Elana Chapman

Development of a Dimethyl Ether (DME)-Fueled Shuttle Bus

Dimethyl Ether (DME) is a potential ultra-clean diesel fuel. Its unique characteristics require special handling and accommodation of its low viscosity and low lubricity. In this project, DME was blended with diesel fuelto provide sufficient viscosity and lubricity to permit operation of a 7.3 liter turbodiesel engine in a campus shuttle bus with minimal modification of the fuel injection system. A pressurized fuel delivery system was added to the existing common rail injection system on the engine, allowing the DME-diesel fuel blend to be circulated through the rail at pressures above 200 psig keeping the DME in the liquid state. Fuel exiting the rail is cooled by finned tubed heat exchangers and recirculated to the rail using a gear pump. A modified LPG tank (for use on recreational vehicles) stores the DME- diesel fuel blend onboard the shuttle bus. A small cylinder of helium is used to provide a blanket of inert gas above the fuel mixture to keep the DME in the liquid state and to push the mixture to the fuel rails. A significant challenge is posed by the rapid increase in DME vapor pressure with increasing fuel temperature. As the fuel mixture passes through the rail, it is heated by the surrounding surfaces in the cylinder head. The target for maximum fuel rail temperature was set at 50°C, which corresponds to a DME vapor pressure of 150 psig. Refueling was accomplished by mixing the diesel fuel and DME onboard the bus, with diesel fuel delivered from the existing diesel tank and DME delivered by 1000 Ib cylinders at a small refueling station. The shuttle bus operates on the Faculty/Staff loop at the University Park campus of the Pennsylvania State University.

Emission Characteristics of a Navistar 7.3L Turbodiesel Fueled with Blends of Oxygenates and Diesel

Several oxygenates have been proposed and tested for use with or as diesel fuel. This paper examines two such oxygenates, CETANER and dimethyl ether (DME), partially or wholly produced by Air Products and Chemicals, Inc’s Liquid Phase Technology. In previous studies on a single cylinder compression ignition engine and a Volkswagen TDI four cylinder engine, significant reductions in particulate matter emissions were observed with blends of CETANER in diesel fuel. In this study, experiments were performed on a multicylinder Navistar 7.3L Turbodiesel engine confirmed and extended the observations from the earlier studies. This is an important step in not only showing that the fuel does perform on each type of engine in similar fashion, but also in showing that DME and its derivatives can give consistent, significant results in lowering emissions. The oxygenated fuels were blended to achieve a net addition of 2 wt.% oxygen in the blended fuel. A pressurized fueling system was developed to deliver mixtures of DME-diesel at up to 1 MPa (150 psi). With the DME-diesel blend, less consistent emissions results were obtained owing to an inability to sufficiently the fuel in the rail.

DIMETHYL ETHER (DME)-FUELED SHUTTLE BUS DEMONSTRATION PROJECT

The objectives of this research and demonstration program are to convert a campus shuttle bus to operation on dimethyl ether, a potential ultra-clean alternative diesel fuel. To accomplish this objective, this project includes laboratory evaluation of a fuel conversion strategy, as well as, field demonstration of the DME-fueled shuttle bus. Since DME is a fuel with no lubricity (i.e., it does not possess the lubricating quality of diesel fuel), conventional fuel delivery and fuel injection systems are not compatible with dimethylether. Therefore, to operate a diesel engine on DME one must develop a fuel-tolerant injection system, or find a way to provide the necessary lubricity to the DME. In this project, they have chosen the latter strategy in order to achieve the objective with minimal need to modify the engine. The strategy is to blend DME with diesel fuel, to obtain the necessary lubricity to protect the fuel injection system and to achieve low emissions. The bulk of the efforts over the past year were focused on the conversion of the campus shuttle bus. This process, started in August 2001, took until April 2002 to complete. The process culminated in an event to celebrate the launching of the shuttle bus on DME-diesel operation on April 19, 2002. The design of the system on the shuttle bus was patterned after the system developed in the engine laboratory, but also was subjected to a rigorous failure modes effects analysis with help from Dr. James Hansel of Air Products. The result of this FMEA was the addition of layers of redundancy and over-pressure protection to the system on the shuttle bus. The system became operation in February 2002. Preliminary emissions tests and basic operation of the shuttle bus took place at the Pennsylvania Transportation institutes test track facility near the University Park airport. After modification and optimization of the system on the bus, operation on the campus shuttle route began in early June 2002. However, the work and challenges have continued as it has been difficult to maintain operability of the shuttle bus due to fuel and component difficulties. As of late June 2002, it appears that the pump head itself developed operational problems (loss of smooth function) leading to excessive stress on the magnetic coupling and excessive current draw to operate. A new pump head is being installed on the system to alleviate this problem and get the shuttle bus back in operation. In summary, the conversion is completed but there have been operational challenges in the field. They continue to work to make the shuttle bus as reliable to operate on DME-diesel blends as possible.