New Method to Produce Cleaner Diesel Found

Researchers at KU Leaven University in Belgium and Utrecht University in the Netherlands have discovered a new method that can be used to produce cleaner diesel fuel.

How?

They managed to devise a method that involves catalysts.

Catalysts can be used for more than one chemical function and increase the rate of a chemical reaction. Their team has devised a method where catalyst granules are involved in two components, a metal (platinum) and a solid-state acid.

This process allows scientists to trigger the chemical reactions that convert raw material into fuel when small catalyst granules are added to the raw material. Each time the molecule comes into contact with one of the materials, change in its molecular structure occurs. This results in processed molecules that can be used as diesel.

Previously, the assumption was that the metal and the solid-state acid in the catalyst should always be as close as possible to speed up the process by enabling the molecules to interact more frequently.

However, recent findings suggest that limited spacing eliminates molecules that would emit CO2 particulates.

It is believed that the technique can also be applied to petroleum-based fuels and renewable carbon from biomass.

This diesel is expected to show up in cars and trucks in the next 5-10 years.