en.Wedoany.com Reported - Purdue University and John Deere have jointly established the Purdue Biofuels Consortium, launching a three-year collaboration to study technical pathways for diesel engines to directly combust ethanol-biodiesel blended fuels, with the goal of avoiding major modifications to existing engines.
Greg Shaver, Reilly Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University, noted that one-third of the world's corn is grown in the United States, with most concentrated in the Midwest, and approximately 40% of it is used for ethanol production. Agricultural machinery used to harvest corn currently runs on petroleum-based diesel, making it more sensible to switch to locally available biofuels.
The consortium is researching three plant-based fuels: ethanol, primarily derived from corn fermentation; biodiesel, sourced from animal fats and vegetable oils (such as soybean); and renewable diesel, which requires a more resource-intensive refining process but can replace petroleum diesel on a 1-to-1 basis. Biodiesel is specifically designed for compression-ignition engines, while ethanol has lower viscosity and better low-temperature flow properties, and is already produced at scale nationwide in the United States. Danan Dou, Chief Technical Expert of John Deere's Power Systems division, stated that the three fuels are complementary and miscible, and blending them can leverage the strengths of both.
Shaver explained that diesel engines are compression-ignition engines, and ethanol's characteristics as a high-quality spark-ignition fuel are precisely what make it difficult to use alone in compression-ignition engines. The core challenge the project aims to solve is making blended fuels work properly in diesel engines. John Deere has previously collaborated with Purdue University at Herrick Labs for over a decade, and this consortium represents the latest step in their joint research on engine efficiency.
Consortium members also include engine manufacturer Cummins, the world's largest bioethanol producer POET, agricultural cooperative and biodiesel producer Ag Processing Inc., Marquis Energy—which produces over 395 million gallons of low-carbon fuel annually—and Growth Energy, the U.S. biofuels trade association. Eric Holloway, Professor of Engineering Practice in Mechanical Engineering at Purdue, and Junli Liu, Senior Research Scientist in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, are also participating in the research.
Dou introduced that the project is advancing along three directions: engine research is led by him and Shaver; fuel research is conducted by Holloway, Liu, and fuel producers in collaboration; and the commercial level coordinates various stakeholders, with the goal of enabling engines to use ethanol-biodiesel blended fuels that are readily accessible and that customers are willing to adopt.
Road vehicles already have precedents for flexible fuels. Ethanol was initially used in dedicated vehicles before entering gas stations in smaller proportions. Dou noted that gasoline-powered passenger vehicles from model year 2001 onward have been approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to use E15 gasoline (containing 15% ethanol), saving millions of gallons of petroleum while also creating additional demand for farmers. Shaver believes the project can also reduce carbon emissions and lessen dependence on overseas fuel—key components required for petroleum-based diesel rely on imports, and international conflicts could trigger fuel supply fluctuations at any time.
At the current stage, diesel engines require dedicated sensors and additional infrastructure to accommodate high-ethanol-content fuels. Dou stated that even a blend containing just 10% ethanol would reshape the landscape of both the diesel engine and biofuel industries; the ultimate goal is for engines to use fuels without additional hardware or blend-ratio differentiation.
Shaver revealed that the ultimate hope is for John Deere and Cummins to offer adaptation solutions as new-engine options or aftermarket kits, allowing new engines to seamlessly switch between diesel, biodiesel, or diesel-plus-ethanol, and even the oldest diesel tractors could potentially be retrofitted to accept blended fuels. He also mentioned that amid rising commodity prices, different blend ratios offer cost advantages at different times, and allowing farmers to flexibly choose ratios based on price can help alleviate economic pressure.
Dou stated that this consortium is not a proprietary project of John Deere or Cummins—making the technological outcomes available to the entire industry is the only way for all parties to benefit. Purdue University, with its strengths in both engineering and agriculture, is an ideal partner for this project. The full plan is expected to take several years to implement.
