INVESTIGATION OF PLANT DERIVED BIO-FUELS AS POTENTIAL BLEND STOCKS FOR TRANSPORTATION FUELS

CRC Project No. AVFL-17

Leader:      M. Natarajan

Scope and Objective

The objective is to investigate and evaluate plant-derived biofuels as potential blend stocks for ULSD in transportation applications. Plant derived biofuels including but not limited to soy, rape seed, jatropha and palm products will be investigated in terms of their fuel properties and emission characteristics from the existing data in the literature.  Data on well-to-wheel analysis (WTW), when available, will be included for the various biofuels.

Current Status and Future Program

This project will consist of collecting existing technical data on plant derived biofuels and organize them in terms of product volumes, properties and emission characteristics when available.  WTW analyses will be included where appropriate. Knowledge gaps will be identified. Also, at the end of this phase recommendations on research needs will be made.

Desert Research Institute was selected to perform Phase 1 of this research, which is expected to conclude in late 2008.

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