Tailored Fuels for Small Engines

Objective of the activities is the development and production of tailored fuels for small engines. These are supposed to be produced up to 100% from renewable raw materials. Furthermore, a distinctive innovation potential, regarding emission reduction and fuel consumption, is pursued. Considering marketability, acceptable production costs, good availability and a safe handling are crucial issues that have to be ensured. For this, the following approach is employed: Firstly, ethanol is converted to ethylene by dehydration. In the next step, ethylene is converted to hydrocarbons via oligomerization reactions which are subsequently hydrogenated. The work concentrates on the development of oligomerization catalysts and the determination of reaction conditions which lead to a product that can be directly employed as gasoline, without extensive and costly upgrading.