Diesel emissions control system and method

Abstract

The invention is embodied in a diesel system for reducing particulate matter emissions in off-road vehicles, coal mining and metal/non-metal mining operations, comprising, in combination, a supply of highly paraffinic diesel fuel having a high Cetane rating and substantially no sulfur, aromatics and nitrogen content and being formulated to greatly reduce PM output levels from the engine relative to conventional diesel fuels, The invention is further embodied in the method of reducing diesel emission contaminants including providing a supply of highly paraffinic diesel fuel having a negligible sulfur, aromatics or nitrogen content, and a high Cetane number, and other apparatus useful for filtering engine emissions before discharge to ambient.

1 . A diesel emissions control system for reducing diesel particulate matter (“dpm”) in diesel engine exhaust to meet environmental control parameters, comprising, a supply of highly paraffinic synthetic diesel fuel for the diesel engine, and apparatus for receiving the emissions output from the diesel engine and being constructed and arranged with filter means through which all exhaust gases must pass before discharge to ambient.  
   
   
       2 . The emissions control system of  claim 1 , in which said synthetic diesel fuel has a Cetane rating in the range of about 60 to 100.  
   
   
       3 . The emissions control system of  claim 2 , in which said Cetane rating is in the range of about 65 to 80.  
   
   
       4 . The emissions control system of  claim 1 , in which said synthetic diesel fuel is characterized by having substantially no sulfur, aromatics or nitrogen content.  
   
   
       5 . The emissions control system of  claim 4 , in which the synthetic diesel fuel has a sulfur content of less than 1.0%.  
   
   
       6 . The emissions control system of class 4, in which the synthetic diesel fuel has an aromatics content less than 1.0%.  
   
   
       7 . The emissions control system of  claim 4 , in which the synthetic diesel fuel has a nitrogen content of less than 1.0%.  
   
   
       8 . The emissions control system of  claim 1 , in which the synthetic diesel fuel is formulated to burn so as to produce a substantially lower “dpm” content in emission gases than in conventional diesel fuels.  
   
   
       9 . The emissions control system of  claim 8 , in which the reduction in “dpm” content is in the range of 20 to 40%.  
   
   
       10 . The emissions control system of  claim 1 , in which the synthetic diesel fuel is a linear paraffin-linear olefin fuel formulated to have a Cetane rating over 60 and is characterized by having negligible amounts of sulfur, aromatics and nitrogen.  
   
   
       11 . The emissions control system of  claim 1  in which said synthetic diesel fuel comprises a hydrocarbon solvent for the reduction of particulate emissions from diesel engines used in mining and being formulated with a Cetane number above 60.  
   
   
       12 . The emissions control system of  claim 1 , in which said synthetic diesel fuel comprises a hydrocarbon solvent formulated for reducing the amount of particulate emissions from diesel engines used in metal and non-metal underground mining.  
   
   
       13 . The emissions control system of  claim 1 , in which said synthetic diesel fuel comprises a hydrocarbon solvent formulated for reducing the amount of particulate emissions from diesel engines used in off-highway, metal and non-metal mining, and coal mining operations.  
   
   
       14 . The emission control system of  claim 1 , in which said synthetic diesel fuel comprises a hydrocarbon solvent formulated in the boiling range of crude oil and useful for the reduction of particulate emissions from diesel engines used in off-highway applications, and said apparatus being from a class including diesel particulate traps, exhaust catalytic converters, or diesel particulate scrubbers.  
   
   
       15 . A synthetic diesel fuel for low emissions control in diesel engine equipment/machinery, said fuel having a Cetane rating in the range of 60 to 100 and the following properties: 
 (1) a sulfur content of less than 1.0%    (2) an aromatics content of less than 1.0%    (3) a nitrogen content of less than 1.0%.    
   
   
       16 . The synthetic diesel fuel of  claim 15 , wherein said fuel is formulated to burn so as to produce a substantially lower “dpm” content in the range of 20% to 40% in emission gases relative to conventional diesel fuels.  
   
   
       17 . The synthetic diesel fuel of  claim 15 , wherein said fuel is a linear paraffin-linear olefin composition with a minor percentage of branch paraffins and branch olefins.  
   
   
       18 . The synthetic diesel fuel of  claim 17 , wherein said fuel has less than 5.0% of petroleum-based diesel fuel additive to enhance lubricity.  
   
   
       19 . A method for achieving optimum diesel engine performance and maximum removal of DPM and Co from diesel emission gases, comprising the steps of: 
 formulating a paraffinic-type synthetic diesel fuel characterized by having a high Cetane number over 60 and a negligible amount of sulfur, aromatics and nitrogen content;    providing a supply of the fuel for operating the diesel engine to thereby effect a substantial reduction of DPM content in the emissions gasses therefrom; and passing the engine exhaust emissions through discharge filtering means or directly to ambient.    
   
   
       20 . The method according to  claim 19 , including formulating the synthetic diesel fuel to have a Cetane rating in the range of 60 to 100.  
   
   
       21 . The method according to  claim 19 , in which the synthetic diesel fuel is formulated to reduce particulate matter in discharged engine emissions by 20% to 40%.  
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 19  in which said discharge filtering means comprises one of a class including particulate traps, particulate scrubbers and catalytic convertors.  
   
   
       23 . The method of  claim 19  including the step of using the diesel engine to run equipment/machinery in off-highway, metal/non-metal mining and coal mining operations.  
   
   
       24 . The method according to  claim 19 , including the further step of pre-filtering the synthetic diesel fuel upstream of the diesel engine to remove non-combustibles therefrom.