Audi E-Gas Uses Glass Engine To Test Combustability

Audi claims its line of e-fuels is carbon neutral, and the German automaker has been using an engine with a quartz window to watch the engine in real time. What they’ve found is that their e-fuels burn more consistently than traditional petrol, reducing harmful emissions while developing a potentially inexhaustible fuel to replace petrol.

The Audi e-gas process turns raw carbon into natural gas via a process called “methandization”, and this natural gas can then used the standard compressed natural gas infrastructure. It can also be turned into e-gasoline and e-diesel, though Audi seems focused on e-gas as a replacement for standard CNG. You see, Audi can produce e-gas without turning to fracking, which has been linked to everything from fiery water to earthquakes. Fracking is bad, mmkay, and it turns a lot of would-be CNG supporters into opponents.

The thick quartz window allows engineers to look inside one of the engines test cylinders, and they made some interesting discoveries. Standard fossil fuels have a wide variety of contaminants, depending on where they come from, resulting in an inconsistent and often dirty burn. E-fuels, however, have the same structure every time, allowing for a consistent burn free of harmful emissions, like olefins and aromatic hydrocarbons. It’s still natural gas, but a much cleaner gas.

Audi and parent company Volkswagen have cast a wide net when it comes to finding the fuel of the future. Audi is currently working on both an all-electric super and a Tesla-rivaling SUV, while campaigning a diesel-hybrid race car in the World Endurance Championship. All of that, in addition to this e-gas initiative. Meanwhile, the Volkswagen XL1 is a diesel-electric, high-MPG car that wants to change the entire concept of personal transportation.

If the Audi e-gas is as clean as they say, it could be a great transitional fuel, especially if the cost of petrol-based fuels continues to creep up. But in the long term, the move away from combustion engines seems all but inevitable, and Audi would do well to remember that.

Frankly, I’m more interesting in having a quartz window on my next engine. When will Audi make that happen?

Source: Audi

Audi building e-gas plant to make climate-friendly vehicle fuel

On December 13, Audi celebrated its synthetic methane (e-gas) vehicle fuel plant, which is under construction in Werlte, Germany. Audi says that it is the world's first industrial plant for generating e-gas from CO2 and renewable electricity. Its end product will be hydrogen and synthetic Audi e-gas, which will be used as climate-friendly fuel for vehicles such as the new Audi A3 Sportback TCNG. E-gas production will begin in the spring of 2013.

The Audi e-gas plant will utilize renewable energy for electrolysis. The electrolysis process splits water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen, or Audi e-hydrogen, which at some point can be used to power fuel-cell vehicles. Since there's not much of a hydrogen fueling 

infrastructure in place yet, Audi can react the hydrogen with CO2 in a methane-processing unit to generate renewable synthetic methane, or Audi e-gas. The e-gas can be delivered to fueling stations through the local natural-gas network, since chemically speaking, the e-gas is nearly identical to fossil-based natural gas.

Audi unveiled the 2013 A3 Sportback in Munich, right before the 2012 Paris Motor Show in September. The five-door hatchback features a bi-fuel powertrain as part of the Audi e-gas project. Since compressed natural gas fueling stations are hard to find, the A3 also makes use of a 13-gallon gasoline tank to help give the car an effective range of around 745 miles.

The e-gas initiative is part of Audi's strategy of bringing cleaner, carbon-neutral fuel to internal combustion engines. The Werlte plant will generate enough CO2-neutral e-gas to power 1,500 new Audi A3 Sportback TCNG vehicles 15,000 kilometers (9,320 miles) each year. This compact five-door hatchback is scheduled to arrive at dealerships in late 2013.

Audi gets the CO2 to power the e-gas plant from a nearby biogas plant, operated by energy company EWE. The CO2 is made climate neutral by being chemically bonded into the fuel at the Audi e-gas plant, so that it won't pollute the atmosphere. Audi's new e-gas plant will be able to annually produce about 1,000 metric tons (1,102 US tons) of e-gas, and will chemically bind about 2,800 metric tons of CO2. That's roughly the equivalent to the amount of CO2 that can be absorbed by about 224,000 beech trees in a year.

Audi was given an award for its e-gas project in November. The Working Group for Efficient and Environmentally Friendly Energy Use honored Audi with an award and 15,000 euros.

Source: Audi