. Both harmful to your health. Currently, gasoline, now called reformulated gasoline, contains 1 percent benzene. Chronic exposure to relatively low levels of benzene significantly increases your chances of getting leukemia.Your exposure comes in three ways: when you are filling up, through the build up of emissions from engine combustion, and through the additional emissions created by the three-way catalytic converter. We show the way to get off gasoline and diesel. The answer, the only answer, is to run our cars on alcohols. Don't get hung up on the corn ethanol/food/water issues. It only one of a number of possible alcohol choices, and ethanol can be made in other ways -- as we discuss. But the real answer is to use methanol with some ethanol. The majority of methanol will initially be made from natural gas, and then we will move to organic wastes, and then to farm grown algae. We are the Saudi Arabia of wastes. Methanol can also be made 30% more efficiently using the sun and CO2. We go over these options. You will be wealthier, healthier, independent of OPEC, and you will have more fun driving. Make you voice known.

Transcript of Why alcohols will replace gasoline and diesel fuel to be the fuels of the future?

  • Why alcohols will replace gasoline and diesel to be the fuels of the future? Robert Falco, PhD Professor of Mechanical Engineering Director of the Institute for Energy Resourcefulness President, Solar Clean Fuels, LLC
  • Those that fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it. Winston Churchill
  • Why we want to get off gasoline and diesel Supply Health Environment Economy Security Overview of the alternatives 1. Electric cars 2. Cost of CNG/LNG from natural gas 3. Ethanol Economy 4. Methanol Economy Future Directions
  • Alaska GulfOn-shore
  • Demand growth fromChina is much greater than 7%from the US Twice our carbon footprint by 2015 8.3% -- 2009 United China 10.9% -- 2010 States
  • Number of cars will increase by 4 times in 40 years
  • Average Best & Average WorstVisibility Impairment in the Phoenix Area Figure 9. ADEQ Air Quality Annual Report 2008
  • The correlation of oil prices and unemployment over 45 years 1965 2015
  • Rapid Societal DeathOur commerce, and American life as we know it, would stop on the dime, if OPEC wanted it to.
  • Gasoline additives and our health During WWI, it was discovered that you can add a chemical called tetraethyl lead to gasoline and significantly improve its octane rating. Low level exposure to children: Lowered IQ, reading and learning disabilities, impaired hearing, hyperactivity, impaired growth. Acute exposure in adults: Blindness, brain damage, kidney disease, cancers, death Prohibited because it destroyed catalytic converters!
  • MTBE replaced lead in so called Reformulated Gasoline (RFG) MTBE has been used in U.S. gasoline at low levels since 1979 to replace TEL to increase its octane rating and help prevent engine knocking. It was used in combination with aromatics like benzene and toluene. Gasoline can contain as much as 10 percent to 15 percent MTBE. Gasoline may contain up to 50% aromatics The main problem with MTBE is that it is thought to be carcinogenic and it mixes easily with water.
  • Benzene: It gets to you in more thanthe fumes you breath when you fill up We all know about the filler cap regulations, but, the benzene emissions that result from the catalytic converter acting on the emissions is 2 orders of magnitude worse when the car is either cold or is accelerating. At the minimum turn your head away from the pump.
  • Benzine risk for Leukemia WHO: 1 part in a million is considered acceptable. In 2001 EPA estimated that we had 10 X this limit in the US. 2005 Swiss study calculated that 100x is emitted from the tailpipe of an accelerating vehicle.
  • What did we replace the MTBE with - Ethanol Ethanol is OK health wise Ethanol made from corn has many problems Ethanol can be made from other sources Other alcohols can supplement it. Methanol. BIGGEST problem: vehicles are designed with gasoline as the standard, making alcohols poor substitutes
  • We must get rid of legacy practices and procedures In moving forward sensibly we must have a plan for the future In moving forward we can wean ourselves from oil gently, but with the full intent to wean ourselves For all of the reasons given, we must make gasoline and diesel less and less of the fuel mix we use. So in our transition we must focus on oil in the future as an additive, NOT as the standard we are modifying.
  • Outline Why we want to get of gasoline and diesel Health Environment Economy Security Supply Overview of the alternatives 1. Electric cars 2. Cost of CNG/LNG from natural gas 3. Ethanol Economy 4. Methanol Economy Future Directions
  • Electric Cars Excessive costs High CO2 limited range WTW GHG worse than gasoline ---- coal Nuclear not happening in the next few decades Natural gas burned to make electricity vs. used directly or converted to a liquid (methanol/ethanol) 60% loss at power plant + 7-10% in transmission Battery costs Range Durability Safety Every decade a 10% improvement is made in batteries
  • Fuel cells PEM -- very high costs, but can work with methanol DMFC even higher costs methanol fuel SOFC lowest costs lowest reliability can use methanol Bottom line: 2 decades for SOFC,and discovery for the PEM and DMFC
  • CNG/LNG
  • CNG proponents sloganClean, Abundant and American -- YES Affordable -- NO.
  • Storage tanks in a CNG automobile $7,500 - $12,000 additional costs
  • 24 / 7 CNG self serve pump for cars on the UCLA campus $300,000 to $500,000per dispenser to install
  • Costs to US to replace gasoline with CHG/LNG It cost about 100x as much to convert to CNG/LNG as it does to make a Flex Fueled car that can use any combination of gasoline, ethanol and/or methanol. Our gross national debt is ~ $14 T, our gross national product is ~ $14T, CNC/LNG would cost ~$3T, or, 21.5% of GNP The interstate Hwy system cost 1.4% of GNP in 1958 Peak WWII spending was 44% of our GNP CNG/LNG is NOT a societal solution
  • What CAN we do?
  • Drop-in liquid fuels are the way to go If drop-in is not feasible, then liquid fuels that need a minimal modification GM has produced four million of the eleven million flexfuel cars now on American roads. GMs Vice Chairman Tom Stephens says it adds "as much as $70 to the production cost" of a car to make it a flexfuel car. Thursday May 26, 2011Institute for Energy Resourcefulness 5/30/12
  • Why not Alcohol? Henry Ford made the Model T both alcohol and gasoline compatible for 2 decades.Until (Rockefeller supported) Prohibition
  • Ethanol Economy Strong proponents Water usage Corn States Brazilian sugarcane industry Fertilizers Equatorial belt countries Biomass limit Sources: Wheel to well CO2 Sugarcane and starch (corn) Cellulose Overall economy Natural gas Feedstock is 80% Performance Tail pipe emissions ICE and Diesel Toxicity and Flammability Fuel Cells DistributionThe Biomass limit means that ethanol made from crops can only meet 20-30% of our needs
  • Ethanol/Gasoline Vehicles that getMORE power and BETTER mileage
  • Proof of the pudding ICEs can run better on alcohols Saab Biopower line By reprogramming the on-board computer By using a turbocharger to increase the CR of the engine By changing the fuel system components to handle alcohols Saab increased the HP of their 2liter, 150HP engine, to 180HP At the same time they increased the torque by 40Nm
  • Saab performance curvesRON research octane no.
  • A further example The Dutch Koenigsegg CCXR gets 1/3 more power running on E85 over its gasoline model.
  • Saab demonstration of what is possible with alcohols
  • Saab President talking about the future of cars running on alcohols
  • A big step further E100 Saab E100 Using 100% ethanol, and optimizing the engine for it, Saab took a 2 liter 150 HP engine and had it output 300 HP. EPA showed that a VW TDI diesel engine could run more efficiently on 100% methanol or 100% ethanol. Could manufacture engines more cheaply than diesels MIT pointed out that a 15 liter engine could be replaced with a 7 liter engine.
  • Ethanol can give engines diesel engine efficiencieswithout the need for high pressure injection systems and either DPF or Urea NOx reducing exhaust treatment. Diesel Spark ignited E100 We can replace diesel engines with equally efficient alcohol run spark ignition engines, and not need the particulates, NOx or bio-diesel.
  • At E30 the mileage in an optimizedengine is better than with gasoline alone Combined with an optimized conventional drivetrain, the efficiency gain shown in the previous slide for E30 should yield an estimated 10% - 12% gain in fuel economy. Thus it more than compensates for the approximately 8% loss in fuel energy density of E30 vs. straight gasoline. EPA
  • Swedish diesel busesrunning on 95% bio-ethanol has been running for 15 years
  • Ethanol has 2/3 the energy per unit volume of gasoline
  • Progression of E85 fuel economy in US cars Because ethanol contains less energy than gasoline, fuel economy is reduced for most 2002 and earlier American FFVs by about 30%. Most after 2003 lose only 15-17% or less. Some of he newest American vehicles achieve only a 5-15% loss.
  • Are we being manipulated by business directed engineering? In one test, a Chevy Tahoe flex-fuel vehicle averaged 18 MPG [U.S. gallons] for gasoline and 13 MPG for E85, or 28% fewer MPG than gasoline. In another test, however, a fleet of Ford Tauruses averaged only about 6% fewer miles per gallon in the ethanol-based vehicles as compared to traditional, gas-powered Tauruses. The Honda Civic FFV, in Brazil, when running on E100, generates 140HP at 6,200 rpm and 174 Nm of torque at 4,300 rpm. Fill it with an E22 mix and those numbers only drop to 138 HP and 172 Nm (this torque peak arrives at 5,000 rpm). With the Honda Fit FFV, in Brazil, on E100, it makes 83 HP at 5,700 rpm and 119Nm of torque at 2,800 rpm. On E22, it drops to 80 HP and 116 Nm at identical engine speeds. The aforementioned facts leads some to believe that the FFV engine is more of an infant technology rather than fully mature. Others, believe we are being manipulated!
  • Solar Methanol will use no water
  • Non-Corn Ethanol Sugarcane The entire equatorial belt + others (i.e., Hawaii etc.) Sugar beet temperate zone climates The Celanese process: ethanol from natural gas Cellulosic ethanol Joule process: ethanol from waste water, CO2 and sunlight 1 Coskata, Dupont Danisco, Fulcrum Bio -- corn cobs , switchgrass 2 Mascoma, Range Fuels, Dyadic enzymes wood, etc. 3 POET, Iogen, Abengoa wheat straw, corn cobs Research Institute of Innovative Technology and Honda
  • The Methanol Economy Broad range of sources: Higher octane Methane, bio-methane, organic wastes Burns cooler Useable in both Spark Higher Flash point Ignition Engines and Diesels Burns cleaner Emissions Can be mixed with ethanol and gasoline Fuel for furnaces, turbines Fuel for fuel cells.The cheapest liquid fuel, with the largest number of non-food sources
  • EPA Brake Thermal Efficiency Comparison same engine run in its nativeengine fueled on 100% methanol diesel mode (1.9L VW TDI in spark ignition mode diesel) Typical 1.9L gasoline engine has 22-25% BTE
  • What Can This Mean for Fleet Economics? Reduce engine system costs (engine plus exhaust treatment) by $10,000 - $15,000 MIT study. The engines cost less (diesels are more expensive) No need for either the Diesel Particulate Filter or the Urea Filter (NOx) Reduced maintenance Fuel costs less Better mileage up to 5% better fuel economy The Saab 9-5 gets 15% better fuel economy with a turbocharger
  • Even Ethanol/Gasoline mixtures as low asE30 can give engine efficiencies close to that of a diesel. EPA resultsWe can replace diesel engineswith equally efficient alcohol run spark ignition engines,and not need the particulates, NOx or bio-diesel.
  • Enables operation with power densities up to three times that which can be provided by diesel engines . This makes possible highly downsized alcohol engines (e.g. a 15 liter diesel engine could potentially be replaced by an SI engine with a displacement of 7 liters or less).
  • Methanol has the energy per unit volume of gasoline
  • WTW GHG Emissions of methanol production Gasoline WTW GHG Sweden, Germany
  • Safety GASOLINE METHANOL In the California test (15 years), with over 200 million miles of methanoldriving, there was not a single case of accidental methanol poisoning. For M100 a 90% reduction in fuel related automotive fires is projected. P. A. Machiele, Summary Of The Fire Safety Impacts of Methanol as a Transportation Fuel, SAE International paper 901113
  • Bio-Methanol Processes Schwarze Pumpe 100,000 tons from sewage sludge/industrial wastes BioMCN methanol from glycerin Haldor-Topsoe black liquor; Sweden, Michigan Landfill gas methanol from biogas - AD Human wastes methanol from biogas AD From wood waste pyrolysis
  • A GEM of an idea.To enable us to move to high %methanol use before cellulosic ethanol comes along
  • The GEM Idea Find the blend of Gasoline, Ethanol and Methanol that: The 11,000,000 existing US FFVs can use now Make the octane rating exactly the same across a range of GEM mixtures The volumetric energy content constant across the blends The latent heat constant across the blends Thus the driver and the sensors do NOT know anything has changed, but INSTANTY, 11 million vehicles can use up to 50% methanol.
  • GEM (gasoline, ethanol, methanol) mixtures.How to use current cars to move to methanol NOW!Blends at any position along the x-axis will give the same performance; goingfrom 55% methanol and 45% gasoline (0% ethanol) to 85% ethanol and 15% ethanol.
  • Alcohol Cars/EnginesSaab Aero X200HP 400 HPBrazilian 4 fuels Fiat Lotus Exige 270E EPA Alcohol Test Engine
  • Alcohol Cars E20-E100 Honda in Brazil introduced in 2006With its flexible-fuel system, Honda believesthat it has essentially conquered all theknown drawbacks of using ethanol: problems with cold starts variations in fuel economy and emissions are all addressed with the new system.Designed to operate on fuel grades rangingfrom E20 all the way up to E100.The result, according to Honda, is that itsFFVs will have performance and fueleconomy ratios that nearly equal those oftheir gasoline-only engines.
  • An adjustable blend fuel pump in South Dakota Walmart is talking about adding 9000 more We need dispensers that can dispense what you need on demand. Just like this one.There are 2900 E85 filling stations in the US
  • Costs of equivalent amount of energy. Methanol is cheaper than either gasoline or ethanol Gasoline = $3.90 Ethanol = $3.44*1.25 = $4.30 Methanol (estimate) = $3.00
  • Furthermore, contract pricing issubstantially less than market prices. California methanol costs: The price of methanol today is $1.30 gal
  • Grams CO2 equivalent vs fuels
  • Outline Why we want to get of gasoline and diesel Health Environment Economy Security Supply Overview of the alternatives 1. Electric cars 2. Cost of CNG/LNG from natural gas 3. Ethanol Economy 4. Methanol Economy Future Directions
  • Future Trends Alcohol ICE Engines Ethanol or Methanol engines with high efficiency (>40% peak) Lends itself to exhaust thermal energy recovery in the form of chemical and mechanical energy. Combined Alcohol + heat recovery system approach fuel cell efficiencies (>55% peak) at a significantly lower cost. Hybrids with tiny alcohol ICE Methanol reforming hydrogen for PEM fuel cells Anaerobic digestion of organic wastes alcohols Pyrolysis of organic wastes alcohols Direct enzyme solar transformation to ethanol - Joule Solar dry reforming of methane to methanol Direct methanol fuel cells
  • Hybrid-ethanol or methanol vehicle can run at maximum efficiency ALL the time. Hydraulic US EPA Study Hybrid Operating Line Methanol would create a 43% efficiency range for the hydrid operation
  • Biomass to MethanolPyrolysis is a thermochemicaldecomposition of organic material atelevatedtemperatureswithout theparticipationof oxygen.
  • COWS------ > BIOGAS----- > GASIFIER -- > METHANOL---- > VEHICLES Landfill NET EFFICIENCY = .70*.85 = 59.5%Institute for Energy Resourcefulness 65 5/30/12
  • Methanol from CO2 and hydrogen
  • CH4 + CO2 2H2 +2CO; CH3OH H =-90.6kJmol Maximum theoretical efficiency = 1.3*.85 = 1.10%Institute for Energy Resourcefulness 67 5/30/12
  • Main Takeaway Do not be hung up with our problems with corn ethanol alcohols are in your future: both ethanol and methanol from non-food origins. These will be cheaper, not vie for land or water or fertilizer Alcohols are the ONLY replacement for oil in Internal Combustion Engines. Alcohols are the best fuel for fuel cells
  • Do we needto bring outthe cavalryto move thisforward?
  • Sustainable oil replacement 10% oil100%today
  • What We Must Do Now Encourage auto companies to come clean about fuel capabilities of current cars, both Flex Fueled and gasoline. Marshall our national desire to be independent of the noose around our necks that gasoline dependence is. Think about what you can do to get this on the national political stage. Prepare for alcohols by: 1) Having the auto companies make vehicles that can use them. 2) Telling your representatives that you see them as a solution 3) Tell your local government to investigate them. If we get no response ask congress to pass the fuel neutral Open Fuels Standard Act. Remember ethyl lead! You wont miss your daily dose of benzene!
  • Conclusions We can continuously wind down our use of oil, while at the same time improving performance, reducing pollution and costs. Mixed alcohols are our future fuel for both ICE and Fuel Cells. They are in our system already, and their use can be increased rapidly. They will be made from corn and natural gas first Then they will be made from organic wastes, and algae, and processed cleanly using solar, nuclear and wind energy. We will be healthier, greener, and self sufficient. We will ultimately run very efficient cars, with tiny engines and/or methanol fuel cells that are CO2 neutral and with have very low emissions.
  • For more information Contact Bob Falco Institute for Energy Resourcefulness