Reaction Design Tapped For DOE FreedomCAR Biofuels Project

Chevron, University of Southern California to collaborate on study to advance the development of cleaner-burning, cost-efficient alternative fuels for US energy security

SAN DIEGO - September 6, 2007 - Reaction Design, the clean technology chemistry leader, today announced that it has been awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for a two-year study of the chemical and transport phenomena that take place during biofuel combustion. Reaction Design will lead a team of researchers from Chevron and the University of Southern California (USC) to create computer simulation tools that will speed the development process for engine designers and fuel manufacturers as they strive to integrate biofuels into their products. The development and validation of the detailed chemical mechanisms that govern biofuel combustion will focus on US domestic alternatives that show promise in reducing dependence upon foreign petroleum.

Project funding comes from the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies (OFCVT) with a mission to develop more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly highway transportation technologies that enable the U.S. to use less petroleum. Specific goals of the FreedomCAR program are to identify fuel formulations optimized for use in 2007- and 2010-technology diesel engines that incorporate non-petroleum-based blending components, with the potential to achieve at least a five percent replacement of petroleum fuels. An additional five percent replacement is targeted for 2010 engine designs.

The U.S. Department of Energy is interested in advancing the characterization, understanding, and use of biodiesel fuels. There is growing evidence that fuel additives originating from biomass reduce soot formation in diesel engines during the combustion process by providing

more efficient oxidation of hydrocarbon fuel fragments. Reaction Design's work will focus on the detailed chemical mechanisms and simulation tools that enable accurate simulation of the combustion process. Armed with these simulation tools, fuel manufacturers can fully understand how various fuel components impact combustion behavior in current and future engine designs.

"The results of this study will provide critical insight into the chemical behavior of biofuels. We are especially interested in biofuel combustion behaviors as well as their effects on emissions," said Bernie Rosenthal , CEO of Reaction Design. "Ultimately, the goal of our research is to aid our nation's energy security by speeding the development and integration of US-based biofuels into the market and reducing our dependence on foreign petroleum."

About Reaction Design

Reaction Design helps transportation manufacturers and energy companies rapidly achieve their Clean Technology goals by automating the analysis of chemical processes via simulation and modeling solutions. Reaction Design is the exclusive developer and distributor of CHEMKIN, the de facto standard for modeling gas-phase and surface chemistry that provides engineers ultra-fast access to reliable answers that save time and money in the development process. Reaction Design also offers the CHEMKIN-CFD software package, which brings detailed kinetics modeling to other engineering applications, such as Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) programs. Reaction Design's world-class engineers, chemists and programmers have expertise that spans multi-scale engineering from the molecule to the plant. Reaction Design serves more than 350 customers in the commercial, government and academic markets. Reaction Design can be found online at www.reactiondesign.com .

CHEMKIN® and Reaction Design® are registered trademarks of Reaction Design. CHEMKIN-CFD and Model Fuels Consortium are trademarks of Reaction Design.