Abstract
Efforts are being made throughout the world to minimize the environmental impact of everyday activities through governmental subsidies and regulations. The transportation sector especially has been a focus for policymakers as meeting future emission regulations with internal combustion engines increases system complexity and requires costly aftertreatment technology. For current on-road engines, the replacement of petroleum fuels such as diesel with alternatives that are produced from renewable sources can present an immediate impact on net CO2 emissions. Ether fuels offer such renewability standards while containing high oxygen content (up to 50% by mass) and volatility favourable for smokeless combustion. In this research, dimethyl ether (DME) and oxymethylene ether (OME) fuels were investigated on a high compression ratio engine instrumented for single-cylinder engine research. The combustion characteristics and exhaust emissions of DME and OME fuels were analyzed and compared with diesel as a baseline reference. The test results show that ether fuels emit considerably less smoke. The storage and fuel handling of DME fuel present challenges for direct adaptation to current on-road diesel engines. On the other hand, blending OME with diesel fuel shows the potential to reduce anthropogenic CO2 emissions conveniently and progressively.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Key World Energy Statistics, IEA (2020), https://www.iea.org/reports/key-world-energy-statistics-2020/final-consumption. Accessed on 13 April 2022
G. Kalghatgi, Is it really the end of internal combustion engines and petroleum in transport? Appl. Energy 225, 965–974 (2018)
R.D. Reitz, H. Ogawa, R. Payri, T. Fansler, S. Kokjohn et al., IJER editorial: the future of the internal combustion engine. Int. J. Engine Res. 21, 3–10 (2020)
X. Yu, N.S. Sandhu, Z. Yang, M. Zheng, Suitability of energy sources for automotive application—a review. Appl. Energy 271 (2020)
E. and C.C. Canada, Clean Fuel Standard. Government of Canada, 22 Feb 2017, https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/managing-pollution/energy-production/fuel-regulations/clean-fuel-standard.html. Accessed on 13 April 2022
Y. Ra, R.D. Reitz, A combustion model for IC engine combustion simulations with multi-component fuels. Combust. Flame 158, 69–90 (2011)
X. Li, W.L. Chippior, Ö.L. Gülder, Effects of fuel properties on exhaust emissions of a single cylinder DI diesel engine. SAE Paper 962116 (1996)
W. De Ojeda, T. Bulicz, X. Han, M. Zheng, F. Cornforth, Impact of fuel properties on diesel low temperature combustion. SAE Int. J. Engines 4, 188–201 (2011)
Q. Xiong, K. Inaba, H. Ogawa, G. Shibata, Influence of fuel properties on operational range and thermal efficiency of premixed diesel combustion. SAE Int. J. Fuels Lubr. 6 (2013)
C. Bertoli, N. Del Giacomo, C. Beatrice, Diesel combustion improvements by the use of oxygenated synthetic fuels. SAE Paper 972972 (1997)
T. Kitamura, T. Ito, J. Senda, H. Fujimoto, Mechanism of smokeless diesel combustion with oxygenated fuels based on the dependence of the equivalence ration and temperature on soot particle formation. Int. J. Engine Res. 3, 223–248 (2002)
L. Pellegrini, M. Marchionna, R. Patrini, S. Florio, Emission performance of neat and blended polyoxymethylene dimethyl ethers in an old light-duty diesel car. SAE Paper (2013)
N. Miyamoto, H. Ogawa, N.Md. Nurun, K. Obata, T. Arima, Smokeless, low NOx, high thermal efficiency, and low noise diesel combustion with oxygenated agents as main fuel. SAE Paper 980506 (1998)
M. Alriksson, T. Rente, I. Denbratt, Low soot, low NOx in a heavy duty diesel engine using high levels of EGR. SAE Paper (2005)
K. Akihama, Y. Takatori, K. Inagaki, S. Sasaki, A.M. Dean, Mechanism of the smokeless rich diesel combustion by reducing temperature. SAE Paper (2001)
T. Kitamura, T. Ito, Y. Kitamura, M. Ueda, J. Senda, et al., Soot kinetic modeling and empirical validation on smokeless diesel combustion with oxygenated fuels. SAE Paper (2003)
R. Kumar, M. Zheng, Fuel efficiency improvements of low temperature combustion diesel engines. SAE Paper (2008)
M. Zheng, G.T. Reader, J.G. Hawley, Diesel engine exhaust gas recirculation––a review on advanced and novel concepts. Energy Convers. Manag. 45, 883–900 (2004)
R. Kumar, M. Zheng, U. Asad, G.T. Reader, Heat release based adaptive control to improve low temperature diesel engine combustion. SAE Paper (2007)
K. Kinoshita, M. Oguma, S. Goto, K. Sugiyama, M. Mori, et al., Effects of fuel injection conditions on driving performance of a DME diesel vehicle. SAE Paper (2003)
K. Kozole, J. Wallace, The use of dimethyl ether as a starting aid for methanol-fueled SI engines at low temperatures. SAE Paper 881677 (1988)
T. Fleisch, C. McCarthy, A. Basu, C. Udovich, P. Charbonneau, et al., A new clean diesel technology: demonstration of ULEV emissions on a navistar diesel engine fueled with dimethyl ether. SAE Paper 950061 (1995)
S.C. Sorenson, S.-E. Mikkelsen, Performance and emissions of a 0.273 liter direct injection diesel engine fuelled with neat dimethyl ether. SAE Paper 950064 (1995)
P. Kapus, H. Ofner, Development of fuel injection equipment and combustion system for Dl diesels operated on dimethyl ether. SAE Paper 950062 (1995)
M. Natarajan, E.A. Frame, D.W. Naegeli, T. Asmus, W. Clark, et al., Oxygenates for advanced petroleum-based diesel fuels: Part 1. Screening and selection methodology for the oxygenates. SAE Paper (2001)
U. Asad, R. Kumar, X. Han, M. Zheng, Precise instrumentation of a diesel single-cylinder research engine. Measurement 44, 1261–1278 (2011)
M. Konno, S. Kajitani, Z. Chen, K. Yoneda, H. Matsui, et al., Investigation of the combustion process of a DI CI engine fueled with dimethyl ether. SAE Paper (2001)
S. LeBlanc, Spray characteristics of dimethyl ether in a direct injection application. M.A.Sc. thesis, University of Windsor, 2019
J. Manin, M. Bardi, L.M. Pickett, R.N. Dahms, J.C. Oefelein, Microscopic investigation of the atomization and mixing processes of diesel sprays injected into high pressure and temperature environments. Fuel 134, 531–543 (2014)
J.E. Dec, Advanced compression-ignition engines—understanding the in-cylinder processes. Proc. Combust. Inst. 32, 2727–2742 (2009)
Acknowledgements
The research is supported by NSERC CRD, Discovery, CRC, CREATE programs; the CFI-ORF New Initiative Program, ORF-Research Excellence programs; the NCE AUTO21 and BioFuelNet programs; the Ford Motor Company of Canada; and the University of Windsor.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
LeBlanc, S. et al. (2023). Realizing Clean Combustion with Ether Fuels. In: Ting, D.SK., Vasel-Be-Hagh, A. (eds) Responsible Engineering and Living. REAL 2022. Springer Proceedings in Energy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20506-4_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20506-4_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-20505-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-20506-4
eBook Packages: EnergyEnergy (R0)