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Vehicles powered by Diesel engines with direct injection contribute to a significant reduction of fuel consumption and CO2 emission. The particulate and gaseous emissions of Diesel engine are of major concern. In order to comply with future legal limits, further developments for the reduction of exhaust gas emissions are required. This work explores the effect of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) as bio fuel on the emission characteristics of a Diesel engine. The experiments were performed with various fuel combinations such as FAME, FAME/Diesel blends, and water/FAME/Diesel emulsions, which were directly injected into the combustion chamber of a Diesel engine. Due to the complexity of the Diesel engine, several operating parameters were varied to study their influence on the pollutant emissions. The experiments have proved that FAME combustion leads to a significantly reduction of the CO, HC and particle matter compared to Diesel combustion.

The purpose of the 4-SPACE (4-Stroke Powered gasoline Auto-ignition Controlled combustion Engine) industrial research project is to research and develop an innovative controlled auto-ignition combustion process for lean burn automotive gasoline 4-stroke engines application. The engine concepts to be developed could have the potential to replace the existing stoichiometric / 3-way catalyst automotive spark ignition 4-stroke engines by offering the potential to meet the most stringent EURO 4 emissions limits in the year 2005 without requiring DeNOx catalyst technology. A reduction of fuel consumption and therefore of corresponding CO2 emissions of 15 to 20% in average urban conditions of use, is expected for the « 4-SPACE » lean burn 4-stroke engine with additional reduction of CO emissions.