Sep 24 2015
Finnish wood-based UPM BioVerno diesel has been found to significantly reduce harmful tailpipe emissions. A number of engine and vehicle tests have been carried out across a number of key research institutes such as VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, University of Vaasa in Finland and at FEV, internationally recognised vehicle engineering company based in Germany.
UPM BioVerno's carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbon emissions (HC) with a diesel blend containing 30% BioVerno (green) in FEV vehicle tests, compared with conventional reference diesel fuel (black).
UPM BioVerno renewable diesel has already been shown to function just like conventional diesel in all diesel engines yet it generates up to 80% less greenhouse gas emissions during its lifecycle compared to conventional fossil diesel fuels.
Additional proof of the excellent properties of the Finnish wood-based UPM BioVerno diesel is provided by the latest test results, which show that UPM BioVerno also reduces harmful tailpipe emissions.
These emissions, such as particle mass, hydrocarbon, carbon dioxide, nitrogeous oxide and carbon monoxide emissions, were reduced by up to dozens of percent compared to conventional diesel fuel, depending on vehicle technology and blend. All the tests showed similar or improved efficiency of the engine, without compromising the engine power, when UPM BioVerno was introduced to the fuel blend. In addition, it could be shown that by using 100% UPM BioVerno diesel fuel consumption decreased.
FEV Germany carried out a series of tests on UPM BioVerno's effect on engine functionality and emissions with both a diesel blend containing 30% UPM BioVerno and 100% UPM BioVerno diesel. In addition to measuring engine output and fuel consumption, the tests focused on tailpipe emissions and the performance of UPM BioVerno compared with conventional diesel.
"UPM BioVerno renewable diesel was investigated in a screening campaign at FEV Germany. The results showed that even as a 30% blending component, the accumulated HC emissions were reduced by more than 50% and the CO emissions by more than 40% compared to reference fossil diesel. Our tests also showed good results in NOx emissions and efficiency", says Dr. Ing. Thorsten Schnorbus, Manager Passenger Car Diesel, FEV.
UPM BioVerno was also tested in University of Vaasa, Finland using a heavy duty engine. These experiments were performed in the Technobothnia Education and Research Centre in Vaasa.
“The engine experiments with a modern Finnish off-road engine showed that the more UPM BioVerno there was in the fuel blend, the lower were the CO and HC emissions of the engine. The lowest CO and HC emissions were recorded when running the engine with 100% BioVerno. Neat BioVerno was also very favorable when looking at nanoparticle number emissions at idle. For all studied fuels and fuel blends, the smoke readings were very low”, says Seppo Niemi, Professor in Energy technology, Faculty of technology, University of Vaasa, Finland.
The high quality and higher cetane number of UPM BioVerno diesel provide cleaner combustion in the engine resulting significantly lower tailpipe emissions. Clear differences compared to conventional diesel was gained even with a 30% diesel blend.
“The low tailpipe emissions make UPM BioVerno diesel an even more sustainable choice for drivers. We have developed a novel fuel for consumers using genuinely renewable sources with Finnish expertise and development work. The renewable, high-quality fuels with reduced emissions drive cleaner traffic, now and in the future,” says Sari Mannonen, Director of Sales and Marketing at UPM Biofuels.