Composite thermophysical property characterization of hydrotreated renewable and Fischer-Tropsch synthetic fuels

Published

March 16, 2014

Author(s)

Peter Y. Hsieh, Jason A. Widegren, Tara Fortin, Thomas J. Bruno

Abstract

The rising cost of petroleum is driving the development of alternative hydrocarbon fuels for transportation. Hydrotreated renewable fuels and Fischer-Tropsch synthetic fuels are promising alternatives to conventional petroleum, and are chemically similar: both comprise principally linear and branched alkanes, with nearly no aromatics or cycloalkanes. We analyzed a sample of hydrotreated renewable distillate fuel derived from algae oil with the Advanced Distillation Curve method, and characterized changes in its composition as a function of distillate volume fraction through GC-MS and NMR spectroscopy. The complex fluid composition, along with critically-evaluated thermophysical data and quantitative structure property relationship models, were used to estimate composite thermophysical properties for the bulk fluid. The estimates were found to be within 5 % of bulk fluid values measured with a density and speed of sound analyzer. The approach can be used to estimate the properties of alternative fuel samples that are too small for conventional thermophysical measurements.

Proceedings Title

Abstract of Papers, 247th ACS National Meeting, Energy & Fuels Preprints

Conference Dates

March 16-20, 2014

Conference Location

Dallas, TX, US

Conference Title

247th ACS National Meeting & Exposition

Pub Type

Conferences

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Citation

Hsieh, P. , Widegren, J. , Fortin, T. and Bruno, T. (2014), Composite thermophysical property characterization of hydrotreated renewable and Fischer-Tropsch synthetic fuels, Abstract of Papers, 247th ACS National Meeting, Energy & Fuels Preprints, Dallas, TX, US, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=914821 (Accessed October 20, 2025)