DME Vehicle
Characteristics of DME as Vehicle fuel
◆DME is produced by chemical synthesis.
DME can be produced from coal, natural gas and biomass as alternative for petroleum.
◆High Cetane number
DME can be applied to diesel engines
◆Oxygenated fuel and having no carbon-carbon bond, no smoke emits
DPF is not required and low-speed torque can be improved.
◆Lubricity and viscosity is low and swelling rubber and resin.
They can be controlled by Additives, sealing structure and appropriate sealing material.
◆DME does not contain sulfur.
No SOx emission.
◆Calorific value of DME is around half of that of gas oil.
Double fuel tank capacity is required for the equivalent millage to gas oil.
◆Vapor pressure of DME at 20°C is of 0.53 MPa.
LPG cylinder can be used to store the liquid DME.
◆Applied laws to DME in Japan
High pressure gas safety law (flammable gas)
Industrial safety and health law (flammable gas)
DME Vehicle
-It can be manufactured by changing fuel system on the base of the Diesel engine vehicle.
-After-treatment of exhaust gas can be simplified, DPF and SCR are unnecessary.
-LPG cylinder can be used as DME fuel tank.
-Clean energy vehicle realizing efficient diesel combustion.
DME vehicles manufactured in Japan
ISUZU ERGAmio
Medium sized bus which was developed by ISUZU Advanced Engineering Center in 2001 and operated as a campus bus in steelworks of JFE steel.
ISUZU Elf
Light duty truck which was converted to DME vehicle independently by JFE holdings in 2002.
It was the first vehicle (No.1) getting the special approval for running on public road as test vehicle of Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transportation and Tourism (MLIT).
Mitsubishi Fuso Canter
Light duty truck which was developed by National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology and Iwatani Corporation etc. in 2003.
It was No.2 vehicle getting the special approval of MLIT.
Mitsubishi Fuso Rosa
Microbus which was developed by National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology and Iwatani Corporation etc. in 2003.
It was No.3 vehicle getting the special approval of MLIT.
ISUZU Forward
8 ton GVW medium-duty truck with pump-line-nozzle injection system, which was developed by DME vehicle practical application research and development group.
It was No.4 vehicle getting the special approval of MLIT and used for long distance driving test between Niigata, Tsukuba and Yokohama.
ISUZU Elf
Medium-duty crane truck with common-rail injection system, which was developed by ISUZU Advanced Engineering Center in 2005.
It was No.6 vehicle getting the special approval of MLIT and operated in steelworks of JFE steel under the Kanagawa Prefecture DME Promotion Model Project.
It was fueled by nitrogen pressurized DME filling station installed in the steelworks during the demonstration test.
NISSAN DIESEL Condor
20 tons GVW heavy-duty truck with pump-line-nozzle injection system, which was developed jointly by National Traffic Safety and Environment Laboratory and NISSAN DIESEL MOTOR (now, UD Trucks Corporation) in 2004 in the Next-Generation Environmentally Friendly Vehicle Project of MLIT (EFV21 Project).
It was No.5 vehicle getting the special approval of MLIT.
ISUZU Elf
Medium duty truck which was converted to DME vehicle by National Traffic Safety and Environment Laboratory using Bosch injection system on the base of the conventional ISUZU Elf in 2006. It was No.7 vehicle getting the special approval of MLIT.
ISUZU Elf
Light duty truck which was developed by ISUZU Advanced Engineering Center in 2006 in EFV21 Project. It was No.8 vehicle getting the special approval of MLIT and run longer than 100,000km for durability test.
NISSAN DIESEL Condor
Sprinkler truck which was developed jointly by National Traffic Safety and Environment Laboratory and NISSAN DIESEL MOTOR (now, UD Trucks Corporation) in 2007 in EFV21 Project. It was No.9 vehicle getting the special approval of MLIT.
ISUZU Elf
Medium duty truck which was developed by ISUZU Advanced Engineering Center in 2009 in EFV21 Project. They were No.10 ＆ No.11 vehicles getting the special approval of MLIT.
Two trucks were manufactured with the identical specification and operated for the first commercial use demonstration by transportation companies.
DME vehicles overseas
First DME bus developed in 2005 in China
VOLVO DME truck developed in 2005 in Sweden
VOLVO DME truck developed in 2010 in Sweden
DME filling equipment
High-speed filling equipment at 80 L/min has been developed by TOKICO TECHNOLOGY for DME medium-heavy duty trucks to be competitive against existing diesel oil filling speed 80L/min. Filling method is pressure balanced filling system having a vapor line that connects the vapor phase part of the fuel tank and the storage tank in parallel with the liquid filling line. The storage tank and the fuel tank have an equal pressure thanks to connecting these two tanks by vapor line. Constant flow rate can be kept even though the temperature in the fuel tank is higher than that in the storage tank. Integrated nozzle has been developed by Miyairi Valve Mfg. to achieve a simple operation of connection and disconnection for liquid filling and vapor return lines simultaneously.
