Impact of Oxygenated Additives on Soot Properties during Diesel Combustion

Emissions from diesel engines can be limited and potentially decreased by modifying the fuel chemical composition through additive insertion. One class of additives that have shown to be particularly efficient in the reduction of the particulates from the combustion of diesel fuels are oxygenated compounds. In the present study we investigate the effect of tripropylene glycol methyl ether (TPGME) and two polyoxymethylene dimethyl ethers (POMDME or OMEs) on soot formation in a laminar diesel diffusion flame. From the evaluation of soot volume fraction by laser-induced incandescence (LII) measurements we could observe that OME additives have a substantial capability (higher compared to TPGME) to decrease the particle concentration, which drops by up to 36% with respect to the pure diesel fuel. We also note a reduction in particle aggregate size, determined by wide-angle light scattering (WALS) measurements, which is more pronounced in the case of OME-diesel blends. The effects we observe can be correlated to the higher amount of oxygen content in the OME molecules. Moreover, both additives investigated seem to have almost no impact on the local soot temperature which could in turn play a key role in the production of soot particles.

Automated summary

The study found that adding oxygenated compounds, particularly OMEs, can effectively reduce particulate concentration and decrease particle aggregate size in diesel combustion. The higher oxygen content in OME molecules is correlated to these effects, and the additives have almost no impact on local soot temperature.