To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, fossil fuels are being replaced by synthetic and biogenic fuels. The mixture of fuels and their properties lead to challenges in many applications, e.g. the occurrence of deposits is a significant problem that can lead to operational impairments and system failure.
In order to clarify the chemical-physical causes of deposit formation during fuel evaporation, the BMWK has funded a research project that has been completed after three years.
The project investigated fossil fuels and in particular the use and influence of alternative fuels of biogenic and synthetic origin in fresh and aged mixtures.
The quantities of deposits produced in a test stand depended both on the fuel (mixtures) themselves and on the ageing condition of the fuel mixtures. The analysis of the deposits showed that coking appears to play a predominant role in deposit formation. 60-85% of the deposits consist of inorganic carbon, while the remaining portion consists mainly of pyrolyzable hydrocarbons with 0-3 oxygen atoms. Differences were found at the molecular level between deposits formed by different fuel mixtures. Specific marker compounds in the deposits could not be identified, but rather an extremely complex, high-molecular mixture was formed.
Read the details in DGMK Research Report 829 "Influence of fuel composition on residue formation during the vaporization of liquid fuels in porous media". The report is available free of charge from the DGMK.
OWI Science for Fuels gGmbH affiliated Institute of the RWTH Aachen
University of Rostock Institute of Chemistry Chair of Analytical Chemistry
The IGF project (21317 BG) of the research association DGMK Deutsche Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft für nachhaltige Energieträger, Mobilität und Kohlenstoffkreisläufe e.V., Große Elbstraße 131, 2227 Hamburg, was funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection via the AiF. Große Elbstraße 131, 22767 Hamburg, was funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection via the AiF as part of the program for the promotion of joint industrial research (IGF) on the basis of a resolution of the German Bundestag.