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The ignition delay of the pilot fuel in a dual fuel engine is different from that in a diesel engine because the primary fuel alters the properties of the charge, reduces the oxygen available and undergoes pre-ignition reactions during compression. In the present work, a correlation for the ignition delay in a biogas-diesel dual fuel engine has been proposed on the basis of experimental results. This correlation can be used if relevant parameters corresponding to diesel mode of operation and the properties of the gaseous fuel along with its concentration in the intake charge are known. The Hardenberg & Hase correlation for ignition delay in diesel engines has been modified for the dual fuel situation by bringing in to effect the changes in the temperature at the end of compression and oxygen concentration in the charge. The proposed correlation shows reasonable agreement with experimental results for a biogas-diesel dual fuel engine.

In a dual fuel engine a primary fuel that is generally gaseous is mixed with air, compressed and ignited by a small pilot spray of diesel as in a diesel engine. Dual fuel engines suffer from the problems of poor brake thermal efficiency and high HC emissions, particularly at low outputs. In the present experimental work, the effects of intake charge temperature, pilot fuel quantity, exhaust gas recirculation and throttling of the intake on improving the performance of a LPG-diesel dual fuel engine have been studied. Results indicate that at low outputs an increase in the intake temperature and pilot quantity is advantageous. HC level generally reduces with increase in pilot quantity and intake temperature. Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) coupled with intake heating raises the brake thermal efficiency and lowers HC emissions. With throttling and EGR there is a significant reduction in the HC levels and an improvement in brake thermal efficiency at low loads.

In a dual fuel engine a primary fuel that is generally a gas is mixed with air, compressed and ignited by a small pilot- spray of diesel as in a diesel engine. Dual fuel engines generally suffer from the problem of lower brake power and lower peak engine cylinder pressure due to lower volumetric efficiency, although an improvement in brake specific energy consumption is observed compared to pure diesel mode. Results indicate that with an increase in percentage of CNG substitution the brake power decreases. The exhaust gas temperature and peak cylinder pressure also decrease. The rate of pressure rise is higher at lower engine speeds (1100, 1400 rev/min), although at 1700 and 2000 rev/min it is lower. The delay period throughout the engine speed shows an increasing trend. The coefficient of variation is also higher throughout the engine speeds and shows an increasing trend. The brake specific energy consumption is lower at 1100, 1400 and 1700 rev/min and at 2000 rev/min it is higher.

Use of vegetable oils in diesel engines results in increased smoke and reduced brake thermal efficiency. Dual fuel engines can use a wide range of fuels and yet operate with low smoke emissions and high thermal efficiency. In this work, a single cylinder diesel engine was converted to use vegetable oil (Jatropha oil) as the pilot fuel and methanol as the inducted primary fuel. Tests were conducted at 1500 rev/min and full load. Different quantities of methanol and Jatropha oil were used. Results of experiments with diesel as the pilot fuel and methanol as the primary fuel were used for comparison. Brake thermal efficiency increased in the dual fuel mode when both Jatropha oil and diesel were used as pilot fuels. The maximum brake thermal efficiency was 30.6% with Jatropha oil and 32.8% with diesel. Smoke was drastically reduced from 4.4 BSU with pure Jatropha oil operation to 1.6 BSU in the dual fuel mode.

Experiments were conducted on a turbocharged three cylinder automotive common rail diesel engine with port injection of butanol. This dual fuel engine was run with neat butanol and blends of water and butanol (up to 20% water by mass). Experiments were performed at a constant speed of 1800 rpm and a brake mean effective pressure of 11.8 bar (full load) at varying butanol to diesel energy share values while diesel was either injected as a single pulse or as twin pulses (Main plus Post). Open engine controllers were used for varying the injection parameters of diesel and butanol. Water butanol blends improved the brake thermal efficiency by a small extent because of better combustion phasing as compared to butanol without water. When the butanol to diesel energy share was high, auto-ignition of butanol occurred before the injection of diesel. This lowered the ignition delay of diesel and hence elevated the smoke level.