A Review on the Ignition Characteristics of Dimethyl Ether in Diesel Engines

Abstract

This review study was gathered from the results of various papers performed on the use ofdimethyl ether as a fuel or fuel additive in diesel engines. Several methods are applied for the reduction ofthe polluting emissions emitted from diesel engines. The first method for the reducing of hazardousemissions is improved the combustion by the modification of engine design and fuel injection system, butthis is expensive and time consuming process. The second method is the using of various exhaust gasdevices i.e. catalytic converters and diesel particulate filters. However, it is determined that the use of thesedevices affects diesel engine performance conversely. The last method to reduce the polluting emissionsand also improve the diesel engine performance is the using of renewable alternative fuels or various fueladditives. Among the various alternative fuels, dimethyl ether (DME) is the pioneer by reason of itsattractive fuel properties such as high cetane number and oxygen content. On the other hand, the physicaland chemical properties of the used fuel play the important role on the injection, ignition and combustioncharacteristics of internal combustion engines (ICEs). Moreover, outputs of ICEs i.e. performance, fuelconsumption and emissions are affected extensively from the ignition, injection and combustioncharacteristics. Therefore, it is essential that the results of studies performed on dimethyl ether are evaluatedtogether to support future researches and practice applications. Especially, this review study investigatesthe effects of using DME on the ignition characteristics.