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Transportation is a major emitter of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the United States accounting for 27% of the country’s emissions, second only to the electricity sector. As a result, reducing GHG emissions are essential for mitigating some of the most damaging potential impacts associated with climate change and because of the importance and relative size of the transportation sector, it would need to contribute a significant amount of emissions reduction.This report describes the development and use of an U.S. energy system optimization model (US-TIMES) in order to analyze the reductions in GHG emissions that can come about through policy targets.  These policy targets induce technology investments and operation in order to satisfy the demand for energy services and environmental policy constraints (notably GHG emission targets).The model development focused on two key areas within the transportation sector, light-duty vehicles and heavy-duty vehicles.  In the light-duty space, we incorporated consumer choice elements into the energy system optimization framework through increasing consumer heterogeneity and adding non-monetary decision factors such as risk and fueling inconvenience.  For heavy-duty vehicles, we adopt a segmentation approach and update vehicle cost and performance assumptions from our recent work. The model is used to project scenarios for low carbon futures from a reference scenario all the way to an 80% GHG reduction target.View the NCST Project Webpage

The use of synthetic motor fuels in road transport, synthesized from various sources (coal, oil shale, natural gas, biomass) is an important direction in ensuring the energy and environmental requirements for the operation of modern vehicles. In the process of performing various search, research and other works on the production of synthetic motor fuels, it becomes necessary to determine their properties, for example, the cetane number (CN) of synthetic diesel fuel. Experimental determination of this property of diesel fuel is costly, and in this regard, a preliminary calculation of the cetane number of synthesized diesel fuels through the cetane index is important. This article presents the results of scientific research on the calculated determination of the cetane number of synthesized diesel fuels through the cetane index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diesel fuel stability can be considered from many points of view, of which the two considered most important are stability in contact with the environment and internal stability. Fuel stability in touch with the environment is often defined as oxidation stability, of which measurement procedures are well developed. The presented paper shows that fuel's internal stability can also be important. The internal stability of diesel fuel with the local use of thermal and ultraviolet radiation (UV) as degradation factors and fluorescence signals as a probe is presented in this paper. We show that the internal degradation of fuel with temperature use differs from that with UV and simultaneous both factors use. Our study shows that using temperature as a degradation factor introduces significant fluorescence fading. Moreover, the fluorescence signal restores significantly later than the sample stabilizes at room temperature. The novelty proposed based on examination is hybrid degradation and an examination cycle that enables the simultaneous use of degradation factors and fluorescence reading. For this purpose, a dedicated measurement setup of signal control and processing was constructed and programmed. The measurement procedure of the data series for specific wavelength enables calculation of signal shifts that allow the internal stability classification of diesel fuel samples in less than 30 min with the cost of a single disposable capillary probe and one polymer plug. Premium and regular fuel examination results show that internal fuel stability can be related to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) concentrations and can be modified with dedicated additives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stability and reusability of a promising bimetallic mesoporous catalyst (5Na/20Ce/SBA‐15) to produce first‐ and second‐generation biodiesel was studied. Soybean oil, waste frying oil, and Jatropha hieronymi oil were used as lipid raw materials. Under optimized reaction conditions (10 wt % of catalyst, methanol to oil molar ratio of 40 : 1, 60 °C, and vigorous magnetic stirring), the minimum FAME content required by the EN 14214 standard was achieved in 3 h with soybean oil and waste frying oil. Three alternatives were considered concerning the reuse of the catalyst (without and with regeneration), concluding that washing followed by calcination between each run is suitable for the material to recover its activity. FAME contents over 87 wt % were obtained in five cycles when using waste frying oil. Key quality properties of the produced biofuel were evaluated and found to comply with international standards for its commercialization as automotive diesel fuel without further treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article proposes the use of operational dielectric control system to increase the efficiency of operation of automatic compounding of motor fuels. These plants are used at oil refining enterprises in Ukraine and are an integral part of the technological chain of the commercial fuels production. It is established that all the main components and additives used for the production of commercial gasoline brands A-92, A-95 and A-98 have higher values (εmix) than straight run base gasoline. And this, in turn, can be used for operational control of the gasoline compounding process. This control can be carried out on the basis of the information received from capacitive sensors which are located in pipelines of the main material streams. Moreover, the control is carried out on the content of components (X, %) or on the value of the octane number (ON, point) of the mixture on the basis of experimentally obtained dependences 𝜀𝜀mix = 𝑓𝑓(𝑋𝑋) and ОN = 𝑓𝑓(𝜀𝜀mix). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A dual fuzzy control strategy is proposed for the complex energy management problem in a multi-energy-source hybrid power system vehicle with fuel cell + Li-ion battery + super capacitor. According to the efficiency characteristic of each energy source in a fuel cell hybrid power system (referred to as FCHPS), a control scheme with a dual fuzzy control strategy is devised, in which the main fuzzy controller controls the fuel cell to ensure its power output. It is controlled by a sub-fuzzy controller that regulates the power output and braking energy recovery of the Li-ion battery and super capacitor. Simulation verification and comparative analysis were carried out under a world light vehicle test cycle (referred to as WLTC) conditions using MATLAB+ADVISOR. With a dual fuzzy control strategy, fuel cell hybrid vehicles meet dynamics requirements and the fuel economy of these vehicles is generally 6.7% and 6.4% better than power following control and single fuzzy control, respectively. Li-ion batteries are also capable of handling reduced average currents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article proves that today Ukraine finds itself in a situation where it depends solely on imported supplies of light oil products to meet its motor fuel needs, which is unacceptable from the point of view of the country’s energy and national security, and the solution to this problem lies in the plane of organization of motor fuel production from the country’s own natural resources. The purpose of the study is to substantiate the technical and economic foundations for creating a synthetic motor fuel subsector in Ukraine. To achieve this aim, the authors define the classification of alternative motor fuels; provide a comparative description of the energy content and scope of use of different types of motor fuels, and also provides comparative characteristics of synthetic along with the best grades of natural oil; assess the compliance of synthetic gasoline and diesel fuel with the Euro-4 standard; considers the technical-operational advantages of synthetic analogues of oil fuel over other alternatives. Based on the carried out analysis, the article proves that, given the limited resource capabilities of Ukraine’s motor fuel production from oil and natural gas, the production of synthetic liquid motor fuel (SLMF) from coal raw materials should be recommended for development in the country; the raw material base for the production of synthetic liquid fuel is researched. The article also analyzes the peculiarities of methods and specific technologies for producing synthetic liquid motor fuel from coal and determines that the technology of synthesizing synthetic liquid motor fuel using the Fischer-Tropsch method with preliminary production of synthesis gas by steam-oxygen gasification of coal is advisable for development in Ukraine. Taking this into account, the resource and product balance of the full cycle of synthetic liquid fuel production is formed, a general production scheme of the industry subsector of SLF in Ukraine is developed, technical-economic characteristics of the national and regional industrial complexes for the production of SLF are presented, and the structure of the subsector for the production of SLF in the country is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, the sulfur-containing compounds are removed from motor fuels through the traditional hydrodesulfurization technology, which takes place under harsh reaction conditions (temperature of 350–450 °C and pressure of 30–60 atm) in the presence of catalysts based on alumina with impregnated cobalt and molybdenum. According to the principles of green chemistry, energy requirements should be recognized for their environmental and economic impacts and should be minimized, i.e., the chemical processes should be carried out at ambient temperature and atmospheric pressure. This approach could be implemented using photocatalysts that are sensitive to visible light. The creation of highly active photocatalytic systems for the deep purification of fuels from sulfur compounds becomes an important task of modern catalysis science. The present critical review reports recent progress over the last 5 years in heterogeneous photocatalytic desulfurization under visible light irradiation. Specific attention is paid to the methods for boosting the photocatalytic activity of materials, with a focus on the creation of heterojunctions as the most promising approach. This review also discusses the influence of operating parameters (nature of oxidant, molar ratio of oxidant/sulfur-containing compounds, photocatalyst loading, etc.) on the reaction efficiency. Some perspectives and future research directions on photocatalytic desulfurization are also provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depletion of fossil fuel and massive emissions of hazardous greenhouse gases are prompting many researchers to focus on greener renewable fuel such as biodiesel, which has the potential to replace petrodiesel partially. This review covers various aspects related to biodiesel feedstock and its effects on biodiesel characteristics, biodiesel production methods, blending techniques, biodiesel properties, combustion, engine performance, and emission analysis, the effects of different additives on biodiesel characteristics, and some challenges associated with biodiesel. Moreover, different relevant empirical correlations of biodiesel properties and combustion parameters are presented. Despite alkali catalysis being the most adopted transesterification process, lipase catalysis and heterogeneous catalysis are potential processes for future biodiesel production from low‐cost feedstock. Biodiesel has higher viscosity, density, flash point, cetane number, and pour point while having low heating value in comparison with petrodiesel. Most studies conducted on diesel engine led to a reduction in brake power, brake thermal efficiency, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, and unburned hydrocarbons, and increased brake specific fuel consumption and oxides of nitrogen are associated with biodiesel compared to petrodiesel. In brief, biodiesel is comparable to petrodiesel. However, before there is a large‐scale application of biodiesel in the automotive sector it has to overcome some challenges such as its compatibility with engine components, its instability, its effect on engine wear, deposit formation, and clogging of fuel filters and injectors. Increased focus should also be given to second‐generation biodiesel over first‐generation biodiesel because second‐generation biodiesel can offset production costs, reduce deforestation, and solve the food versus fuel problem. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of biofuel upgrading processes in the existing technologies of crude oil refining is considered to be one of the promising directions for the production of liquid motor fuels. In this work, the co-processing of bio-oil obtained from biomass waste and heavy oil fractions in the supercritical solvent was studied. The bio-oil was obtained by the slow pyrolysis of birch and pine wood sawdust in the presence of a Fe-containing zeolitebased catalyst. The influence of the catalyst on the yield and composition of liquid products was studied. To find the optimal reaction conditions, the co-processing of the model compounds (anisole - eicosane - dibenzothiophene) was carried out by varying the solvent, reaction temperature, and the initial nitrogen pressure. Full removal of oxygen and sulfur as well as a decrease in the concentration of heavy and polyaromatic compounds from the feedstock were observed under the following process parameters: solvent - propanol-2, reaction temperature - 260 °C, initial nitrogen pressure - 1.5 MPa, total pressure - 7.2 MPa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the throttling aspect of the hybrid rocket motor through experiments using a lab-scale motor. The lab-scale motor utilizes a wax-Al based fuel and compressed air as the oxidizer. The oxidizer flow rate was modulated using a PID controller to study the closed-loop thrust control performance of the motor. Numerical simulations and cold flow tests were carried out to identify the suitable gains for the PID control algorithm. Pressure feedback was used in the control algorithm to obtain the closed-loop thrust control. The resultant closed-loop system followed the reference pressure accurately during the step input response test of the system. The maximum error in the observed chamber pressure was 1.86 % for a reference pressure of 4.69 bar, which corresponds to a reference thrust of 117.6 N. The response of the system for a ramp input, with linear thrust variation from 78.4 N to 127.4 N, showed that the measured thrust followed the desired ramp profile with a root-mean-square error of 1.99 N. A ramp-down test with the same thrust range produced a root-mean-square error of 6.2 N. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Engine properties such as engine speed and fuel injection quantity may affect the swirl flow of diesel engines. In this paper, experiments are conducted at two engine rpm and various operation conditions. For instance, motoring with no fuel injected, pre-ignition firing conditions, in addition to different fuel quantities. In this experimental analysis, PIV technique is performed to observe the flow patterns of the charging gas. The obtained results indicate that the swirls behavior is similar under all operation conditions during the intake and compression strokes regardless of the engine speed. In comparison to pre-ignition firing process, generation of more swirl centers has been observed for both engine speeds i.e., 1000 rpm and 1500 rpm under motoring conditions. Additionally, at CA of 610 deg., the swirls centers were maintained for all configurations except for motoring conditions and lowest fuel quantity of 2 mg. Moreover, during expansion strokes for both engine speeds the least magnitude of velocity-vectors was observed under motoring condition. Nevertheless, the higher mean velocity-vectors among that of expansion stroke was observed under pre-ignition firing configuration. The obtained results suggest that, the movement of the induced swirl centers across the piston cavity during expansion to exhaust strokes and increasing the engine speed corresponded to an increase in the mean-velocity, swirl ratios, and TKE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to ever-increasing environmental problems, special attention has been paid to removing the organosulfur compounds present in transportation fuel. Therefore, to minimize the adverse effects of automotive exhaust emissions, sulfur level in motor fuels is minimized. Nowadays, DESs have become eco-friendly solvents due to their significant properties such as low toxicity, low volatility, etc. Thus, found attractive toward extraction process also. In this study, a series of DES using CHCl, MTTPBr, TEAC as HBA and PYG, EG, and TetEG as HBD in the different mole ratios were synthesized and investigated their extraction performance for sulfur in model and diesel fuels. Densities, viscosity & FTIR spectra of synthesized DESs were recorded. ODS was also performed for diesel. Results concluded that among all the synthesized DESs, [CHCl][TetEG](1:5) worked better for the desulfurization of fuels. In a single-stage, around 43% extraction efficiency was achieved for model sulfur compounds using [CHCl][TetEG](1:5), which can be enhanced up to 86% using successive extraction stages at low-temperature 30 °C. However, around 34% and 29%, respectively, extraction efficiency was achieved for diesel due to their complex nature. While on oxidation of diesel, it was increased up to 52% and 43% respectively in one single stage at a low-temperature 30 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work shows the inhibition property of the α-FeOOH nanoparticles on the oxidation reactions. The structure of the nanoparticles is confirmed by elemental analysis, FTIR, Mössbauer spectroscopy, TEM, and oxygen titration. We reveal that the α-FeOOH nanoparticles drastically inhibit the benzyl alcohol chain oxidation. The inhibition of the benzyl alcohol oxidation by the α-FeOOH nanoparticles is caused by the reactions between the nanoparticles and peroxyl radicals. Our finding suggests that the α-FeOOH nanoparticles may be used as an effective additive to preserve organic compounds from oxidation. Particularly, we illustrate that the α-FeOOH nanoparticles enhance the storage properties of motor fuel. The inhibition efficiency of the α-FeOOH nanoparticles may result in a variety of new applications of iron-containing nanoscale materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing shortage of oil resources makes it necessary to find alternative energy sources. The leading place among them today belongs to biofuels, both due to sufficient and affordable resources, and relatively advanced technologies for their production. The requirements of modern standards for the quality of the resulting gasolines limit the content of aromatic hydrocarbons in them to no more than 42% by mass. (Euro-3), and 35% of the mass. (Euro-4 and Euro-5). Therefore, studies on the involvement of vegetable raw materials in the processes of obtaining gasoline fractions are aimed either at obtaining highly aromatic gasoline with its subsequent compounding, or at searching for catalytic systems that make it possible, if any, to reduce the content of aromatic hydrocarbons in the composition of the resulting gasolines during joint cracking of the mixture of oil and vegetable raw materials. In this work, using the model oleic acid as an example, the mechanism of the conversion of fatty acids of vegetable oils during their catalytic conversion into hydrocarbons of the gasoline series was studied. The process was studied using a mixture of vacuum gas oil with vegetable oils as cracking catalysts, industrial cracking catalysts Omnikat-210P and Tseokar-600 in pure form and in their mixture with natural halloysite nanotubes. Halloysites belong to the family of kaolinite clay minerals with a high Al/Si ratio as compared to other aluminosilicates and have a predominantly hollow tubular structure and consist of layers of aluminum and silicon oxides that are rolled into tubes. The process of catalytic cracking of vacuum gas oil with the involvement of vegetable oils (waste vegetable oils taken from the Chudo-Pechka chain of stores) in the amount of 5 wt % was studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The production of dialkyl ethers is based on the interaction of alcohols with iso-olefins, which have limited resources nowadays. In the meantime, Russian oil refineries have a huge resource potential for thermal gasoline having high content of unsaturated compounds. Highly unsaturated hydrocarbon fractions are characterized by low chemical stability. Their addition to commercial fuels deteriorates its properties, further processing causes rapid poisoning of the catalyst, as a result, they are not used commercially in industry. However, they present potentially valuable feedstock for the synthesis of oxygen-containing components of motor fuels - dialkyl ethers, which improve their environmental and operational properties. Current research is devoted to study the possibility of synthesizing of dialkyl ethers via interaction of normal olefins with ethyl alcohol. The results obtained confirm the possibility of the formation of dialkyl ethers based on normal olefins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solketal is one of the most promising additives improving the properties of motor fuels. Investigations related to process intensification of synthesis of solketal from glycerol and acetone is gaining importance. The present work illustrates the use of the microwave mode for intensification of this process in the presence of silicoaluminophosphates (SAPO) as catalysts. The main focus of the study was placed on tuning the textural, acidic, and catalytic properties of SAPO-34 and SAPO-5 via variation of the synthesis parameters, such as the nature of Al and Si sources and the structure-directing agent. The catalytic properties of SAPO materials were investigated in the synthesis of solketal from glycerol and acetone under microwave assistance at the acetone/glycerol molar ratio of 2.4 in a methanol solution (glycerol/methanol: 1 g/1 mL) and 56 °C. It was demonstrated that the selectivity towards solketal was 91.1–98.6 % in the presence of the studied materials. The activities of mesoporous SAPO-34 and SAPO-5 prepared in the presence of triethylamine were higher as compared with microporous SAPO-34 prepared in the presence of tetraethylammonium hydroxide due to the high mesoporosity and a larger content of acid sites. The 90.4 % conversion of glycerol and 98.6 % selectivity towards solketal were observed in the presence of mesoporous 7.6%SAPO-34 for 90 min. The advantage of using microwave technology is shown. The solketal yield in the reaction under microwave irradiation was 3 times higher than that in the process performed under thermal heating conditions. [Display omitted] • Synthesis of solketal from glycerol and acetone under microwave conditions was investigated. • Silicoaluminophosphates SAPO-5 and SAPO-34 were used as catalysts. • The source of Al and Si and template affect the structural, textural, acidic properties of catalysts. • The yield of solketal under microwave mode was 3 times higher compared to thermal heating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the problem of estimating oxygen excess in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) systems. Indeed, poor management of the air supply system usually leads to varying degrees of oxygen starvation, which affects the durability and reliability of the PEMFC. Thus, real-time monitoring of cathode internal states is crucial for enhancing air supply system performance and fuel cell net power. This study estimates cell oxygen and nitrogen partial pressures using measurable variables, such as compressor speed and supply manifold pressure. To this end, we designed filtered high-gain observer that provides online estimates of variables of interest based on online measurements of compressor speed and supply manifold pressure. The filtered nature of the observer makes it less sensitive to measurement noise. Moreover, an extremum-seeking-based optimizer is developed to tune the observer gain in real time, aiming to meet robustness requirements against measurement noise. The stability of the observer is performed using Lyapunov stability tools. Unlike the standard high-gain observer, the new observer incorporates an additional filtering function to reduce its sensitivity to output measurement noise. In contrast to existing filtered high-gain observers, the new observer features real-time self-tuning of its parameters. The superiority of the new observer over both a standard high-gain observer and a filtered high-gain observer with fixed parameters is underscored by simulation results. [Display omitted] • Designing an adaptive filtered high-gain observer to estimate the oxygen excess ratio in proton exchange membrane fuel cells for automotive applications. • Improved robustness against measurement noise compared with standard high observers. • Designing a supervisor for real-time online optimization of observer design parameters using the multi-variable extremum-seeking method. • Developing stability analysis using the Lyapunov stability approach. • Demonstrating the superiority of the adaptive FHGO over the fixed-gain FHGO and SHGO using a robustness test based on the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Limitations in current fuel cell technology lead to instability in output voltage for hydrogen fuel cells, particularly under the influence of temperature variations and fuel flow fluctuations, thereby affecting the normal operation of hydrogen-powered vehicles. Improving the motor drive control system and optimizing energy management are crucial for enhancing overall vehicle performance. To improve dynamic response speed while suppressing harmonics, this paper proposes a predictive control strategy for high-speed permanent magnet synchronous motors with LCL filter in hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles. The proposed control strategy suppresses high-frequency current harmonics by sampling only the current on the motor side, enabling fast predictive control of the high-order system motor-side current. Additionally, to mitigate the issue of unstable torque output of the electric motor at low fuel levels, this paper proposes a new composite predictive torque trajectory control strategy based on the previous control strategy. This strategy ensures rapid and accurate tracking of motor output torque, particularly during decreases in fuel cell output voltage. Experimental results validate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed control strategies in this paper. • Torque stability control of hydrogen electric vehicle under low fuel state. • Predictive current direct control for LCL-equipped high-speed PMSM drive based on single-sensor. • A composite predictive current trajectory control strategy balancing small steady-state error and fast dynamic response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses a proof of concept for reversible hydrogen storage using the cyclooctane-cyclooctene system. The study focuses on a hybrid catalyst that combines an organometallic pincer complex and Pd-Ru nanostructures immobilized on a γ-alumina support. This catalyst enables dehydrogenation and hydrogenation in a tandem fashion, with the released hydrogen showing promise as a potential automotive fuel source. The research provides valuable insights for the design and development of tandem catalysts for reversible hydrogen storage in liquid organic hydrogen carriers. [Extracted from the article]

The oxygenated additives can improve the physical properties of biodiesel blends to achieve enhanced characteristics of a diesel engine. The present work has investigated ethylene glycol monoacetate (EGM) and tri-ethylene glycol mono-methyl ether (TGME) as potential additives for the jatropha-karanja dual blended biodiesel for improved characteristics of diesel engines. The experiments have been conducted with a single cylinder four stroke diesel engine operating at constant speed of 1500 rpm. The performance, emission and combustion parameters of the engine were investigated with pure diesel, jatropha-karanja dual blended biodiesel having 20 % of methyl ester and the biodiesel added with 2, 4, and 6 % of both the additives respectively. The doping of additives improved the brake thermal efficiency by 4.1 and 4.7 % with brake specific fuel consumption dropped by 0.18 and 0.2 kg/kWh. The additives reduced the hydrocarbon emission by 29.8 % and carbon monoxide by 40 % with a slight increase in NOx emission by 5.2 %. The cylinder pressure attained value near to pure diesel while the heat release rate increased by 12.6 % indicating proper fuel combustion inside the engine cylinder. Thus, the oxygenated additives can suitably be adopted as performance improvers in biodiesel fuels for automotive engines. • EGM and TGME have been used as additive with jatropha karanja dual blended biodiesel. • The biodiesel properties improved with the addition of both the additives. • Enhanced combustion characteristics were achieved by adding the oxygenated additives upto 6 % by volume. • The inclusion of additives improved the engine performance with increased BTE and reduced BSFC. • The HC and CO emission reduced with increase in content of both the additives with slight increase in NOx emission [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Petroleum is a crucial energy resource that is massively consumed worldwide in the transport, industrial, and agricultural sectors. The hydrocarbon processing industry has a well-defined quality control regime to ensure all finished products comply with the regulatory specifications. Chromatography-based test methods significantly facilitate petroleum product characterization through various approaches. High-performance liquid chromatography is a versatile, precise, and sensitive analytical approach to petroleum characterization. This review discusses its role in petroleum hydrocarbon characterization, focusing mainly on the methodology, fundamental basis, advantages, and limitations of standard and laboratory-developed methods. Besides, the extended role of the technique in contemporary applications involving sustainable fuels has been discussed. This review intends to debate the intervention of high-performance liquid chromatography in analyzing conventional and modern automotive fuels. Critical insights and future perspectives on the technique have also been provided in the interest of the analytical research in this area. • Chromatography-based methods play key role in the hydrocarbon analysis. • HPLC is advantageous for petroleum analysis due to being rapid and inexpensive. • The review outlines the role of HPLC in petroleum products analysis. • Views on the future application of HPLC is also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reducing engine oil viscosity is an effective way to meet automotive fuel efficiency requirements. Clarifying the effects of multiple coexisting additives in low-viscosity oil is important for the development of low-viscosity engine oil. In this study, six kinds of 0W‐8 engine oil, including those without a Ca-derived detergent, a dispersant or molybdenum dialkyldithiocarbamate (MoDTC), were selected to study the effects of these additives on the tribofilm formation and the friction characteristics of fully formulated low-viscosity oil. A custom-made rolling and sliding tribometer was used to evaluate the tribological properties and form the tribofilms. The elemental distribution of the tribofilms was characterized by electron probe microanalysis (EPMA), and the chemical compositions of the films were determined using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The Ca-derived detergent hindered both the ZnDTP-derived and MoDTC-derived tribofilm formation in the fully formulated low-viscosity oil due to adsorption competition. The effect of the ashless dispersants on the ZnDTP-derived tribofilm formation in the fully formulated 0W‐8 oil showed opposite results in the presence or absence of MoDTC. The addition of MoDTC had different effects on the ZnDTP-derived tribofilm formation under different additive combinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pyrolysis of various fractions of crumb rubber (with particle sizes of 0–1, 1–3, 2–3.5, and 2–4 mm) obtained from the waste largesized tires was studied in the temperature range of 550–700°C and at atmospheric pressure. It is shown that in the temperature range under study, the particle size of crumb tire rubber has only an insignificant effect on the distribution of its pyrolysis products, which consist of pyrolysis gas, pyrolysis liquid, and solid carbon residue. Pyrolysis gas is a mixture of predominantly light hydrocarbons of composition C1–C4 and hydrogen, the concentration of which increases with a rise in the heat treatment temperature; pyrolysis gas can be utilized as a fuel of the high heating value (HHV), and can also serve as a raw material for hydrogen production. The pyrolysis liquid is a mixture of alicyclic, aromatic, and linear hydrocarbons of С8–С17 composition with a rather high content of value-added products, such as limonene (up to ~35.5 wt %) and cymene (up to ~14.5 wt %); after their separation, the pyrolysis liquid can be used as heating oil or as a raw material for the production of motor fuels and valuable chemical compounds. The solid carbon residue has a relatively developed mesoporous structure (with a predominant pore size in the range of ~200–400 Å) and can be used as a raw material for the production of carbon sorbents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Limited-angle torque motor (LATM) is a critical component to precisely drive the valve angle of an engine's fuel metering apparatus and accurately measure the fuel flow, and research on it is of great significance. Thus, the LATM of a certain kind is regarded as the research object in this paper. Firstly, a Simscape-based LATM integrated physical modeling method is proposed, which can better demonstrate the real operational characteristics of a motor, compared with the current mathematical model. Secondly, a Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) parameter self-tuning method based on a constriction factor particle swarm optimization (CPSO) algorithm is broached since it is difficult to tune due to a large number of multi-loop cascade PID control parameters. Simulation and experimental results showed that the control performance increases by 40% in the triple closed-loop PID control system with a stronger disturbance rejection, simpler design, and quickly responds when compared with the previous empirical tuning method. The triple closed-loop PID control system comprises an angle loop + angle velocity loop + current loop and technically supports the engineering application design of motors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), which use polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), provide a prospect to add to a future of harmful‐emission‐free mobility. However, an in‐depth understanding of degradation mechanisms and contributions to performance losses is needed to commercialize FCEVs further. Most previous PEMFC degradation research has focused on global indicators of the cell condition. Still, failure occurs typically due to inhomogeneities in production or operation, leading to localized regions of high degradation rates. Despite simulations indicating that local degradation effects are significantly more pronounced at larger scales, experimental studies only exist for small‐sized laboratory fuel cells so far. Here, we present the results of a comprehensive study of spatial distributions of essential PEMFC parameters using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy across the cell surface of automotive‐size fuel cells with an active area of 285 cm2. In particular, the results reveal increasing mass transport problems with increasing distance from the air inlet and a tendency of lower proton resistances in the center of the cell. One hundred twenty realistic freeze‐start cycles degenerated the cell performance drastically. The outer cell regions, subject to the lowest temperatures, showed the most substantial degradation rates, partly compensated by central cell regions with slightly higher temperatures. These findings bridge the gap between simulation and experiment and provide valuable insights for future fuel cell design and operating strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the service life prediction of fluorocarbon elastomers that are used in automotive vapor fuel hoses under thermal environments. The changes in mechanical properties such as the tensile strength, elongation, compression set (CS), and hardness according to thermal aging were investigated for two types of ternary fluoroelastomers. Destructive tests of the tensile strength and elongation showed large variations in the mechanical properties under the same condition because there is no continuity of samples. In contrast, nondestructive tests of the CS and hardness showed little variations in the mechanical properties under the same condition. The elongation, CS, and hardness were selected as the physical parameters for service life prediction as they showed a tendency according to the aging temperature, which is an accelerating factor. The effective activation energy derived using each physical parameter was 74.91–159.6 kJ mol−1, and the service life was 17.8–140 × 103 h based on B10. In this study, hardness, which has a small deviation between samples, is considered appropriate as mechanical parameter for predicting the service lifetime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The F1-ATPase is a rotary motor fueled by ATP hydrolysis. Its rotational dynamics have been well characterized using single-molecule rotation assays. While F1-ATPases from various species have been studied using rotation assays, the standard model for single-molecule studies has been the F1-ATPase from thermophilic Bacillus sp. PS3, named TF1. Single-molecule studies of TF1 have revealed fundamental features of the F1-ATPase, such as the principal stoichiometry of chemo-mechanical coupling (hydrolysis of 3 ATP per turn), torque (approximately 40 pN·nm), and work per hydrolysis reaction (80 pN·nm = 48 kJ/mol), which is nearly equivalent to the free energy of ATP hydrolysis. Rotation assays have also revealed that TF1 exhibits two stable conformational states during turn: a binding dwell state and a catalytic dwell state. Although many structures of F1 have been reported, most of them represent the catalytic dwell state or its related states, and the structure of the binding dwell state remained unknown. A recent cryo-EM study on TF1 revealed the structure of the binding dwell state, providing insights into how F1 generates torque coupled to ATP hydrolysis. In this review, we discuss the torque generation mechanism of F1 based on the structure of the binding dwell state and single-molecule studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adulteration detection of liquids is an emerging field in the present scenario. Purity detection of engine oils and fuels is essential for the smooth functioning of automobiles. An asymmetric coplanar strip fed stepped impedance resonator (SIR) coupled single split ring resonator (SSRR) sensor is used for purity and adulteration detection of engine oil and fuels in automobiles. The sensor operating at 5.95 GHz in free space on a low‐cost substrate with a compact size of 10 × 11.5 × 1.6 mm3 is demonstrated in this article. The impedance contrast between the two lines of SIR and the coupled SSRR improves the electric field distribution and thus the sensitivity. The resonant frequency of the proposed sensor changes with the aging of the oil or the adulteration level. The sensor performance is analyzed with simulations and validated with measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioethanol is considered one of the most promising next-generation automotive fuels, as it is carbon neutral and can be produced from renewable resources, like lignocellulosic materials. The present research investigation aimed to utilize the elephant ear plant, a hazardous plant (weed) also considered an invasive species, as a font of non-edible lignocellulosic biomass for bioethanol production. The freshly collected elephant ear plant (leaves and stalk) was chopped into small pieces (1–2 cm) and then homogenized to a paste using a mechanical grinder. The sample pretreatment was done by flying ash for three different time durations (T1 = 0 min, T2 = 15 min, and T3 = 30 min) with 3 replications. All treatment samples were measured for total sugar and reducing sugar content. The concentration of reducing sugar archived was T1 = 0.771 ± 0.1 mg/mL, T2 = 0.907 ± 0.032 mg/mL, and T3 = 0.895 ± 0.039 mg/mL, respectively. The results revealed that the chemical composition was different among treatments. The hydrolysis was performed using cellulase enzymes at 35 °C for the hydrolysis process. The hydrolysate was inoculated with 1% of S. cerevisiae and maintained at room temperature without oxygen for 120 h. Bioethanol concentration was measured by using an ebulliometer. The efficient ethanol percentage was 1.052 ± 0.03 mg/mL achieved after the fermentation. Therefore, the elephant ear plant invasive weed could be an efficient feedstock plant for future bioethanol production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]