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Previous work of the authors' group has shown that biodiesel fuels as a replacement for conventional diesel fuel in engine combustion can reduce PM level dramatically while lowering some other regulated emissions as well. It has shown that these fuels have the potential to increase the overall engine performance due to their lower sulphur and/or aromatics content compared with standard diesel fuels. This paper presents a study on a single cylinder naturally aspirated direct injection (DI) diesel engine, equipped with a pump-line-nozzle injection system, operating with varied biodiesel fuel blends (0%, 25%, and 50% of RME by volume) with ultra low sulphur diesel fuel (ULSD). The detailed analysis of the measurement data shows that the ignition delay and exhaust emissions are affected by the proportion of biodiesel due to the effect of different physical and chemical properties of the two fuels.

Increasing biodiesel content in mineral diesel is being promoted considerably for road transportation in Europe. With positive benefits in terms of net CO2 emissions, biofuels with compatible properties to those of conventional diesel are increasingly being used in combustion engines. In comparison to standard diesel fuel, the near zero sulphur content and low levels of aromatic compounds in biodiesel fuel can have a profound effect not only on combustion characteristics but on engine-out emissions as well. This paper presents analysis of particulate matter (PM) emissions from a turbo-charged, common rail direct injection (DI) V6 Jaguar engine operating with an RME (rapeseed methyl ester) biodiesel blended with ultra low sulphur diesel (ULSD) fuel (B30 - 30% of RME by volume). Three different engine load and speed conditions were selected for the test and no modifications were made to the engine hardware or engine management system (EMS) calibration.

The fuel reforming technology has been extensively investigated as a way to produce hydrogen on-board a vehicle that can be utilized in internal combustion engines, fuel cells and aftertreatment technologies. Maximization of H2 production in the reforming process can be achieved when there is optimized water (steam) addition for the different reforming temperatures. A way to increase the already available water quantity on-board a vehicle (i.e. exhaust gas water content) is by using emulsified fuel (e.g. water-diesel blend). This study presents the effect of an emulsified diesel fuel (a blend of water and diesel fuel with an organic surfactant to make the mixture stable) on combustion in conjunction with exhaust gas assisted fuel reforming on a compression ignition engine. No engine modification was required to carry out these tests. The emulsified diesel fuel consisted of about 80% (mass basis) of conventional ultra low sulphur diesel (ULSD) fuel and fixed water content.

Biofuels development and specification are currently driven by the engine (mainly gasoline- and diesel-type) technology, existing fossil fuel specification and availability of feedstock. The ability to use biofuels with conventional fuels without jeopardising the standard fuel specifications is a very effective means for the implementation of these fuels. In this work the effect of dual fuelling with in-cylinder injected ULSD fuel or synthetic second generation biofuels (a Gas-To-Liquid GTL fuel as a surrogate of these biofuels as its composition, specifications and production process are very similar to second generation biofuels) and with inlet port injected bioethanol on the engine performance and emissions were investigated. The introduction of anhydrous bioethanol improved the NOx and smoke emissions, but increased total hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide.

This paper describes the results of an experimental investigation of the exhaust gas assisted fuel reforming process as a means of achieving reduction of both smoke and NOx diesel engine emissions. Using a reforming mini-reactor with exhaust gas from a single-cylinder DI diesel engine, diesel fuel was reformed and a hydrogen-rich gas was produced. The effects of the reforming process on the engine operation were studied by adding simulated reformer product gas to the engine inlet. In this way, the engine was operated as if a reformer would have been incorporated in the exhaust gas recirculation system (EGR) system providing the engine with ‘reformed EGR’ (REGR). Lower levels of REGR resulted in simultaneous reduction of smoke and NOx while increased REGR reduced smoke further but tended to increase NOx.

The Reformed EGR (REGR) technique involves the injection of hydrocarbon fuel (e.g., diesel) into a catalytic reformer fitted into the engine EGR system, so that the produced hydrogen containing gas mixture is fed back to the engine as REGR. Thus, in effect the engine operates in a similar way to a dual fuelled engine with standard EGR. Depending on the reforming conditions, the composition and the calorific value of the REGR may vary and this affects the engine performance and emissions. In the present study, simulated REGR with different H2/CO ratios has been examined. The combustion of REGR with maximum H2 and minimum CO contents resulted in the highest reduction of NOx emissions. This case simulated the reformer operation where the CO is fully converted to H2 by promoting the exothermic water gas shift reaction (WGSR). The highest reductions of both smoke and fuel consumption were achieved in the case of simulating the reformer operation where the CO is not fully converted to H2.

Due to the emission benefits of the oxygen in the fuel molecule, the interest for the use of ethanol as fuel blend components in compression ignition engines has been increased. However the use of fuel blends with high percentage of ethanol can lead to poor fuel blend quality (e.g. fuel miscibility, cetane number, viscosity and lubricity). An approach which can be used to improve these properties is the addition of biodiesel forming ternary blends (ethanol-biodiesel-diesel). The addition of castor oil-derived biodiesel (COME) containing a high proportion of methyl ricinoleate (C18:1 OH) is an attractive approach in order to i) reduce the use of first generation biodiesel derived from edible sources, ii) balance the reduction in viscosity and lubricity of ethanol-diesel blends due to the high viscosity and excellent lubricity of methyl ricinoleate.