Fleet test with Mercedes-Benz vehicles proves fuel quality of 2nd generation biofuel sunliquid® 20

Fleet test with Mercedes-Benz vehicles proves fuel quality of 2nd generation biofuel sunliquid® 20
3rd February 2017 Sohail Sheikh

Fleet test with Mercedes-Benz vehicles proves fuel quality of 2nd generation biofuel sunliquid® 20

• A plus for the environment: Improves particle count emissions and guarantees significant reductions in CO2 emissions using sunliquid® cellulosic ethanol
• Field test confirms: Excellent combustion characteristics without additional consumption

Frankfurt, 02 February 2017 – Clariant, a leading global specialty chemicals company, together with Mercedes-Benz and Haltermann Carless, a well-established HCS Group brand, tested the use of sustainable cellulosic ethanol from agricultural residues in a fleet test with Mercedes-Benz series vehicles over a period of 12 months for the first time in Germany. sunliquid® 20 was used for the test – a fuel produced by Haltermann Carless with a cellulosic ethanol content of 20 percent by volume (E20) from Clariant’s sunliquid® plant in Straubing. The cellulosic ethanol allows greenhouse gas emission savings of up to 95% across the entire value chain without competing with food production or tying up agricultural land.

In the fleet test with Mercedes-Benz vehicles, sunliquid® 20 exhibited very good combustion properties with a high degree of efficiency and identical consumption compared to today’s standard E10 fuel. Due to the slightly lower energy density of E20 compared to E10, slightly higher fuel consumption was expected under the same operating conditions. The tests performed under laboratory conditions demonstrated variability in the consumption analysis in which additional consumption between 0 and 3 percent was observed.

“Developing and bringing solutions to the market for more sustainable mobility is one of the most important tasks in the transportation sector today. We are very pleased that sunliquid® 20 has proven its high quality in the field test – with the same range and the same driving comfort,” says Dr. Martin Vollmer, Chief Technology Officer, Clariant. “Cellulosic ethanol from agricultural residues is a carbon-neutral fuel with great potential, which can be cost-effectively produced and used today. So that energy transition can succeed in the transportation sector, we urgently need stable framework conditions, such as the mandatory blending rate for advanced biofuels within the EU member states.”

“This is yet more evidence that Germany is a technology pioneer in the research and development of sustainable special fuels. As a specialty company and industry research partner, we are delighted to be able to produce a fuel with outstanding specifications and environmental properties that can demonstrate its usefulness in existing engines with existing infrastructure without any issues,” emphasizes Dr. Bruno Philippon, Senior Vice President Performance Fuels at Haltermann Carless.

In addition to the proven performance, an improvement in particle count emissions by around 50 percent was measured for sunliquid® 20 versus the EU reference fuel Euro 5. The tests have confirmed the positive properties of the sunliquid® 20 fuel.

The 20 percent cellulosic ethanol by volume has another decisive advantage. In addition to the higher CO2 savings and reduced emissions, it gives the fuel a significantly higher octane number (RON) of over 100. With a widespread introduction of E20, engines could be adapted in the future so that the quality advantage of the fuel could be used to improve engine efficiency and thus further reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.

The cellulosic ethanol portion comes from Clariant’s sunliquid® precommercial plant in Straubing, where approximately 4,500 tons of agricultural residues such as cereal straw or corn stover are converted into cellulosic ethanol each year. At the Haltermann Carless production site in Hamburg, the bioethanol is mixed with selected components to form the innovative fuel whose specifications represent the potential for the quality of E20 fuel in Europe.

Mercedes-Benz Clariants Sunliquid
Cars in the Mercedes-Benz fleet in front of Clariant’s sunliquid® precommercial plant, where cellulosic ethanol is produced from agricultural residues. (Photos: Clariant/Rötzer)

SUNLIQUID® IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF CLARIANT

Clariant MEDIA relations HCS Group & Haltermann Carless Media Relations
Jochen Dubiel
Telefon +41 61 469 63 63
jochen.dubiel@clariant.com
Christiane Klapper
Telefon +49 69 695 386 188
cklapper@h-c-s-group.com
Claudia Kamensky
Telefon +41 61 469 63 63
claudia.kamensky@clariant.com
Folgen Sie uns auf: Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, LinkedIn.

www.clariant.com

Clariant is a globally leading specialty chemicals company, based in Muttenz near Basel/Switzerland. On 31 December 2015 the company employed a total workforce of 17,213. In the financial year 2015, Clariant recorded sales of CHF 5.807 billion for its continuing operations. The company reports in four business areas: Care Chemicals, Catalysis, Natural Resources and Plastics & Coatings. Clariant’s corporate strategy is based on five pillars: increase profitability, reposition portfolio, add value with sustainability, foster innovation and R&D, and intensify growth.

sunliquid® is an innovative biotechnological method for manufacturing cellulosic ethanol from agricultural residues such as cereal straw, corn stover or sugarcane bagasse. In the completely integrated process, highly optimized, raw material-specific biocatalysts decompose cellulose and hemicellulose in high yields with stable processing conditions into fermentable sugar. The process-integrated production of the biocatalysts offers flexibility and reduces production costs. In the next step, C5 as well as C6 sugar can be converted into ethanol with a new fermentation organism, thereby raising the ethanol yield by about 50 percent. A highly optimized purification process is instrumental in enabling all the energy required for the process to be derived from the insoluble residue lignin. The resulting cellulosic ethanol saves around 95% of CO2 emissions when compared to fossil gasoline. Since July 2012, Clariant has been operating a precommercial plant in Straubing, which produces up to 1,000 metric tons of cellulosic ethanol from around 4,500 metric tons of raw material every year.

www.sunliquid.com

About HCS Group

The HCS Group is a leading manufacturer of high-quality hydrocarbons and specialties. The company employs 500 people worldwide. The products are marketed worldwide through the well-established brands Haltermann Carless, ETS Racing and EOS. The HCS Group is part of H.I.G. Europe, a subsidiary of the US private equity firm H.I.G.
www.h-c-s-group.com, www.haltermanncarless.com, www.ets-racing.com, www.eosl.co.uk