A study on performance and soot emission of a high-speed diesel engine fueled with butanol-diesel blends

An experimental study on economical and emission characteristics of a high-speed inter-cool diesel engine with butanol-diesel blended fuel was executed. With the butanol blended by three volume ratios (0%, 20% and 30%) in the diesel, the brake special fuel consumption (BSFC) and soot emission were analyzed under different loads. The results show that the fuel with 30% butanol has little influence on the maximal brake power and maximal brake torque while the BSFC just increases 1.6% at the maximal brake torque condition and 2.6% at the maximal brake power condition. The ratio of butanol has little effect on soot emission in the medium speed (2000r/min), while in the high speed condition (4000r/min), it decreases noticeably with the increase of the amount of butanol. The soot emission was reduced by 35.8% for the fuel with 20% butanol at the maximal torque point and 39.9% down for the 30% butanol fuel. These results can be helpful for the future research where large volume ratio of butanol is used for a diesel engine.