Laboratory was founded on the territory of Jelgava palace located in Zemgale region of Latvia, which was the original location of Engine research laboratory that was the part of the Faculty of Engineering. In this laboratory various scientific papers, including graduation papers for bachelor and master degree were created. Also experiments for PhD thesis of young scientists were performed. Under the guidance of professor V. Gulbis, experiments related to biofuel production and application were performed. Later the laboratory was renamed to "Scientific laboratory of biofuels" and transferred to other address - Str. Paula Lejina 2, Jelgava, Latvia.

Laboratory purchased new and modern devices. Along with the existing Elbtalwerk Heidenau engine power test bench, in 2006 a modern laboratory chassis dynamometer Mustang MD1750 was purchased and adjusted. At that time it was the only such kind device in the Baltic region. New type of researches were performed to acquire car power and torque characteristics and to create real driving environment imitation with measurements of fuel consumption and other parameters. In autumn of 2008, with the assistance of project funded by Europe Region Development Fund (ERDF), laboratory purchased new devices, including fuel consumption measurement device AVL KMA Mobile and exhaust gas analytical system AVL SESAM FTIR. These devices brought new opportunities for various scientific researches.

Scientific laboratory of biofuels

At present, laboratory is also used for education process of students from the Faculty of Engineering. In the laboratory students complete laboratory tasks and acquire experimental results for their graduation papers. Students perform experiments related to such topics as impact of various factors on engine traction and power characteristics, measurements of fuel consumption and emissions from hazardous components of exgaust gases, etc.

Many researches are performed with various types of fuels, examining car performance with fossil fuels, such as gasoline, diesel, natural gas and also various types of biological fuels, such as biofuel, rapeseed oil, bioethanol, etc.

In the laboratory, experiments are performed not only with passenger cars, but also with minibuses, medium sized trucks and even motorcycles.

Motorcycle power increasing research for student's bachelor paper

In depth researches about biofuels are performed by PhD students from the Faculty of Engineering. Researches about application of rapeseed oil as fuel are carried out by PhD students I. Dukulis and A. Birkavs, but application of bioethanol is researched by PhD student V. Pirs.

In cooperation with institutions from other universities and various companies, researches of the use of hydrogen enriched air fuel mixture in a spark ignition engine are performed. Also performance efficiency of devices for fuel consumption economy is researched, including effect on content of produced exhaust gases. In cooperation with sport car engineers and simple enthusiasts, researches on optimal engine setups with the use of various fuels are also performed.

Laboratory equipment is upgraded every year. Also knowledge of laboratory researchers and experts are increasing. These factors improve quality of services provided by the laboratory. Even main interest of the laboratory is about biological fuels, researchers are always interested in new collaboration not only within Baltic region, but also internationally.

Team of scientific laboratory of biofuels