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Title: Discovery of novel octane hyperboosting phenomenon in prenol biofuel/gasoline blends

Journal Article · · Fuel
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [3]; ORCiD logo [4];  [1]; ORCiD logo [2]
  1. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)
  2. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
  3. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
  4. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

This work describes the first documented case of an effect defined herein as 'octane hyperboosting' by an oxygenated fuel compound, 3-methyl-2-buten-1-ol (prenol). Octane hyperboosting is characterized by the Research Octane Number (RON) of a mixture (e.g. an oxygenate biofuel blended into gasoline) exceeding the RON of the individual components in that mixture. This finding counters the widely held assumption that interpolation between the RON values of a pure compound and the base fuel provides the bounds for the RON performance of the blend. This is clearly distinct from the more commonly observed synergistic blending of oxygenates with gasoline, where the RON never exceeds the performance of the highest performing component. Octane hyperboosting was observed for blends of prenol and six different gasoline fuels with varying composition. Testing of compounds chemically similar to prenol yielded no qualitatively similar instances of octane hyperboosting, which suggests that the effect may not be widespread among fuel candidates. The phenomenon suggests an unexplored aspect of autoignition kinetics research for fuel blends, and may provide a new mechanism for significantly increasing fuel octane number, which is necessary for increasing combustion efficiency in spark ignition engines. This phenomenon also increases the potential candidate list of biofuels, as compounds hitherto discounted due to their lower pure component RON may exhibit hyperboosting behavior, and thereby enhanced performance, in blends.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Bioenergy Technologies Office; USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Vehicle Technologies Office
Grant/Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308; NA0003525
OSTI ID:
1492507
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA--5400-73186; SAND2022-4950J
Journal Information:
Fuel, Journal Name: Fuel Journal Issue: C Vol. 239; ISSN 0016-2361
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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09 BIOMASS FUELS
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
RON
biofuel
combustion
hyperboosting
octane
prenol
synergistic blending