This document discusses alternate synthetic fuels as alternatives to traditional fossil fuels. It covers several types of synthetic fuels including dimethyl ether (DME) and plastic-derived fuels. DME can be produced from biomass, methanol, or natural gas, and has benefits over diesel like lower emissions but challenges like higher vapor pressure. Plastic-derived fuels involve pyrolyzing plastic waste at high temperatures to produce synthetic crude or refined fuels without combustion. This process can help address the global plastic waste problem while producing a usable fuel.

1. Alternate Synthetic Fuels
V. Santhanam
Departmentof Chemistry
SCSVMV

2. Contents 01  Energy Crisis
 Climate Change
Alternate Fuels - Why?
03  Production
 Properties
 Suitability
Dimethyl Ether
04  What are they?
 Merits and Demerits
P-series fuels
05  Plastic waste problems
 Plastic fuels
 Method of preparation
 Merits and demerits
Synthetic Plastic Fuels
02  Low emission fuels
 Fuels from bio mass
 Fuels derived from waste materials
Types

3. Energy Crisis
 Increasing energy consumption
 Residential use has doubled
 Fossil fuels are running short
Transportation Consumption
almost 1/4th at stake

4. Climate Change
Scientific evidences for warming of the climate system is unequivocal.
- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
 CO2 emission from various sources
 Fuels with lower emissions or no emission
 Alternative energy sources
Renewable fuels

5. The following fuels are defined as alternative fuels by the
Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 1992 .
Alternative fuels, provided that the:
 Fuel is substantially non-petroleum
 yields substantial energy security benefits
 Offers substantial environmental benefits
Electricity
Pure methanol
ethanol, and other alcohols
 Blends of alcohols with gasoline
 Natural gas
Liquid fuels from natural gas
Fuels- other than alcohol
 P-series fuels
Coal-derived liquid fuels
 Hydrogen

6. Easy
Handling
Compatibility
Lower
EmissionEfficiency
Lower impact
on the Engine
Availability
Viability

7.  DME aka methoxymethane
 Simplest ether
 Colorless gas
 Molar mass : 46.069 g·mol
−1
 Melting point : −141 °C
 Boiling point: −24 °C
 Dipole moment : 1.3 D
Dimethyl Ether – C2H6O

8. Dimethyl Ether – C2H6O
Production:
 DME can be produced from biomass, methanol, and fossil
fuels.
 The likely feedstock of choice for large-scale DME
production is natural gas.
 DME can be produced directly from synthesis gas
produced from natural gas, coal, or biomass.
 It can also be produced indirectly from methanol via a
dehydration reaction.

10. Comparison of DME with Diesel

11.  DME is an synthetic alternative to diesel for
compression ignition diesel engines.
 DME requires 75 psi pressure to be in liquid form,
which must be kept in pressurized storage tanks at an
ambient temperature.
 The use of DME in vehicles requires fuel injection
system specifically developed to operate on DME.
 There have been a number of DME vehicle
demonstrations, in a case 10 vehicles ran for 750,000
miles with out a glitch.

12. Benefits
Dimethyl ether has several fuel properties that make it
attractive for use in diesel engines
 High cetane number
 Efficiency and power rating are same for DME and
diesel
 Because of its lack of carbon-to-carbon bonds it
virtually eliminate particulate emission.
 However, DME has half the energy density of diesel
fuel, requiring a fuel tank twice as large as that needed
for diesel.

13. • Diesel-Like Performance
• Simpler engine results in lower maintenance costs
• No spark plug required
• Compression ignited, resulting in higher efficiency
• Sulfur-free
• Easier to control NOx
• Meets or exceeds strict emissions standards
• Non-toxic
• Rapid, low pressure dispensing
• Spillage will not contaminate soil
• Cost-Competitive

14. Performance Study

15. Performance Study
High speed
cruise

16. Demerits
 Highly inflammable.
 Higher vapor pressure.
 Requires pressurized tanks.
 Requires modification of fuel feed system.
 Energy density is about half of diesel.
 NOx emission is higher
 Higher emission of hydrocarbons.

18. P-Series Fuels
 Renewable, non-petroleum, liquid fuels that can
substitute for gasoline.
 They are a blend of approximately 25 ingredients.
 About 32.5% is liquid by-products, known as "C5+" or
"pentanes-plus", which are left over when natural gas is
processed for transport and marketing.
 Ethanol, from corn, comprises about 35%
 Remaining 32.5% is MeTHF, an ether derived from
lignocelullosic biomass (waste paper / Food waste / Agro
wastes)

19. P-Series Fuels - Advantages
1. The need for non-petroleum energy sources
2. Affordability
3. Solid waste management
- control over a large portion of the generated trash
stream without relying on burning or burying.
- The feedstock is chemically digested - no combustion
with the accompanying toxic air emissions.
- Using feedstock with a negative cost.

20.  Much like gasoline, P-Series fuels range from 89-93 octane
(mid-grade to premium). Can be formulated specifically for
winter or summer use.
 Refueling with P-Series is as quick and familiar as with
gasoline.
The basic capability for utilizing P-Series in vehicles has
already been incorporated into methanol/ethanol flexible-fuel
vehicles (FFV's).
FFV's are designed to operate on alcohol, on gasoline, or
on any mixture of the two.

21. Plastic! Plastic!! Everywhere!!!

22. Solutions to Plastic Pollution
• Containers
• Other utilities
• Bags
• Bricks
• Road laying
• Plastic Fuel oil

23. Types of Plastics Used

24. Fuel from Used Plastics
Non-recycled plastics into an array of fuels:
•Plastics are collected and sorted for recycling.
•They are heated in an oxygen-free environment, melted and
vaporized into gases.
•The gases are condensed into a variety of useful products.
• No combustion.
•Depending on the specific technology, products can include
synthetic crude or refined fuels.

25. The Technology: Pyrolysis
Thermal degradation process in the absence of oxygen.
 No COX, NOX, SOX
 Breaks large hydrocarbon chain into smaller ones
 Requires higher temperature and high reaction time.
 Resulting fluid have low octane value, higher pour
point of diesel and high residue content .

26. Steps Involved
• Plastic collected and segregated.
• Shredding of waste plastics to reduce volume.
• Pyrolzed in a cylindrical reactor at temperature of
300ºC – 350ºC.
• Plastics waste further cracked with catalyst and
resulting hydrocarbons.
• The vapours are condensed and collected in receiver.
• Liquid fuel fractionates to get diesel, kerosene, petrol
etc.
• The toxic gases evolved are treated separately.

28. Efficiency and Yields
• The average percentage yield of various fuel
fractions by fraction distillation depending on
composition of waste plastics are Gasoline (60% )
and Diesel (30%).
• The percentage of liquid distillate is mentioned in
terms of weight by volume.
(Antony Raja and Advaith Murali 2011).

29. Plastic Fuel oil and Diesel

30. Costs Involved