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Gas to Liquids (GTL) diesel has been produced commercially for several years. GTL diesel is known for its excellent properties, including zero aromatics, near zero sulphur and a high cetane number. Most of the GTL diesel produced by commercial plants is utilised as a blend component, especially in blends up to 20%. In these applications, the cold flow properties are potentially less critical, as the cold flow properties of the blend will mostly be determined by the petroleum-derived component. In certain markets, however, it is possible that GTL diesel can be used as a neat diesel, therefore requiring good cold flow properties. An advantage of GTL technology is that the cold flow properties of GTL diesel can be tailored to meet the climatic requirements of a specific geographical area. In the current study, GTL diesel samples with cold flow properties ranging from ‘summer type’ to ‘winter type’ and varying intermediate cold flow qualities were evaluated.

A method for determining the exceptionally high cetane number value of SasolChevron GTL diesel is described. The conventional ASTM D613 method is inadequate at such high cetane number ratings where the reproducibility exceeds ± 8 numbers. The ignition delay of a selection of primary and secondary reference fuels were modeled and characterized using a combustion bomb apparatus and this information was used to calibrate a virtual cetane engine model. CFD simulations of the combustion bomb apparatus was used to validate the calculation process using n-heptane as the reference fuel. The analytical treatment was applied to Sasol GTL diesel and the cetane number was deduced as 86.9 with a 95% confidence interval of ±1.3.

An adaptation of the procedure originally developed by Twu and Coon for blend octane prediction is described. The technique is based on a graded index describing an aspect of the negative temperature coefficient (NTC) autoignition behaviour of a fuel. It is further postulated that the fuel's NTC behaviour can be linked to the transition state activation energy barriers involved in the first internal hydrogen abstraction by the alkylperoxy free radical. Density-functional theory (DFT) calculations were employed to assess this hypothesis and the results were able to explain the difference between the ignition behaviour of a number of selected fuel components. The calculated NTC assignments, which were directionally consistent with the DFT results, were used successfully to determine the blend octane rating.

The paper presents a statistical analysis of burn rates observed in a single cylinder spark-ignition engine. Parameters in a functional description of the burn rate were correlated to fuel blend composition and engine parameters. The analysis indicated that burn rate parameters were inter-linked and did not change in isolation. The use of sound statistical experimental design and analysis proved worthwhile in revealing tendencies that may otherwise have been misinterpreted. The features of the burn rate were discussed in lieu of the engine design, blend properties and test conditions.

The paper studied the burn rate of fuels in the CFR engine at standard knock intensity. Burn duration was found to increase with compression ratio, and knocking pressure traces exhibited a distinct change in slope, thought to be the onset of knock. A criterion was developed to identify this knock-point. The knock-point was related to the mass fraction bunt and it was found that the mass fraction burnt at the knock-point decreases as the compression ratio decreases, to as little as 30%. It is proposed that the nature of knock in the CFR engine is unique in that a large fraction of the trapped mass participates in the autoignition. The paper also presented a functional descriptor for the mass fraction burnt and illustrated the suitability thereof through the application in an engine model.

A recently approved method for cetane determination using the Ignition -Quality Tester (IQT™) is based on an ignition delay measurement in a combustion bomb apparatus, which is empirically correlated to cetane number. The correlation assumes that all fuels will respond to the different pressure and temperature domains of the IQT™ and the cetane test engine in the same way. This assumption was investigated at a more fundamental level by conducting IQT™ measurements at different pressure and temperature points and characterising the ignition delay of the fuel in terms of an Arrhenius autoignition model. The fuel model was combined with a mathematical model of the cetane engine and the concept was evaluated using a variety of test fuels, including the diesel cetane rating reference fuels. The analysis technique was able to accurately predict the cetane number in all cases.

An understanding of the ignition delay behaviour of spark ignition fuels, over a wide range of temperatures and pressures, was an essential prerequisite for an ongoing pursuit to develop a fundamentally-based predictive octane model for gasoline blends. The ignition delay characteristics of certain model fuel compounds such as linear and iso-paraffins, olefins, aromatics and alcohols were investigated by means of chemical kinetic modelling, employing CHEMKIN 3.7 using detailed molecular oxidation mechanisms obtained from the literature. The complexity of these mechanisms necessitated the parallel investigation of reduced kinetic models in some of the applications. Reduced kinetic models were also used to describe the blending behaviour of selected binary combinations of the model fuels. The complex ignition delay response in the temperature/pressure domain that was predicted by the detailed kinetic analyses was reduced to a simple system of three, coupled Arrhenius equations.