Audi Producing e-diesel Fuel

[Canadian Turbo]

Audi is moving forward with the development of synthetic fuels as the company has announced they have begun producing e-diesel from air, water and green electricity.

According to the automaker, the company's new Sunfire plant creates e-diesel according to the "power-to-liquid principle" and only requires carbon dioxide, water and electricity as raw materials.

The process is rather complex but Audi says carbon dioxide is extracted from the air using a direct air capture method developed by Climeworks. In another part of the plant, an electrolysis unit - powered by green electricity - splits the water into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen then reacts with the carbon dioxide in a "two chemical processes conducted at 220 degrees Celsius (428 degrees Fahrenheit) and a pressure of 25 bar to produce an energetic liquid, made up of hydrocarbon compounds, which is called Blue Crude."

The plant can produce approximately 160 liters (42.2 gallons) of Blue Crude per day and nearly 80 percent of it can be converted into synthetic diesel known as e-diesel. Audi says the resulting fuel is sulfur free and ignites very easily thanks to its high cetane number. The company goes on to say "Its chemical properties allow it to be blended in any ratio with fossil diesel. This means that it can be used as a drop-in fuel."

[Mantis]

Re: Audi Producing e-diesel Fuel

That would be a game changers if they were able to produce more than 160L/day.

[dJ]

Re: Audi Producing e-diesel Fuel

That would be a game changers if they were able to produce more than 160L/day.

For sure! Imagine the power gains and efficiency you could get from this would be unreal!

[Geobmx4life]

Re: Audi Producing e-diesel Fuel

New techno!ogy....love it...hoping they are able to pull it off!

[RSS]

Re: Audi Producing e-diesel Fuel

Only $4K/L

[witchcraftz]

Re: Audi Producing e-diesel Fuel

imagine if you could make a smaller version of this that would fit in your engine bay, your air intake would also be your fuel intake.

[Red90]

Re: Audi Producing e-diesel Fuel

And how much electricity is used?

[Benjamin]

Re: Audi Producing e-diesel Fuel

Probably lots of electricity.

Simple solution, build a nuke up in fort mac and take all the carbon that they want to capture. Oil companies might not like the idea, just charge them a boatload for the carbon and they will be happy to give it away.

[Canadian Turbo]

Re: Audi Producing e-diesel Fuel

Audi unveiled their e-diesel research facility last November and the company has announced the plant has successfully produced its first batch of the eco-friendly fuel.

In honor of the event, Germany's Federal Minister of Education and Research, Prof. Dr. Johanna Wanka, put the first five liters of e-diesel into her government car which happens to be an A8 3.0 TDI.

In a statement, the Minister said “This synthetic diesel, made using CO2, is a huge success for our sustainability research." She went on to say "If we can make widespread use of CO2 as a raw material, we will make a crucial contribution to climate protection and the efficient use of resources, and put the fundamentals of the 'green economy' in place.”

As a refresher, e-diesel is produced using the "power-to-liquid principle" and only requires carbon dioxide, water and electricity as raw materials. The process is hard to explain but Audi says carbon dioxide is extracted from the air using a direct air capture method developed by Climeworks. In another part of the plant, an electrolysis unit - powered by green electricity - splits the water into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen then reacts with the carbon dioxide in a "two chemical processes conducted at 220 degrees Celsius (428 degrees Fahrenheit) and a pressure of 25 bar to produce an energetic liquid, made up of hydrocarbon compounds, which is called Blue Crude."

[witchcraftz]

Re: Audi Producing e-diesel Fuel

That looks pretty nifty.

[Canadian Turbo]

Re: Audi Producing e-diesel Fuel

More Audi e-fuels!

Audi's synthetic fuel efforts have taken another leap forward as the company has successfully produced their first batch of “e-benzin."

Created with the assistance of Global Bioenergies, the e-benzin is produced without the use of petroleum. The fuel also lacks sulfur and benzene which means it burns "very cleanly." More importantly, it is "100-percent iso-octane and therefore has an outstanding octane rating of RON 100."

Audi will begin testing the fuel shortly but hopes to eventually modify the production process so it only requires water, hydrogen, CO2 and sunlight to create e-benzin. This would mimic their e-diesel process which only requires air, water and green energy.

In a statement, Audi's Head of Sustainable Product Development Reiner Mangold said “Global Bioenergies has demonstrated the viability of the Audi e-benzin production process. That is a big step in our Audi e-fuels strategy.”

[PRY4SNO]

Re: Audi Producing e-diesel Fuel

Super cool, I've been following this with great interest. Nice to see the developmental steps in the process coming to fruition.

Considering how "easy" diesel is to refine, making a petroleum equivalent is all the more impressive.

[witchcraftz]

Re: Audi Producing e-diesel Fuel

Commercial full scale is still years away but thanks to these prototypes there will be future development.

It's an amazing technology.