Emission and performance characteristics of neat ethanol fuelled Dl diesel engine

Abstract

SYNOPSIS Diesel engines are preferred power plants in the transportation sector due to their higher efficiency and lower operational cost. But the major problem of diesel engines is the emission of smoke, particulate matter and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) from its exhaust. Hence stringent emission regulations and the depletion of fossil fuels have necessitated a look at alternative fuels for internal combustion (I.C.) engines. Ethanol is an excellent fuel suitable for spark ignition (S.I.) engines, but has a very low cetane number and cannot be used in compression ignition engines unless gas temperatures are high enough at the time of fuel injection [1]. Different types of systems were developed to assist auto ignition of directly injected ethanol which include glow plugs or spark plugs, low heat rejection operation, and ignition improvers. This paper presents the use of 100% ethanol with ignition improver in a 4.4 kW single cylinder, direct injection, constant speed diesel engine. Experimental results indicate that ethanol can perform in a similar way to diesel operation with lower emissions.