Research on New Fuels from Biomass: The Challenge from the Hydraulic and Tribological Point of View

The present paper will give an introduction to the work within the Cluster of Excellence (CoE) "Tailor-Made Fuels from Biomass (TMFB)", funded by the German research foundation to research on fuels from biomass for the next generation. The fluid properties of these new fuels differ a lot from conventional fuels. The paper will show the approach for finding technical solutions to deal with these challenges. The critical aspects in the injection systems for combustion engines will be presented. Furthermore the investigations to characterise the new fuels will be explained. One of the focuses is set on the fluid properties under high pressure conditions. The test rigs that had to be designed for measuring viscosity and bulk modulus will be presented. The design of a tribometer will also be presented to study the interaction between fuels and surfaces for mixed lubrication condition. The investigations on the properties of the new fuels are needed to parameterise simulation models of the injection system which will be set up parallel to the experiments.