Optimizing Engines for Ethanol
A Michigan-based engineering firm has reportedly developed technology to optimize engines for ethanol.
According to a press release from Ricardo, Inc., the technology “optimizes ethanol-fueled engines to a level of performance that exceeds gasoline engine efficiency and approaches levels previously reached only by diesel engines.”
The technology, called Ethanol Boosted Direct Injection or EBDI, takes full advantage of ethanol’s best properties – higher octane and higher heat of vaporization – to create a truly renewable fuel scenario that is independent of the cost of oil.
“Developing renewable energy applications that can lead to energy independence is a top priority at Ricardo,” said Ricardo President Dean Harlow. “We’ve moved past theoretical discussion and are busy applying renewable energy technology to the real world. The EBDI engine project is a great example because it turns the gasoline-ethanol equation upside down. It has the performance of diesel, at the cost of ethanol, and runs on ethanol, gasoline, or a blend of both.”
EBDI solves many of the challenges faced by flex-fuel engines because it is optimized for both alternative fuels and gasoline. Current flex-fuel engines pay a fuel economy penalty of about 30 percent compared to gasoline when operated on ethanol blends such as E85. The EBDI engine substantially improves ethanol’s efficiency, and performs at a level comparable to a diesel engine.
2 Comments »
Aureon Kwolek
Here’s something significant:
Rod Beazley, director of Ricardo’s Gasoline Product Group, made a remarkable revelation about the impact of this new engine technology:
“Imagine agricultural equipment that, in effect, burns what it harvests – corn, sugar cane (or sweet sorghum) or some other renewable substance (biomass)…It could mean tremendous cost savings across many industries.”
What this means to farmers: They now use expensive diesel powered tractors burning expensive diesel fuel, that gets shipped-in from a distant regional refinery. The next generation farm tractors and long haul trucks will be equipped with these Ricardo engines that run on ethanol, a cheaper fuel that now gets better torque than diesels.
Crops will be produced and shipped with locally made ethanol. Ethanol and ethanol byproducts, such as distillers grains and bio-oil, will be shipped with locally made ethanol, lowering the production cost of fuel, feed, and food.
Beyond corn, across the entire spectrum of agriculture and food processing, and across our entire economy, this engine has the potential to cut the cost of transportation dramatically, replacing petroleum based fuels and imported oil with cheap, renewable, domestic biofuel.
dan church
very intresting
hmmmmm i have two cars but would be prepared to change to biofuel as its cheaper and good for the enviroment i no im only one person but every person counts in saving this planet !!!!
good stuff!!!!
Comments RSS feed — TrackBack URI
Leave a Comment