Experimental investigation of performance and emissions of a CI engine operating with HVO and farnesane in dual-fuel mode with natural gas and biogas

New fuels, such as HVO and farnesane, present promising combustion properties and can be produced from renewable sources, while technological development, such as dual-fuel combustion, may offer potential improvements in efficiency and emissions. The present study presents an experimental investigation of combustion, emissions, and performance of a single-cylinder CI engine fueled by HVO and farnesane in dual-fuel mode with natural gas and biogas. For all scenarios, dual-fuel operation slightly increased ignition delay, but decreased combustion duration and in-cylinder pressure. Port injection of biogas reduced NOx (up to 21.7%) and PM emissions (up to 76.8%), but increased CO (up to 205.8%) and HC (up to 7.66 g/kWh) for every pilot fuel, whereas natural gas presented reductions of up to 18.3% in NOx (except for diesel), 83.1% in PM, and 13.0% in CO2, but produced more CO (up to 359.3%) and HC (up to 14.51 g/kWh). The use of HVO and farnesane under dual-fuel mode have proved to be interesting alternatives to reduce GHG emissions. Overall, farnesane presented the highest brake thermal efficiency, followed by HVO and diesel. The addition of CNG and biogas reduced BTE of up to 2.94% and 2.76%, respectively.

Automated summary

New fuels like HVO and farnesane have promising combustion properties and can be produced from renewable sources. Technological developments like dual-fuel combustion show potential improvements in efficiency and emissions. This experimental study investigates the combustion, emissions, and performance of a CI engine fueled by HVO and farnesane in dual-fuel mode with natural gas and biogas. Dual-fuel operation slightly increases ignition delay but decreases combustion duration and in-cylinder pressure. Port injection of biogas reduces NOx and PM emissions, but increases CO and HC. Natural gas reduces NOx, PM, and CO2, but increases CO and HC. The use of HVO and farnesane in dual-fuel mode proves to be interesting alternatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Farnesane shows the highest brake thermal efficiency, followed by HVO and diesel. The addition of CNG and biogas reduces brake thermal efficiency.