Standard Specifications Issued for DME as a Fuel
The standards organization ASTM International issued specifications for dimethyl ether for fuel purposes.
The recently released standards cover DME for use as a fuel in engines specifically designed or modified for DME, and for blending with liquefied petroleum gas, according to ASTM.
DME can be made from a number of feedstocks, such as food, animal and agricultural waste, as well as from natural gas.
Oberon Fuels initiated and led an ASTM task force focused on developing a specification for DME as a fuel, according to the International DME Association.
In addition to Oberon, the task force included representatives from Volvo, BP, Delphi, Marathon Petroleum, Petrobras, the National Propane Gas Association and the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
“The approval of an ASTM specification for DME marks an important milestone for DME’s introduction as a fuel, providing DME producers, engine manufacturers, infrastructure developers and others involved in the introduction of DME as a fuel with an important benchmark on which to base their work,” the International DME Association said in a statement.
Volvo Trucks has said it will begin selling Class 8, over-the-road trucks powered by dimethyl ether starting in 2015.
Volvo officials said they have begun field-testing DME trucks with one fleet and soon will add a second test in conjunction with food-store chain Safeway Inc., a fuel producer and a local governmental agency in California.
“We look forward to further validating DME technology for the trucking industry,” Göran Nyberg, president of Volvo Trucks’ sales and marketing, said in June. “We believe the fuel shows great potential for the North American market and, when produced from biomass, it can provide a 95% reduction in [carbon dioxide] compared to diesel.”
