Effects of diesel fuel characteristics on spray and combustion in a diesel engine

Fuel properties play a dominant role in the spray, mixture formation and combustion process, and are a key to emission control and efficiency optimization. This paper deals with the influence of the fuel properties on the spray and combustion characteristics in a high-pressure and temperature chamber. Light diesel fuel spray and combustion images were taken by using a high-speed video camera and analyzed by their penetration and evaporation characteristics in comparison with current diesel fuel. Then, a single-cylinder DI engine was used to investigate combustion and exhaust characteristics. The mixture formation of the light diesel fuel is faster than that of the current fuel depending on physical properties like boiling point, density, viscosity and surface tension. Engine test results show that smoke is reduced without an increase in other emissions. (C) 2002 Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan, Inc. and Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.