engineering, AUTOSAR - Automotive Industries

to think we are a relational and highly responsive company. Whether
from sales, customer service or technical service and development,
our employees are motivated to provide prompt, personal and
responsive service. Finally, our manufacturing model provides us a
great deal of flexibility when responding to our customers’ needs.
AI: Please give us an example of how automotive
companies have used your fuels.
Petersen: Our customers use our fuels in a wide variety of
applications. One example is to model fuels for automobiles in
particular regions, such as China. These fuels contain components
not used or typically found in North America such as methanol
or MMT. Haltermann has successfully formulated these fuels for
our customers so they can complete their comprehensive vehicle
testing with confidence.
AI: What opportunities do you see in the transportation
sector?
Petersen: Pressure will continue on OEMs to produce cleaner
and more environmentally friendly vehicles using next generation
alternative and renewable fuels such as algae biodiesel, cellulosic
ethanol, bio-butanol and the like. A great deal of this is already
mandated in the Renewable Fuel Standard 2 (RFS2). This will
require fuel testing on fuels with increasingly higher renewable
content. There will also be more stringent standards to reduce
NOx, sulfur emission and CO 2 for every mile logged by a vehicle.
Finally, there will be a need for higher fuel densities.
AI: What are some of the challenges facing your industry
and how do you see Haltermann Solutions meeting these
challenges?
LEFT: A fuel station in Fanya, China – fuels in this region
contain components not used or typically found in North
America such as methanol or MMT.
Petersen: A significant challenge that has resulted from
the recent economic downturn and corporate restructurings is
the tremendous pressure on our customers to optimize their
R&D processes with limited resources. Haltermann Solutions
has responded by continuing to look for ways to reduce our
manufacturing costs and pass these cost savings back to our
customers. For example, in 2010 we were able to identify a
different asset in our popular fuel, HF0580, which resulted in cost
savings of over $1.50 per gallon. We passed the entire saving
back to our customers in the form of a price reduction.
Another challenge is if new fuels such as E-15 or E-20 may not be
able to be used in older model cars. Finally, the automotive industry
is moving toward higher pressures in common rail diesel engines that
will require fuels with cetane levels of 50 and higher. This may not be
possible with current petroleum diesel, and may present opportunities
for higher cetane blend stocks like hydrogenated vegetable oils that
are then cracked to give required C-8 to C-10 fractions. Haltermann
Solutions stands ready to serve our customers in any way we can to
supply these new fuel requirements for their testing and evaluations. AI
“Green Crude” produced by Sapphire Energy is an example
of the new generation of biofuels. Sapphire Energy
describes its “Green Crude” as a “renewable crude oil that
is a result of our proprietary process of turning sunlight,
CO 2, and algae into green oils to be refined into fuel”.
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