Description
More than 40% of the final energy used in Europe is consumed in the residential sector. Since the energy efficiency of buildings is equal to only 50%, the residential sector is identified as one of the sectors with the greatest potential to implement energy saving measures.The main objective of the project ECOENERGY is to develop a new family of liquid fuels for heating purposes, to incorporate biofuel fractions in their composition and focusing specifically on latest heating technologies in order to achieve the maximum thermal efficiency with the minimum emissions. ECOENERGY will bring environmental benefits, but a more important outcome will be increased knowledge of combustion processes, which will help REPSOL identify future ways of reducing pollutants in boilers. ECOENERGY addresses the needs of those countries where the newer fuels and boiler technologies have not yet established themselves or have low implementation (i.e. Spain and Portugal).
Summary of project results
The main objective of the project was to develop a new family of liquid fuels for heating purposes for the residential sector, incorporating biofuel fractions in their composition with a focus on the latest heating technologies, in order to achieve the maximum energy efficiency and the minimum emissions. The influence of heating oil properties on emissions, the incorporation up to 50% of renewable components, and the reduction of sulfur in the new fuels composition have all been studied. Moreover, the behavior of different formulations in combustion processes, including pollutant emissions, has been numerically modeled. The new formulations have been characterized, assuring minimum quality, and have been tested by means of laboratory tests, real scale experiments, and simulation techniques. A new portfolio of liquid fuels, including biofuels fractions, has been developed specifically for the latest heating technologies, being able to reduce the local pollutant emissions and contributing to improve energy efficiency. The Project was centered on two main activities. In Activity 1, Development of fuels, the development of formulations of different heating fuels was carried out, starting from the selection of refinery products and raw materials from renewable sources. Thus, the project has developed formulations of low emissions diesel heating and formulations of diesel heating with components from renewable sources. Different formulations have been characterized according to their physicochemical properties, evaluating the effect of these properties on pollutant emissions. The analysis of the results enabled the researchers to develop a mathematical model capable of predicting pollutant emissions depending on the properties of diesel and thus defined the technical specification for formulation of low diesel emissions. Moreover,, an initial technical analysis of manufacturing, logistics and distribution of the final product was conducted. Activity 2, Validation and testing, focused on the validation of the results obtained in the laboratory in the first phase of the project, by evaluating the behavior of the formulations developed in operating conditions in real facilities.
Summary of bilateral results