abstract
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University of Idaho plant scientists have developed yellow mustard varieties that have the potential to significantly reduce the cost of the oil used in biodiesel production. This project is for purposes of producing quantities of biodiesel from these locally grown varieties to test in laboratory engines and in both a 1999 Dodge 2500 diesel powered on-road pickup truck and a 2001 Volkswagen TDI Beetle. The Beetle will be used for demonstration events and on-road testing to verify the suitability of biodiesel for urban transportation use. As part of the test protocol, fuel characterization tests will be conducted to verify that the biodiesel produced meets the interim ASTM standard for biodiesel.
Emissions data is a critical aspect of testing with alternative fuels such as the yellow mustard biodiesel tests proposed in this project. University of Idaho personnel have conducted four weeks of emissions testing on the transient chassis dynamometer at the Los Angeles Metropolitan Test Authority emissions test facility. It is proposed that mode tests using the U of I chassis dynamometer test facility will be conducted and data compared with the earlier tests to determine if a suitable screening procedure could be developed. Conducting emissions tests locally would allow for more feedstocks to be evaluated and would save considerable time and money. The exact vehicles used for the earlier tests at LA MTA (1994 Dodge/Cummins owned by the U of I and 1995 Dodge/Cummins operated by Yellowstone National Park), the original second-by-second data, and original fuel types, including rapeseed ethyl and methyl esters, HySEE and Phillips 66 low sulphur diesel reference fuel, are still available and thus enhance the chance for success of this activity.