Towards model-based design of tailor-made fuels from biomass

Abstract

In face of the continuous depletion of fossil carbon resources alternative liquid energy carriers have to be identified to guarantee sustainable future mobile propulsion. In this context, the Cluster of Excellence (CoE) “Tailor-Made Fuels from Biomass” (TMFB) at RWTH Aachen University aims at identifying sustainable fossil fuel surrogates from biomass by means of a holistic approach from biomass supply to engine combustion. As the fuel identification process requires the screening of a tremendous number of possible fuel candidates, solely experimental methodologies cannot be applied. To this end, a research team at AVT.PT contributes to a model-based fuel design (MBFD) methodology which is based on an integrated product and process design approach, considering aspects of both fuel combustion and fuel production. It aims at identifying possible fossil fuel surrogates from a database of rigorously generated molecular structures. These fuel surrogates have to comply with a set of pre-defined constraints, which has been elaborated by interdisciplinary collaboration within the CoE. The present contribution illustrates the status quo and future perspectives of model-based fuel design and its integration into the research context of the TMFB cluster.