5-01: Can ethanol be converted into a component for blending into diesel fuel?

Ethanol can be blended with diesel fuel, but its higher vapor pressure leads to a substantial reduction in flashpoint and the formation of a dangerously flammable mixture of ethanol and air in vehicle fuel tanks.  In addition, its low cetane number and energy content cause decreased power, increased fuel consumption, and increased engine noise.  Fuel additives at significant dosage levels are required to correct for the low cetane number and insure the solubility of ethanol in diesel.  These issues currently prevent the widespread use of ethanol as a diesel blending component.  The purpose of this work was to assess the potential for using ethanol as a feedstock for producing more suitable diesel-blending components.  Basically, are there chemicals that could be made from ethanol that would be good diesel fuel blending components?  Obvious examples are the ethyl esters of fatty acids rather than the methyl esters that are commonly used in biodiesel, or diethyl ether, which has a high cetane number although its high volatility would cause problems in its use.  This paper will identify the most promising compounds based on their properties and the likelihood that they will blend well with diesel fuel. The conditions necessary to make the identified compounds and the availability of feedstocks, in addition to ethanol, for making these compounds, will also be assessed.