IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v17y2024i7p1719-d1369612.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Renewable Methanol as a Fuel for Heavy-Duty Engines: A Review of Technologies Enabling Single-Fuel Solutions

Author

Listed:
  • Yi-Hao Pu

    (Department of Electromechanical, Systems and Metal Engineering, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 41, 9000 Ghent, Belgium)

  • Quinten Dejaegere

    (Department of Electromechanical, Systems and Metal Engineering, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 41, 9000 Ghent, Belgium)

  • Magnus Svensson

    (Department of Energy Sciences, Lund University, Ole Römers väg 1, Box 118, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden)

  • Sebastian Verhelst

    (Department of Electromechanical, Systems and Metal Engineering, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 41, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
    Department of Energy Sciences, Lund University, Ole Römers väg 1, Box 118, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden)

Abstract

To meet climate targets, a global shift away from fossil fuels is essential. For sectors where electrification is impractical, it is crucial to find sustainable energy carriers. Renewable methanol is widely considered a promising fuel for powering heavy-duty applications like shipping, freight transport, agriculture, and industrial machines due to its various sustainable production methods. While current technological efforts focus mainly on dual-fuel engines in shipping, future progress hinges on single-fuel solutions using renewable methanol to achieve net-zero goals in the heavy-duty sector. This review examines the research status of technologies enabling methanol as the sole fuel for heavy-duty applications. Three main categories emerged from the literature: spark-ignition, compression-ignition, and pre-chamber systems. Each concept’s operational principles and characteristics regarding efficiency, stability, and emissions were analyzed. Spark-ignition concepts are a proven and cost-effective solution with high maturity. However, they face limitations due to knock issues, restricting power output with larger bore sizes. Compression-ignition concepts inherently do not suffer from end-gas autoignition, but encounter challenges related to ignitability due to the low cetane number of methanol. Nonetheless, various methods for achieving autoignition of methanol exist. To obtain stable combustion at all load points, a combination of techniques will be required. Pre-chamber technology, despite its lower maturity, holds promise for extending the knock limit and enhancing efficiency by acting as a distributed ignition source. Furthermore, mixing-controlled pre-chamber concepts show potential for eliminating knock and the associated size and power limitations. The review concludes by comparing each technology and identifying research gaps for future work.

Suggested Citation

  • Yi-Hao Pu & Quinten Dejaegere & Magnus Svensson & Sebastian Verhelst, 2024. "Renewable Methanol as a Fuel for Heavy-Duty Engines: A Review of Technologies Enabling Single-Fuel Solutions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-33, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:7:p:1719-:d:1369612
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/7/1719/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/7/1719/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chengjiang Li & Tingwen Jia & Shiyuan Wang & Xiaolin Wang & Michael Negnevitsky & Honglei Wang & Yujie Hu & Weibin Xu & Na Zhou & Gang Zhao, 2023. "Methanol Vehicles in China: A Review from a Policy Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-22, June.
    2. Duan, Xiongbo & Feng, Lining & Liu, Haibo & Jiang, Pengfei & Chen, Chao & Sun, Zhiqiang, 2023. "Experimental investigation on exhaust emissions of a heavy-duty vehicle powered by a methanol-fuelled spark ignition engine under world Harmonized Transient Cycle and actual on-road driving conditions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    3. Vancoillie, J. & Demuynck, J. & Sileghem, L. & Van De Ginste, M. & Verhelst, S. & Brabant, L. & Van Hoorebeke, L., 2013. "The potential of methanol as a fuel for flex-fuel and dedicated spark-ignition engines," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 140-149.
    4. Brynolf, Selma & Taljegard, Maria & Grahn, Maria & Hansson, Julia, 2018. "Electrofuels for the transport sector: A review of production costs," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P2), pages 1887-1905.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Michael Metzger & Mathias Duckheim & Marco Franken & Hans Joerg Heger & Matthias Huber & Markus Knittel & Till Kolster & Martin Kueppers & Carola Meier & Dieter Most & Simon Paulus & Lothar Wyrwoll & , 2021. "Pathways toward a Decarbonized Future—Impact on Security of Supply and System Stability in a Sustainable German Energy System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-28, January.
    2. Lu Xiao & Feiyue Yang & Yong Yang & Che Chen & Wuer Ha, 2024. "A Sustainable Production Planning Scheme for New Energy Vehicles in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-24, September.
    3. Stančin, H. & Mikulčić, H. & Wang, X. & Duić, N., 2020. "A review on alternative fuels in future energy system," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    4. Østergaard, P.A. & Lund, H. & Thellufsen, J.Z. & Sorknæs, P. & Mathiesen, B.V., 2022. "Review and validation of EnergyPLAN," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    5. Toktarova, Alla & Walter, Viktor & Göransson, Lisa & Johnsson, Filip, 2022. "Interaction between electrified steel production and the north European electricity system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 310(C).
    6. Zhen, Xudong & Wang, Yang, 2013. "Study of ignition in a high compression ratio SI (spark ignition) methanol engine using LES (large eddy simulation) with detailed chemical kinetics," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 549-558.
    7. Ralf Peters & Maximilian Decker & Janos Lucian Breuer & Remzi Can Samsun & Detlef Stolten, 2024. "Ramping-Up Electro-Fuel Production," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-47, April.
    8. Navas-Anguita, Zaira & García-Gusano, Diego & Iribarren, Diego, 2019. "A review of techno-economic data for road transportation fuels," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 11-26.
    9. Christoph Sejkora & Johannes Lindorfer & Lisa Kühberger & Thomas Kienberger, 2021. "Interlinking the Renewable Electricity and Gas Sectors: A Techno-Economic Case Study for Austria," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-38, October.
    10. Korberg, Andrei David & Skov, Iva Ridjan & Mathiesen, Brian Vad, 2020. "The role of biogas and biogas-derived fuels in a 100% renewable energy system in Denmark," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    11. Millinger, M. & Reichenberg, L. & Hedenus, F. & Berndes, G. & Zeyen, E. & Brown, T., 2022. "Are biofuel mandates cost-effective? - An analysis of transport fuels and biomass usage to achieve emissions targets in the European energy system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 326(C).
    12. Østergaard, Poul Alberg & Andersen, Anders N., 2021. "Variable taxes promoting district heating heat pump flexibility," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 221(C).
    13. Iva Ridjan Skov & Noémi Schneider & Gerald Schweiger & Josef-Peter Schöggl & Alfred Posch, 2021. "Power-to-X in Denmark: An Analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-14, February.
    14. Christian Schnuelle & Timo Wassermann & Torben Stuehrmann, 2022. "Mind the Gap—A Socio-Economic Analysis on Price Developments of Green Hydrogen, Synthetic Fuels, and Conventional Energy Carriers in Germany," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-13, May.
    15. Liang Liang & Qian Mei & Chengjiang Li, 2024. "Does “Dual Credit Policy” Really Matter in Corporate Competitiveness?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-16, August.
    16. Jafri, Yawer & Wetterlund, Elisabeth & Mesfun, Sennai & Rådberg, Henrik & Mossberg, Johanna & Hulteberg, Christian & Furusjö, Erik, 2020. "Combining expansion in pulp capacity with production of sustainable biofuels – Techno-economic and greenhouse gas emissions assessment of drop-in fuels from black liquor part-streams," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    17. Stöckl, Fabian & Schill, Wolf-Peter & Zerrahn, Alexander, 2021. "Optimal supply chains and power sector benefits of green hydrogen," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 11.
    18. Gong, Changming & Yi, Lin & Zhang, Zilei & Sun, Jingzhen & Liu, Fenghua, 2020. "Assessment of ultra-lean burn characteristics for a stratified-charge direct-injection spark-ignition methanol engine under different high compression ratios," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(C).
    19. Paris, Bas & Papadakis, George & Janssen, Rainer & Rutz, Dominik, 2021. "Economic analysis of advanced biofuels, renewable gases, electrofuels and recycled carbon fuels for the Greek transport sector until 2050," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    20. Venturini, Giada & Pizarro-Alonso, Amalia & Münster, Marie, 2019. "How to maximise the value of residual biomass resources: The case of straw in Denmark," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 250(C), pages 369-388.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:7:p:1719-:d:1369612. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.