Composition-Explicit Distillation Curves of Mixtures of Diesel Fuel with Biomass-Derived Glycol Ester Oxygenates: A Fuel Design Tool for Decreased Particulate Emissions†

We have recently introduced several important improvements in the measurement of distillation curves for complex fluids. The modifications provide for (1) a composition explicit data channel for each distillate fraction (for both qualitative and quantitative analysis), (2) temperature measurements that are true thermodynamic state points that can be modeled with an equation of state, (3) temperature, volume, and pressure measurements of low uncertainty suitable for equation of state development, (4) consistency with a century of historical data, (5) an assessment of the energy content of each distillate fraction, (6) trace chemical analysis of each distillate fraction, and (7) a corrosivity assessment of each distillate fraction. The composition explicit channel is achieved with a new sampling approach that allows precise qualitative as well as quantitative analyses of each fraction, on the fly. We have applied the new method to the measurement of rocket propellant, gasolines, jet fuels, diesel fuels, and crude oils. In this paper, we present the application of the technique to representative batches of petroleum derived diesel fuel and mixtures of this diesel fuel with some oxygenating agents that can be derived from biomass. The distillation curve data that are presented can be used for thermodynamic modeling of these complex fluids. Moreover, we present not only the distillation curves but also a chemical characterization of each fraction and discuss the contrasts between the various mixtures.