Expertise in fuels and engine technologies

IFPEN combines the expertise of its engine technology specialists with know-how in the field of refining process development, an area in which it is a world leader. This integrated offer gives IFP Energies nouvelles a unique competitive edge when it comes to pairing engines with fuels:

• Formulation of fuels that significantly cut the formation of deposits in the combustion chamber, on injectors and valves and reduce pollution produced by engines (noise, odours and pollutants);
• Formulation of alternative fuels (biofuels, gas fuels) and evaluation on engines of fouling, pollutant emission and drivability parameters. For example, IFP Energies nouvelles is responsible for monitoring a fleet of FFV vehicles
• Exploration of new avenues for innovative formulations: GTL (gas to liquid) strategy, fuels produced using the Fischer-Tropsch process, oxygenated compounds;
• Development of plastic materials or composites to make equipment (pipes, tanks, seals) tailored to fuels and lubricants.

Influence of the formulation of gas oils on the CO emissions of a diesel common rail engine (New European Driving Cycle)

Specific testing resources

• Laboratory for the analysis of automobile pollutants
• Resources for the analysis of regulated or specific pollutants (continuous, by cycle phases, etc.) on engine test benches and chassis dynamometers enabling the measurement and identification of several types of compounds (individual HC, H₂S, SO₂, NH₂, N₂O, aldehydes, HAP, acids, etc.)
• Equipment to measure the granulometry of particles

Effects obtained on pollutant emissions by the addition of innovative oxygenated compounds (20% in vol.) to diesel fuel

Ongoing joint projects

 
IFPEN organizes consortiums that are open to any partners interested in the future challenges represented by these new concepts.
Through international Consortiums bringing together car manufacturers, OEMs, oil and refining companies, IFPEN leads research programs on innovative fuel formulations compatible with new combustion modes.
 

• Current consortium E4D "Ethanol for Diesel: 4 ways to use ethanol in a diesel engine"

IFPEN runs the international consortium E4D whose purpose is to study the feasibility and the potential of using ethanol for the formulation of diesel fuels. The work focuses on the impact of using this type of fuels on the combustion process and on the optimization of engine behaviour in terms of performance and of regulated and unregulated emissions. This consortium is made up of a panel of industrial companies representing all the players involved in this domain (O2Diesel, Petrobras, Renault, Total and Volvo Powertrain) and it remains open to any new partners eager to join in. E4D's 1st year ends with results centred on the understanding of spray and combustion processes. The consortium will allow to construct a solid experimental database that may represent the first step towards the direct introduction of ethanol into the diesel oil pool.
 
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• Consortiums recently completed: HCCI Diesel and CAI Gasoline

Thanks to IFPEN's dual expertise in engines and fuels, research has been carried out on new combustion modes within the framework of consortiums. Two of these programs have now been brought to completion, with a first project notably on the following issue: "Effect of fuel and additives on Diesel HCCI engines". This work has allowed promising results to be reached, so as to envisage an application close to industrialization. A second program, "Effect of fuel and additives on CAI gasoline engines", has allowed to underline the physico-chemical properties of the fuels best suited for CAI combustion and to select the best fuels possible under various conditions of use by means of a characterization methodology.
 
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