Volvo plans to introduce alternative fuel trucks with the DME (dimethyl ether) in a few years in the North American market. They should also be produced there.
Thought is the first popular in the U.S. Hauber VNL, which is powered by a D13 engine.
Volvo VNL with D13-DME engine, 313 kW / 425 hp and 1750 Nm.
The decision was preceded by many years of development, cooperation with scientists and fuel producers and successful field tests in Sweden and North America, which have continued. “With its high energy efficiency and good environmental properties DME is one of the most promising alternatives to the current diesel fuel,” says Lars Mårtensson, Environmental Director at Volvo Trucks.
Dimethyl ether can be produced either from fossil fuels such as natural gas or bio-renewable raw materials such as waste from the forest industry. DME is currently produced and used worldwide, but so far not as fuel for vehicles.
The most common is the use in households, such as propellants in spray cans and as fuel for cookers and ovens.
DME has a high energy efficiency and has low particulate emissions. In addition, the environmental impact of bio-DME is 95 percent lower compared to conventional diesel fuel. DME is a gas at room temperature with normal pressure and at low pressure (5 bar or 72.5 psi) liquid, which facilitates the handling and transport.
Volvo Trucks works since the early 1990s with DME. In collaboration with customers, fuel producers and distributors, the company has carried out field tests with DME in Sweden and the USA.
In Sweden are in a project that is partly from the Swedish Energy Agency (Swedish Energy Agency) and the European Union funded since 2011 ten of these trucks in regular operation. These vehicles have now traveled more than a million kilometers. In the United States, testing began in early 2013.
