ECO-CBET: A holistic effort to decarbonize diesel for heavy duty transportation: Targeted combustion & exhaust catalysis research to improve life-cycle performance

货运主要通过重型公路车辆和集装箱运输船运输。每种运输方式的重载特性都需要高密度燃料来源。这一限制，再加上在海上船只上给电池充电的不切实际，将在短期内限制电动汽车进入这些市场。因此，重型公路车辆和船用发动机的柴油消耗量预计将继续上升。这项研究项目调查了如何使用低温室气体排放技术来支持柴油燃料的日益增长的使用。燃烧和催化研究相结合，以了解燃料组成和燃烧策略对温室气体排放的影响，即一氧化二氮、甲烷和柴油颗粒。此外，对包括生物可再生燃料在内的几种当前柴油燃料进行了评估，以评估降低柴油类燃料总体变暖潜力的各种方案和相应的燃烧策略。该项目的成果将有助于美国在清洁柴油技术方面的领先地位。该项目还将为研究生和本科生提供跨学科培训，同时强调在所有教育级别的STEM领域中代表不足的少数民族更多地参与。该研究项目的目标是跟踪燃料成分、燃烧产物和尾气排放之间的化学关系，对重型柴油压燃式发动机的总体全球变暖潜力。研究的目标包括：1)建造一个光学可接近的反应堆，研究蒸发柴油、生物柴油和替代燃料在与低温内燃机相关的条件下的燃烧；2)使用新的原位技术测量整个燃烧反应区的温度、碳氢化合物种类和颗粒形成；3)确定废气氧化催化剂上一氧化二氮的生成机理；4)通过生命周期分析整合结果，以评估各种柴油和柴油替代品的全球变暖潜力。将予评估的燃料类别包括标准化石燃料柴油和三类“低碳”柴油替代品，分别是大豆生物柴油(脂肪酸甲酯，FAME)、从废弃生物质热化学转化而来的“绿色柴油”，以及以回收的二氧化碳为原料生产的“碳中性碳氢燃料”。利用光学可接近的燃烧室和一种新的时间和频率分辨的非线性光谱测量方法，将测量作为燃料类型和燃烧模式的函数的物种。将柴油机的标准燃烧条件与均质压燃和预混压燃的低温燃烧条件进行比较。通过实验和计算模拟，将得到柴油氧化催化剂上一氧化二氮的生成机理与碳氢化合物类型的关系。将结合每种燃料类型的一氧化二氮、甲烷、颗粒物和二氧化碳的结果进行生命周期分析，以便对燃料来源和燃烧模式的影响进行全面评估。这一研究项目的结果将使社区和公共政策决策者更好地了解柴油来源和燃烧技术如何有效地减少柴油类型燃料的全球变暖潜力。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Freight is predominantly transported via heavy-duty road vehicles and container shipping vessels. The heavy loads characteristic of each of these transportation modes require high-density fuels sources. That restriction, in combination with the impracticality of recharging batteries aboard marine vessels, will limit the penetration of electric vehicles into these markets for the near term. Therefore, diesel fuel consumption by heavy-duty road vehicle and marine engines is expected to continue to rise. This research project investigates how low greenhouse gas emissions technologies can be used to support this increasing use of diesel fuels. Combustion and catalysis research are combined to understand the impact of fuel composition and combustion strategy on the emissions of greenhouse gases - namely, nitrous oxide, methane, and diesel particulates. In addition, several current diesel fuels, including biorenewable ones, are evaluated to assess various scenarios for reducing the overall global warming potential of diesel-type fuels and the corresponding combustion strategies. The outcomes of this project will contribute to U.S. leadership in clean diesel technology. The project also will provide cross-disciplinary training to graduate and undergraduate students, while emphasizing increased participation by underrepresented minorities in STEM fields at all educational levels.The goal of this research project is to track the chemical relationships between fuel composition, combustion products, and exhaust emissions on the overall global warming potential of heavy-duty diesel-type compression-ignition engines. The research aims include 1) the construction of an optically-accessible reactor to study combustion of vaporized diesel, biodiesel, and surrogate fuels under conditions relevant for low temperature combustion engines; 2) the use of novel, in-situ techniques to measure temperature, hydrocarbon species and particulate formation throughout the combustion reaction zone; 3) the determination of the nitrous oxide formation mechanism over an exhaust oxidation catalyst; and 4) the integration of results via life cycle analysis to evaluate the global warming potential of various diesel and diesel-alternatives. The types of fuels to be evaluated include standard fossil fuel diesel plus three classes of “low carbon” diesel alternatives, namely soy biodiesel (fatty acid methyl esters, FAME), “green diesel” from the thermochemical conversion of waste biomass, and “carbon-neutral hydrocarbon fuels” produced using reclaimed carbon dioxide as feedstock. Using the optically accessible combustion chamber and a new time- and frequency-resolved nonlinear spectroscopy measurement method, species will be measured as a function of the fuel type and combustion mode. Standard diesel engine combustion conditions will be compared with low temperature combustion conditions relevant to homogenous charge compression ignition and premixed-charged compression ignition. The mechanism of nitrous oxide formation over a diesel oxidation catalyst as a function of hydrocarbon type will be derived via experiments and computational modeling. A life cycle analysis will be performed combining the nitrous oxide, methane, particulate and carbon dioxide results for each fuel type, such that an overall perspective of fuel source and combustion mode impact can be evaluated. The outcomes of this research project will allow the community and public policy decision makers to better understand how diesel fuel source and combustion technologies can deliver meaningful reductions in the global warming potential of diesel-type fuels.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.