Investigation into Light Duty Dieseline Fuelled Partially-Premixed Compression Ignition Engine 2011-01-1411

Conventional diesel-fuelled Partially Premixed Compression Ignition (PPCI) engines have been investigated by many researchers previously. However, the ease of ignition and difficulty of vaporization of diesel fuel make it imperfect for PPCI combustion.

In this study, dieseline (blending of diesel and gasoline) was looked into as the Partially Premixed Compression Ignition fuel for its combination of two fuel properties, ignition-delay-increasing characteristics and higher volatility, which make it more suitable for PPCI combustion compared to neat diesel. A series of tests were carried out on a Euro IV light-duty common-rail diesel engine, and different engine modes, from low speed/load to middle speed/load were all tested, under which fuel blend ratios, EGR rates, injection timings and quantities were varied. The emissions, fuel consumption and combustion stability of this dieseline-fuelled PPCI combustion were all investigated. The results showed that dieseline had great advantages as a PPCI combustion fuel in terms of emission reduction. This was particularly significant at high-speed engine mode. It was also found that with a blend of 50% gasoline in diesel, the particle numbers total concentration could be reduced by 90% while low NO_x level and high brake fuel conversion efficiency (around 30%) were maintained at all the loads tested.