Biofuel chemistry more complex than petroleum, say Sandia and Lawrence Livermore researchers
And that's exactly what researchers at Sandia and Lawrence Livermore national laboratories are doing.
The journal Angewandte Chemie devotes its May 10 cover to a paper co-authored by Sandia's Nils Hansen and Lawrence Livermore's Charles Westbrook, which examines the essential elements of biofuel combustion.
The paper, "Biofuel combustion chemistry: from ethanol to biodiesel," examines the combustion chemistry of compounds that constitute typical biofuels, including alcohols, ethers and esters.
Biofuels, such as ethanol, biobutanol and biodiesel, are of increasing interest as alternatives to petroleum-based transportation fuels. According to Hansen and Westbrook, however, little research has been done on the vastly diverse and complex chemical reaction networks of biofuel combustion.
In general, the term biofuel is associated with only a few select chemical compounds, especially ethanol (used exclusively as a gasoline replacement in spark-ignition engines) and very large methyl esters in biodiesel (used as a diesel fuel replacement in diesel engines). The biofuels are oxygenated fuels, which distinguishes them from hydrocarbons in conventional petroleum-based fuels.
While much discussion surrounding biofuels has emphasized the process to make these alternative fuels and fuel additives, Hansen and Westbrook are the first to examine the characteristic aspects of the chemical pathways in the combustion of potential biofuels.
In collaboration with an international research team representing Germany, China and the U.S., Westbrook, Hansen and former Sandia post-doctoral student Tina Kasper used a combination of laser spectroscopy, mass spectrometry and flame chemistry modeling to explore the decomposition and oxidation mechanisms of certain biofuels and the formation of harmful or toxic emissions. Hansen's experiments were conducted in part at the Chemical Dynamics Beamline of the Advanced Light Source at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
To understand the associated combustion reactions and to identify recurring reaction patterns, Hansen and Westbrook agreed, it is important to study prototypical variants of potential biofuels.
Most read news
Other news from the department science
These products might interest you
Gilson MyPIPETMAN Select and MyPIPETMAN Enterprise Pipettes by Gilson
Grab the Gilson pipettes with your name and favorite colors!
Customise Your Pipettes to Fit Your Research
Systec H-Series by Systec
Safe, reproducible and validatable sterilization of liquids, solids and waste
Autoclaves with 65-1580 liters usable space, flexibly expandable for various applications
Whatman™ folded filter papers by Cytiva
Whatman folded filter papers
Convenient folded formats speed up your sample preparation
Get the chemical industry in your inbox
From now on, don't miss a thing: Our newsletter for the chemical industry, analytics, lab technology and process engineering brings you up to date every Tuesday and Thursday. The latest industry news, product highlights and innovations - compact and easy to understand in your inbox. Researched by us so you don't have to.
Most read news
More news from our other portals
See the theme worlds for related content
Topic World Spectroscopy
Investigation with spectroscopy gives us unique insights into the composition and structure of materials. From UV-Vis spectroscopy to infrared and Raman spectroscopy to fluorescence and atomic absorption spectroscopy, spectroscopy offers us a wide range of analytical techniques to precisely characterize substances. Immerse yourself in the fascinating world of spectroscopy!
Topic World Spectroscopy
Investigation with spectroscopy gives us unique insights into the composition and structure of materials. From UV-Vis spectroscopy to infrared and Raman spectroscopy to fluorescence and atomic absorption spectroscopy, spectroscopy offers us a wide range of analytical techniques to precisely characterize substances. Immerse yourself in the fascinating world of spectroscopy!
Topic World Mass Spectrometry
Mass spectrometry enables us to detect and identify molecules and reveal their structure. Whether in chemistry, biochemistry or forensics - mass spectrometry opens up unexpected insights into the composition of our world. Immerse yourself in the fascinating world of mass spectrometry!
Topic World Mass Spectrometry
Mass spectrometry enables us to detect and identify molecules and reveal their structure. Whether in chemistry, biochemistry or forensics - mass spectrometry opens up unexpected insights into the composition of our world. Immerse yourself in the fascinating world of mass spectrometry!