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This paper describes the on-road evaluation of emissions from student-produced biodiesel. The study compared the emissions of B100, B50 and B20 with commercial ULSD. A modern diesel vehicle powered by a 1.9L turbocharged direct injected compression ignition (DIG) engine was used along with the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) oxidation catalyst and diesel particulate filter. A portable emissions measurement system (PEMS) was used to measure tailpipe NOx, CO and HC. The on-road drive cycle was conducted in a mixture of city and interstate driving. Repeatability and accuracy of the drive-cycle was evaluated. The study found that NOx increased with the amount of biodiesel in the fuel. The study also found that tailpipe CO was insignificant with all blends tested. The HC data using the PEMS were not useful.

Alcohols (methanol and ethanol) have been identified as having the potential to improve air quality when used to replace conventional gasoline. This potential is primarily due to the different organic species that are emitted by alcohol-fueled engines. The use of “near neat” alcohols gives greater benefits than fuels containing lower levels of alcohol, but neat alcohols present a significant cold starting problem. The primary objective of this study was to develop a rich combustor device which will extend the cold start range of alcohol fueled engines to -30° C. In this approach a portion of the fuel is burned outside the engine under fuel-rich conditions. This rich combustion creates a product stream that contains significant amounts of hydrogen and carbon monoxide (along with other gases such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, water vapor, and organics). The hydrogen and carbon monoxide are combustible and non-condensable and provide the fuel for starting the engine.