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Ignition and Combustion Characteristics of High-Pressure DME Spray Under Diluted Conditions

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Engineering to Adapt (TELAC 2023)

Part of the book series: Springer Proceedings in Energy ((SPE))

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Abstract

As a renewable energy source, dimethyl ether presents a multitude of advantages as a compression ignition fuel. The upcoming emissions regulations will further challenge the internal combustion engine to realize emission reduction at the tailpipe. The use of exhaust gas recirculation has proven an effective strategy to lower NOx emissions via weakened charge reactivity and lowered bulk combustion temperatures. This is especially beneficial in a heavy-duty engine powered by diesel fuel that is susceptible to a NOx-soot trade-off because of the highly heterogeneous combustion characteristic. However, additional weakening of the cylinder charge is likely required to further constrain NOx formation. As a result, dimethyl ether has gained attraction for its beneficial properties as an alternative to diesel fuel, namely high reactivity, volatility, and fuel-borne oxygen content. Therefore, interest surrounds the ignitability and combustion stability of dimethyl ether combustion at dilution oxygen concentrations. In this work, two empirical setups were used to study the ignition and combustion behaviour of high-pressure dimethyl ether fuel injection. A constant volume combustion chamber was employed to study the ignition behaviour under different background temperatures using high-speed video recordings. A single-cylinder engine platform was employed to study the combustion behaviour under different background temperatures and diluted conditions. Diesel fuel was tested under similar testing conditions as the baseline for comparison. The imaging results indicated that dimethyl ether presented a more distributed burn development and higher resilience to harsh background environments. The results from engine studies showed that an improvement in engine stability was achieved by increasing the fuel injection pressure. Moreover, dimethyl ether realized slightly improved engine stability than diesel under highly diluted conditions.

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Acknowledgements

This research was partially supported by NSERC/IRC, NSERC/CRD, NSERC/RTI, NSERC/DG, CFI/ORF, Mitacs, and the University of Windsor. The authors thank the technologist at the University of Windsor, Ford Motor Company of Canada, and other OEM partners for their collaborative effort and technical support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical, Automotive, and Materials Engineering, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Ave, Windsor, ON, N9B 3P4, Canada

    Binghao Cong, Simon LeBlanc, Xiao Yu & Ming Zheng

Authors
  1. Binghao Cong
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  2. Simon LeBlanc
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  3. Xiao Yu
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  4. Ming Zheng
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Binghao Cong .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical, Automotive and Materials Engineering, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, Canada

    David S-K. Ting

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tennessee Technology University, Cookeville, TX, USA

    Ahmad Vasel-Be-Hagh

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Cong, B., LeBlanc, S., Yu, X., Zheng, M. (2023). Ignition and Combustion Characteristics of High-Pressure DME Spray Under Diluted Conditions. In: Ting, D.SK., Vasel-Be-Hagh, A. (eds) Engineering to Adapt. TELAC 2023. Springer Proceedings in Energy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-47237-4_3

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