Hydrotreated renewable diesel and jet fuels contain a mixture of a large number of branched and linear alkanes.  To understand the combustion of these fuels, researchers test the fuels in various engines, and numerical modelers simulate the combustion behavior.  The combustion and modeling efforts can be simplified if a surrogate mixture containing fewer components can be found that matches the fuel's properties.  Such surrogate mixtures have been made for both petroleum and alternative fuels.  In this work, two-component mixtures were developed that match the density, viscosity, surface tension, flash point, and bulk modulus of hydrotreated fuels.  Bulk modulus impacts the fuel injection time, while viscosity, density, and surface tension impact the formation of droplets in an engine.  In addition, military fuel specifications require a minimum flash point for safe handling on ships.  The mixtures that matched the properties of the hydrotreated renewable fuels contained n-hexadecane in combination with either 2,2,4,6,6-pentamethylheptane or 2,2,4,4,6,8,8-heptamethylnonane.

Potential surrogate fuel mixtures for hydrotreated renewable diesel and jet fuels

247th National Meeting (2014)

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