
THE ALTERNATIVE IS CLEAR. WITH THE DME PROJECT, FPT INDUSTRIAL LEADS RESEARCH ON SUSTAINABLE FUELS
DME, or dimethyl ether, is undoubtedly one of the most promising alternative and sustainable fuels in the heavy-duty road transport segment. In fact, the total absence of sulfur, combustion with extremely low NOx and particulate emissions, the high energy efficiency and the possibility of being produced from a wide variety of renewable sources make it one of the most suitable fuels to meet the 2025 and 2030 European standards in terms of the reduction of CO2 emissions. True to its multi-source and multi-fuel approach, at its Research & Development Center in Arbon, Switzerland, the cradle of Common Rail and Hi-eSCR technologies, FPT Industrial is developing an innovative project for the use of DME as an alternative fuel to diesel in a heavy-duty, 11-liter engine. The project is financed by the Swiss Federal Office for Energy (SFOE), whereas the test bench is in operation at the EMPA, the Swiss Federal Laboratory for Science and Technology of Materials located in Dübendorf. Used for decades as propellant for spray cans, DME is non-toxic, odorless and can be absorbed in the troposphere. As for storage and fueling, it behaves like LPG and can therefore be kept in the liquid state with a very low pressure. The study and the project headed up by FPT Industrial focus on solving a few problems with the use of DME as fuel for automotive transport, specifically in terms of injection systems. Want to know more? Click here https://www.empa.ch/web/s604/eq69-nachhaltige-treibstoffe