Category Archives: Research

24Apr/26
Beaker labeled fuel sample diesel with liquid and thermometers on stirrer in lab

ASTM D396 Revision Marks Major Step Forward for Renewable Heating Fuels

Biofuels, Carbon Reduction, NORA, Research, technology, Uncategorized

New ASTM D396-26a Standard Includes B21–B50 Biodiesel Heating Fuel Blends

The National Oilheat Research Alliance (NORA) applauds the approval of the latest revision to the ASTM International D396 standard* which now includes new grades for biodiesel blends ranging from 21% to 50% biodiesel by volume (B21–B50). The updated specification, ASTM D396-26a, represents a significant advancement for the liquid heating fuels industry and reinforces the growing role of renewable fuels in residential and commercial heating applications.

 The ASTMD 396 standard* defines the properties of our heating fuels and is of critical importance in burner design and approvals as well as fuel markets. NORA’s T. Butcher is the current Chair of the ASTM Committee that has oversight on D396, having recently taken over for Ted Olszewski of R.W. Beckett. 

For NORA, the approval marks a major milestone in its ongoing mission to support research, technical validation and real-world deployment of cleaner liquid heating solutions. The updated specification provides clear guidance on fuel properties, handling and performance ensuring that higher biodiesel blends can meet or exceed the standards of fuels currently in use. 

“The recent approval of the ASTM standard to include blends of B50 biodiesel in liquid heating oil is another step forward in providing American consumers with a high-quality, domestically produced, renewable energy source,” said Michael Devine, President of NORA. “This new standard represents meaningful progress, particularly at a time when increased domestic energy production is essential. On behalf of NORA, we thank the many stakeholders who worked tirelessly to bring these new fuel blends to market.” 

NORA played a central role in supporting the research, field validation, and technical data required to advance higher biodiesel blends through ASTM’s rigorous consensus process. The standard passed with no objections, reflecting broad industry confidence in the performance, reliability, and emissions benefits of blends up to B50. 

The revision builds on years of collaboration between NORA, Clean Fuels Alliance America, and leading equipment manufacturers including R.W. Beckett Corporation and Carlin Combustion Technology, along with other industry stakeholders. These efforts have helped ensure that higher biodiesel blends are compatible with modern heating equipment and capable of delivering consistent, reliable performance. 

Beyond carbon reduction, higher biodiesel blends offer additional benefits, including improved air quality, lower particulate and sulfur emissions, and potential reductions in maintenance requirements for heating equipment. Continued advancements in burner technology, fuel quality, and cold weather operability have further strengthened the case for broader adoption across key markets. 

“NORA’s research and technical leadership have been instrumental in demonstrating that higher biodiesel blends can perform reliably in real-world heating applications,” Devine added.

The approval of ASTM D396-26a underscores NORA’s commitment to advancing innovation, supporting technicians and fuel marketers, and delivering practical, lower-carbon solutions that work within today’s heating infrastructure. 

*ASTM D396 sets the specifications for liquid heating fuels, making it a foundational standard for both burner design and fuel market requirements. Dr. Thomas Butcher of NORA currently chairs the ASTM committee responsible for overseeing D396, a role he recently assumed from Ted Olszewski of R.W. Beckett Corp.

02Mar/26

Assessing Indoor Air Quality: Impact of Liquid Fuel Heating

NORA, Research, technology, Uncategorized

Indoor particulate air pollution is a significant public health concern, and fuel-fired heating equipment has been identified as a potential contributor. This study focused specifically on liquid fuel-fired heating systems and whether they meaningfully contribute to indoor particulate matter (PM), particularly through flue barometric dampers that could release particulates during normal burner cycling.

Low-cost PM sensors were installed in eight homes, positioned near the heating appliance as well as in other key locations such as kitchens, near fireplaces, and outdoors. The primary objective was to assess the relative contribution of the liquid fuel-fired heater compared to other common PM sources.

The findings showed that indoor particulate levels were strongly influenced by cooking activities (especially frying), indoor wood combustion, and elevated outdoor PM events. In contrast, liquid fuel-fired heating systems were not identified as a significant source of indoor particulate matter.

Download the entire report

08Dec/25

NORA Technical Bulletin

Biofuels, Carbon Reduction, Education, Equipment, nitrile, NORA, pumps, Research, technology

Biodiesel-Rated Products & Accessories

When servicing or installing equipment in homes using biodiesel or Bioheat® fuel, technicians must select components & accessories specifically rated for biodiesel lends at or above the blend being delivered—or as required by state or local regulations.

Biodiesel-rated parts including tanks, gaskets, hoses, filters, pumps, seals, and all other fuel-contact materials are engineered for long-term compatibility with biodiesel. These components resist swelling, degradation, premature wear, and fuel-related failures that can occur when conventional materials are exposed to higher biodiesel blends.
Using biodiesel-rated products not only ensures stable, reliable system performance and helps maintain fuel quality from storage to combustion, but it also future-proofs
the installation. As the industry continues to move toward higher biodiesel blends and low-carbon liquid heating fuels, proper component selection becomes essential for delivering safe, efficient, and trouble-free operation, today and for years to come

02Dec/25

NORA’s Michael Devine Joins CFAA Governing Board

Biofuels, Carbon Reduction, NORA, Research

December 2, 2025 – The National Oilheat Research Alliance (NORA) announced that President Michael Devine has been elected to the Governing Board of Clean Fuels Alliance America (CFAA), a key leadership role that comes at a pivotal moment for America’s low-carbon fuels industry. The two-year term will position Devine to help shape national strategy for biodiesel, renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at a time of rapid industry growth and policy shifts for low-carbon fuels.

CFAA unites leaders from across the clean fuels value chain to promote stable markets, expanded production and long-term policy certainty. Its Governing Board plays a central role in advancing the association’s vision to exceed 6 billion gallons of biodiesel, renewable diesel and SAF by 2030.

“I’m honored to represent NORA and the liquid heating fuels industry on the Clean Fuels Governing Board,” said Devine. “Our interests are closely aligned: supporting America’s farmers, delivering practical low-carbon solutions to homes and businesses, and ensuring that renewable liquid fuels remain a cornerstone of America’s energy strategy. This position strengthens the connection between the home heating sector and the broader clean fuels community as we work together to accelerate decarbonization.”

Devine’s election underscores the growing importance of low-carbon liquid heating fuels within the broader clean fuels landscape. Through NORA, he has championed the adoption of higher blends of biodiesel in home heating oil, expanded research and field demonstrations on renewable liquid fuels, and strengthened workforce training and consumer education.

Devine joins newly elected board member Jeramie Weller of Minnesota Soybean Processors and reelected members Kent Engelbrecht of ADM, Chris Hill of the Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council, Ryan Pederson of the North Dakota Soybean Council, Harry Simpson of Crimson Renewable Energy and Dave Walton of the Iowa Soybean Association.

NORA is a congressionally authorized, not-for-profit organization that works to improve the efficiency, reliability, safety and environmental performance of liquid fuel heating systems through technical research, education, and consumer outreach. Devine’s service on the CFAA Governing Board will further NORA’s mission to advance renewable, low-carbon liquid heating fuels and support a just and affordable energy transition for consumers and the industry.

31Jul/25

NORA Releases 2026-2027 Budget for Comment

Education, NORA, Projects, Research, technology

The NORA Budget Committee and the Executive Committee have reviewed the 2026 & 2027 budget and it is now being released for public comment.

At the conclusion of the public comment period, the budget will be forwarded to the Department of Energy.

Anyone interested in commenting on this should forward comments by September 30, 2025, to mdevine@noraweb.org.

For more information about NORA and its programs or services, visit the website, NORAweb.org

Download proposed budget.

23May/25

100% Renewable Home Heating Field Study

Biofuels, Carbon Reduction, Equipment, NORA, Projects, Research, technology
NORA, in partnership with Chevron and nine liquid heating fuel wholesale/retail distributors across three States, has embarked in the first of its kind, large scale field study on the use of 100% renewable heating fuels in homes. The field test will have homes running on either 80% renewable diesel blended with 20% biodiesel RD80/BD20), or 50% renewable diesel/50% biodiesel (RD50/BD50). These test site homes will be monitored through both a heating season and an off season to determine the fuels suitability for use in the home heating market.

Indoor Comfort Marketing chatted with some of the key players from NORA, Chevron, Rhoads Energy and Broco Energy about the details and goals of the project.

Click the image below to read the story.

01Aug/24

NORA to Contribute to Exploring Biodiesel Seminar

Biofuels, Carbon Reduction, Education, Equipment, NORA, Research, technology, , , , ,

XBX|Exploring Biodiesel series of seminars will continue August 21 at the New England Aquarium, Boston, MA.

This session, Navigating the Future, will center around the core questions that middle distillate supply chain participants must address to ensure a successful transition to low-carbon renewable biofuels, including:

  • Is the production of bio-based diesel fuels scalable to meet demand in existing and emerging markets while still being economically viable?
  • Is our infrastructure robust and reliable?
  • Are we effectively communicating our decarbonization story to the public?
  • What is the cost of inaction?

NORA, whose mission is to remove carbon emissions from home heating, will be represented on two panel discussions.

Nora’s president, Michael Devine, will be part of a panel discussion titled “Operational Integration, Getting Ready to Roll” about preparing customer-facing representatives to effectively communicate the benefits of low-carbon liquid fuels to end users and what, if any, operational transitions might be needed.

Dr. Jenny Frank, NORA Research Associate, will contribute to the panel discussion “Monetizing the Transition” which will examine the financial aspects of adopting advanced renewable fuels.

Registration and more detailed information for August 21 in Boston can be found here.

Additionally, XBX|Navigating the Future will host another seminar on October 15 in Lancaster, PA.

More about XBX at exploringbiofuels.com

29Jul/24

NORA 2024 Technology Workshop

Biofuels, Carbon Reduction, Education, Equipment, NORA, Research, technology

NORA’s Workshop will highlight the research work being done by NORA as well as an international perspective through the participation of Eurofuel.

Established in 2000, NORA mission focuses on Energy Efficiency, Environmental Responsibility, Safety, Research & Development and Professional Education, with particular emphasis on transitioning liquid heating fuels and appliances to a low-carbon source of heat and hot water.

The key purpose of this workshop is to develop a shared vision of the focus of NORA’s activities for the coming year.

The 2024 Technology Workshop will offer presentations and attendee participation in a workshop setting in the following areas:

  • Priorities of the Liquid Heating Fuels industry in Europe
  • Building Codes Updates
  • DOE Efficiency Standards
  • Biodiesel: Field & Lab Results and Standards Updates
  • Renewable Diesel/HVO: Its application in heating, NORA Testing, European Experience and a Proposed Fuel Test
  • Net-Zero Carbon Buildings
  • NORA R&D Priorities

Dr. Thomas Butcher, NORA’s Director of Research offered this about the upcoming workshop, “With NORA’s mandate to advance efficiency and environmental responsibility, this workshop provides the opportunity to collaborate with the industry’s leaders and European partners to create a pathway for continued carbon reduction and more efficient building heating. Working with the Southern New England Energy Conference (SNEEC) will provide a stimulating environment for our workshop, and we encourage all SNEEC attendees and other interested parties to attend.”

Registration for the NORA Technical Workshop is included in the Southern New England Energy Conference registration.

27Nov/23

NORA Looks at Indoor Air Quality

Biofuels, Carbon Reduction, Education, Equipment, Research
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A Look into Indoor Air Quality

Indoor air quality has become a newsworthy topic as certain pollutions have been identified as health hazards by, among others, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It has been suggested that combustion powered home heating appliances are some of the sources of these indoor pollutants. As combustion powered heaters make up almost 75% of all heating appliances, NORA deemed an investigation was in order.

Of particular interest is particulate matter (PM), which is known to have both human health and negative environmental impact. NORA, at its Liquid Heating Fuels Research Center in Plainview, NY, took a deep look into PM in home living spaces to determine whether liquid fuel combustion devices negatively impacted indoor air quality.

Fortunately, a low-cost and effective method of measuring PM has recently entered the marketplace. Named PurpleAir sensors, these devices measure PM, PM2.5 and PM10 (the subscripts denote the particle sizes in micrometers [µm]) in micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3), which indicates the actual amount of particulates found in the air. Using dual laser-based particle counters, they can measure particles larger than 0.3 microns with counting efficiency, reported by the manufacturer to be 50% at 0.3 microns and 98% at > 0.5 microns.

The PurpleAir map shows installed units around the world and their PM measurements. Map.purpleair.com

Test Sites

The PurpleAir units can be installed to perform stand-alone, storing its readings offline, or connected to the internet to display the PM2.5 concentrations at its location on a worldwide map of an increasingly expanding network. For the NORA study, only offline measurements were used in houses with primarily a liquid-fuel-fired heating appliance. Eight homes—five in NY, two in MA and one in NJ—were chosen for this study. Seven of the eight were selected because they contained a liquid-fuel-fired heating system. The other was chosen to record data in the den area (kitchen and living room with a fireplace) during a time when the homeowner planned to cook and light a fire in a wood stove. A set of PurpleAir sensors was provided for each home. Typically, at least one indoor and one outdoor sensor was installed in each site. Four of the sites were fitted with a flue gas measurement sensor to indicate when the heating system was running.

Liquid fuel-fired boiler and furnace installations typically include barometric dampers, which are draft-operated “doors” that open to allow room air into the flue pipe to prevent high draft levels. High draft levels can change burner air fuel ratio and, in an extreme case, can destabilize a flame. Modern burners for liquid fuels have higher static pressure fans and are less influenced by these draft changes, but barometric dampers are commonly found in many installations. Barometric dampers may be a potential source of indoor air pollution as flue gas could spill into the room during startups. While this does not usually happen with modern equipment, the Purple Air sensors were placed as close as possible to the site barometric dampers to record possible spillage.

Correlation of PM Spikes
For some of the sites, the boiler room was found to have periodic spikes in PM2.5, but when paired with the “on” measurements of the flue gas sensor, it was shown that the heating system operation did not correlate to these spikes. One example is shown in Figure1, where you can see a plot of the PM2.5 concentrations (left y-axis) and the flue gas temperature (right y-axis) and the time (x-axis) over 24 hours. During this period, there was a major peak (close to 450 µg/m3 in PM2.5) concentration observed in the boiler room where the PurpleAir sensor was located approximately six feet from the boiler flue pipe. Upon consultation with the homeowner, it was found that he had performed soldering of metal pipes without ventilation in the boiler room. The flue gas temperature readings show the boiler was not operating nor did it operate during a period of approximately four hours before and approximately 12 hours after the soldering took place.

It was also found in the data from other sites that cooking and fireplace use had a major impact in indoor PM2.5 concentrations. Additionally, outdoor grilling also caused rises in indoor PM2.5 concentrations when doors and windows were left open to allow particulate matter to enter the home.

particulate matter and flue gas temp chart 1-gigapixel-low_res-scale-4_00x

Figure 1: Boiler room PM2.5 and flue gas temperature data in a 24-hour period where a high rise in PM is observed. Note: the spikes in PM do not happen when the boiler is in operation.

Correlation of PM Spikes
For some of the sites, the boiler room was found to have periodic spikes in PM2.5, but when paired with the “on” measurements of the flue gas sensor, it was shown that the heating system operation did not correlate to these spikes. One example is shown in Figure1, where you can see a plot of the PM2.5 concentrations (left y-axis) and the flue gas temperature (right y-axis) and the time (x-axis) over 24 hours. During this period, there was a major peak (close to 450 µg/m3 in PM2.5) concentration observed in the boiler room where the PurpleAir sensor was located approximately six feet from the boiler flue pipe. Upon consultation with the homeowner, it was found that he had performed soldering of metal pipes without ventilation in the boiler room. The flue gas temperature readings show the boiler was not operating nor did it operate during a period of approximately four hours before and approximately 12 hours after the soldering took place.

It was also found in the data from other sites that cooking and fireplace use had a major impact in indoor PM2.5 concentrations. Additionally, outdoor grilling also caused rises in indoor PM2.5 concentrations when doors and windows were left open to allow particulate matter to enter the home.

particulate matte site 2-gigapixel-low_res-scale-4_00x

Figure 2: PM2.5 data from all measurement locations during the entire data collection period for Site 2, Note the repeated spikes in PM from fireplace (green line) and kitchen (blue line) use compared to the near-zero readings from the boiler operation (brown line).

Conclusion
These results are important as they indicate combustion in properly operating liquid heating appliances does not impact indoor air quality. To improve the health and safety of home dwellers, other household activities, such as cooking, fireplaces and outdoor grilling should be carefully examined.

27Sep/23

NORA Releases 2024-2025 Budget for Comment

NORA, Projects, Research, technology

The proposed 2024 and 2024 biennial budget for the National Oilheat Research Alliance has been under development for several months. The NORA Finance Committee and the Executive Committee have reviewed the 2024 & 2025 budget and it is now being released for public comment.

At the conclusion of the public comment period, the budget will be forwarded to the Department of Energy.

Anyone interested in commenting on this should forward comments, by September 1, 2021, to mdevine@noraweb.org.

. For more information about NORA and its programs or services, call 703-340-1660 or visit the web site, NORAwe

Download proposed budget.