The experimentation with dimethyl ether or DME ends with great success, or what we can now define as a kind of alternative fuel that can be used as a substitute for traditional diesel to power a heavy vehicle, in this specific case an Iveco Eurocargo was used.
This is an initiative that was promoted by Ecomotive Solutions, a company from Serralunga di Crea (province of Alessandria) that works in the sector of production and distribution of components and systems for sustainable mobility. A research and experimentation that the company has carried out in collaboration with the prestigious Technion University of Haifa (in Israel).
Ecological diesel: the new project
The experts of the Piedmontese company explained: “Since its inception Ecomotive Solutions, Holdim group, has promoted concrete, available and economic solutions for a mobility that we can define as truly sustainable. An approach that has never changed in these more than 10 years of activity, and which definitely aims at enhancing existing resources, without the need to hastily set them aside to make room for new, more expensive and difficult to implement proposals “.
DME, also known as dimethyl ether, can be obtained through methanol dehydration processes or with direct production from syngas, both of which can be produced from biomass: it is thanks to this aspect that we can speak of a type of renewable fuel.
What is DME
Dimethyl ether can be liquefied with low pressures (like LPG), which makes it easily transportable, but its most interesting feature actually lies in the high cetane number (indicator of the behavior of fuels in the ignition phase) which does a valid substitute for diesel in diesel-powered engines, which can be adapted to the use of the DME with not too invasive modifications. Diesel engines that use the new eco-sustainable fuel have better environmental performance: polluting emissions of CO2, NOx and particulate matter are certainly reduced.
The Ecomotive Solutions team states: “We have identified DME as one of the alternative fuels more sustainable for heavy-duty road transport. The advantages are many and promising: it can be produced starting from a wide variety of renewable matrices, it is characterized by the total absence of sulfur and combustion with very low NOx and particulate emissions. Elements that make it, in our opinion, one of the most suitable fuels to support the ecological transition towards the goals in terms of reducing CO2 emissions “.
How this new solution will be used
The solution is applicable to all diesel engines (and in the future also in blending with LPG), by modifying the engine in some of its parts, in a minimally invasive way and therefore feasible without too demanding and expensive interventions. The experimentation concluded with the Technion Haifa University is only the first step taken by the company, which is now developing an engine dedicated 100% to DME, as well as retrofit applications for diesel engines, for special and industrial engines. In an era in which the fight continues over expensive fuels is exhausting us and in any case we are also looking for alternative solutions to be able to reduce polluting emissions (despite the fact that the energy transition will unfortunately also be affected by the consequences of the pandemic before and of this war now) the DME is a significant step towards a “cleaner” future.
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