Effects of ethanol addition on performance and emissions of a turbocharged indirect injection Diesel engine running at different injection pressures

Abstract

Ethanol is an alternative renewable fuel produced from different agricultural products. The ethanol-Diesel emulsion technique is one of the techniques to use ethanol in Diesel engines. The most important advantage of this technique is to be able to use ethanol without any modification in Diesel engines. In this study, the effects of ethanol addition (10% and 15% in volume) to Diesel No. 2 on the performance and emissions of a four stroke cycle, four cylinder turbocharged indirect injection Diesel engine having different fuel injection pressures (150, 200 and 250 bar) at full load were investigated. 1% isopropanol was added to the mixtures to satisfy homogeneity and prevent phase separation. Experimental results showed that the ethanol addition reduces CO, soot and SO2 emissions, although it caused an increase in NO x emission and approximately 12.5% (for 10% ethanol addition) and 20% (for 15% ethanol addition) power reductions. It was also found that increasing the injection pressure of the engine running with ethanol-Diesel fuel decreased CO and smoke emissions, especially between 1500 and 2500 rpm, with respect to Diesel fuel, while it caused some reduction in power. © 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.