The idea dates back to 2005 from MIT experts who suggested the use of E85 boosting to take advantage of the properties of ethanol and other alcohols with similar composition. Ethanol has excellent evaporative cooling effects when it interplays in the fuel air mixture when it enters the cylinder.

The concept will require a vehicle to have two fuel tanks and of course acceptance of the owner for a dual fueling concept.

The E85 concept resulting to suppressed knock can allow compression ratios to be increased and may permit higher boost for turbo or super charged engines. The technology will ultimately lead to downsizing of engines without sacrificing the performance of the vehicle.

The team from MIT developed an ethanol boosting system to commercialize their idea in 2006. They are now collaborating with the research and development team of Ford.

The use of the E85 boosting system with the gasoline PFI will make car owners and consumers realize that gasoline can be used more efficiently with their cars as gasoline is the fuel primarily used in most vehicle models.

Conclusions of the study established that the concept can hold water as a more cost efficient biodiesel alternative. Construction of an engine using the technology will also be a lot less than building a diesel engine. This engine will also be able to pass strict emission guidelines because of the high efficiency in terms of conversion of the fuel into energy.

This post is always limited. We're a small site, ran by two people who do this as a hobby - so we obviously can't offer you the daily updates a site like Motors.co.uk can. If you're looking for more up to date news, we gladly endorse them!

Three engines are set to be developed by the company in lieu of this technology: the DD13, the DD15, and the DD16 which are still yet to be introduced into the market. The Blutech technology includes emission filtering technologies already present in today’s engines, including Diesel Paticulate Filter, Diesel Oxidation Catalyst, and Exhaust Gas Recirculation.

All three SCR (selective catalytic reduction) systems are designed to meet the EPA standards of 2010. Because these EPA standards also require the operators to fill their vehicles with DEF, Detroit Diesel is including components like the DEF tank, doser, guage, SCR catalyst and aftertreatment control module into their systems.

DEF (diesel exhaust fuel) is made up of 66.7% water and 33.3% automotive-grade urea. This fuel reacts against smog forming gases, reducing the NOx levels emitted by the vehicle. Although the Blutech technology is designed to be more environmentally conscious, it doesn’t ditch the current base engines of Detroit Diesel altogether.

The company is only working to improve their already existing base engines. Aside from the reduced NOx levels emitted by Bluetec engines, these engines are also designed to save more fuel. A significant 5% improvement in fuel efficiency has been recorded during the dry-runs of these Bluetec engines.