Clean-Diesel Production Method Detailed

Researchers from KU Leuven and Utrecht University have found an approach to fuels production that can be used to generate cleaner diesel.

The production of fuel involves the use of catalysts, which trigger the chemical reactions that convert raw material into fuel. In the case of diesel, small catalyst granules are added to the raw material to change the molecules to produce useable fuel. Catalysts can have one or more chemical functions. The catalyst that Johan Martens, professor of bioscience engineering at KU Leuven, and Krijn de Jong, professor of inorganic chemistry and catalysis at Utrecht University, used for their study has two functions represented by two different materials: a metal (platinum) and a solid-state acid. During the diesel production process, the molecules bounce between the metal and the acid. Each time a molecule comes into contact with one of the materials, it changes a bit. At the end of the process, the molecules are ready to be used for diesel fuel.

The assumption has been that the metal and the solid-state acid in the catalyst should be as close together as possible to speed the production process by helping the molecules move more quickly. The researchers' study shows that if the functions within a catalyst are instead nanometers apart, the process yields better molecules for cleaner fuel.

“Our results are the exact opposite of what we had expected,” says Martens. “At first, we thought that the samples had been switched or that something was wrong with our analysis.” He says the researchers repeated the experiments three times and arrived at the same conclusion: the current theory is wrong. There has to be a minimum distance between the functions within a catalyst, he says. This goes against what the industry has been doing for the past 50 years.

The researchers say they believe that their method can be scaled up for industrial use with relative ease, so the new diesel could be used in cars within 5-10 years. Cars that are driven using this diesel would emit far fewer particulates and CO2. In addition to petroleum-based fuels, the researchers say the new technique can also be applied to renewable carbon from biomass.