UPM-Biofore-Magazine-1-2015-EN

“UPM’s renewable diesel has a chemical composition similar to the fossil diesel for which current diesel engines have been designed, so it easily met the requirements set forth in the diesel standard.”

UPM Biofuels WINS AGAIN

Cousin to fossil diesel VTT’s fleet tests with UPMBioVerno began inMay 2013 and ended early in 2014. The tests were performed using a fuel mixture containing 20%UPMBioVerno and 80% regular miner- al-oil-based diesel. “UPM’s renewable diesel has a chemical composition similar to the fossil diesel for which current diesel engines have been designed, so it easily met the requirements set forth in the diesel standard,” Laurikko says. VTT has been testing new traffic fuels in Finnish conditions since the 1980s. “The demand for diesel-type fuel will increase in future as diesel vehicles account for a growing proportion of driving mileage. With ship and air traffic hungry for cleaner fuels in the future, the demand for renewable fuels is bound to see a signifi- cant increase,” predicts Laurikko.

UPM Biofuels is making waves in the bio-industry world. Only three months after its start-up, the new UPM Lappeenranta Biorefinery was awarded as Commercial Scale Plant of the Year in the WBM Bio Business 2015 competition. Recognising excellence in the bio-based industry, the award was presented in a gala ceremony in Amsterdam last March as part of the World Bio Markets Exhibition. The judges congratulated UPM for its innovativeness, drive and ambition in bringing new renewable fuel technology to the market. The Lappeenranta Biorefinery is the world’s first commercial-scale plant to produce wood-based renewable diesel. The EUR 175 million facility has an annual capacity of 100,000 tonnes of UPM BioVerno diesel, which is produced from crude tall oil, a wood-based pulp residue. UPM BioVerno matches the performance of regular diesel, yet cuts greenhouse gas emissions up to 80 per cent.

Buses up next UPMBioVerno has also been tested by other research institutes such as the inde- pendent German research centre FEV. “FEV works closely with the auto- motive industry, so it has been easy for us to approach leading car manufac- turers following the publication of their test results,” says UPM researcher Ville Vauhkonen .

The testing process will now continue with an extensive round of laboratory tests. VTT will soon commence fleet tests with buses in Helsinki in the near future. “The aim of the laboratory tests is to gainmore detailed infor- mation on emissions and fuel consumption. We will test the fuel both as a pure biofuel and using various mixture ratios. Our primary goal is to harness the results of long-term tests to prove that the fuel cause no harm to engines or fuel systems,” says Vauhkonen, who is in charge of the testing process. Based on the research and tests performed so far, Vauhkonen is convinced of the high quality and performance of UPMBioVerno. The next long-term tests will be performed with high ratios of renewable diesel on buses in the Helsinki metropolitan area.

Ville Vauhkonen

READ MORE: www.worldbiomarkets.com

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