High-alcohol microemulsion fuel performance in a diesel engine

Conference · Mon Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1990

OSTI ID:5778114

West, B H; Compere, A L; Griffith, W L

Incidence of methanol use in diesel engines is increasing rapidly due to the potential to reduce both diesel particulate emissions and petroleum consumption. Because simple alcohols and conventional diesel fuel are normally immiscible, most tests to data have used net to near-neat alcohol, or blends incorporating surfactants or other alcohols. Alcohol's poor ignition quality usually necessitates the use of often expensive cetane enhancers, full-time glow plugs, or spark assist. Reported herein are results of screening tests of clear microemulsion and miscellar fuels which contain 10 to 65% C{sub 1}-C{sub 4} alcohol. Ignition performance and NO emissions were measured for clear, stable fuel blends containing alcohols, diesel fuel and additives such as alkyl nitrates, acrylic acids, and several vegetable oil derivatives. Using a diesel engine calibrated with reference fuels, cetane numbers for fifty four blends were estimated. The apparent cetane numbers ranged from around 20 to above 50 with the majority between 30 and 45. Emissions of nitric oxide were measured for a few select fuels and were found to be 10 to 20% lower than No. 2 diesel fuel.

• OSTI ID: 5778114
• Report Number(s): CONF-9010205--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS
330102* -- Internal Combustion Engines-- Diesel
330701 -- Emission Control-- Nitrogen Oxides
ALCOHOL FUELS
ANTIKNOCK RATINGS
CHALCOGENIDES
COLLOIDS
DIESEL ENGINES
DIESEL FUELS
DISPERSIONS
EMISSION
EMULSIONS
ENGINES
FUELS
HEAT ENGINES
IGNITION
INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES
METHANOL FUELS
MICROEMULSIONS
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NITROGEN OXIDES
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PERFORMANCE
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
SURFACTANTS
SYNTHETIC FUELS