Fuel spray and combustion characteristics of butanol blends in a constant volume combustion chamber

Abstract

The processes of spray penetrations, flame propagation and soot formation and oxidation fueling n-butanol/biodiesel/diesel blends were experimentally investigated in a constant volume combustion chamber with an optical access. B0S20D80 (0% n-butanol, 20% soybean biodiesel, and 80% diesel in volume) was prepared as the base fuel. n-Butanol was added into the base fuel by volumetric percent of 5% and 10%, denoted as B5S15D80 (5% n-butanol/15% soybean biodiesel/80% diesel) and B10S10D80 (10% n-butanol/10% soybean biodiesel/80% diesel). The ambient temperatures at the time of fuel injection were set to 800K, 900K, 1000K, and 1200K. Results indicate that the penetration length reduces with the increase of n-butanol volumes in blending fuels and ambient temperatures. The spray penetration presents a sudden drop as fueling B10S10D80 at 800K and 900K, which might be caused by micro-explosion. A larger premixed combustion process is observed at low ambient temperatures, while the heat release rate of high ambient temperatures presents mixing controlled diffusion combustion. With a lower ambient temperature, the auto-ignition delay becomes longer with increasing of n-butanol volume in blends. However, with increasing of ambient temperatures, the auto-ignition timing between three fuels becomes unperceivable. Generally, low n-butanol addition has a limited or no effect on the auto-ignition timing in the current conditions. Compared with the base fuel of B0S20D80, n-butanol additive with 5% or 10% in volume can reduce soot emissions at the near-wall regions. Compared with lower ambient temperatures, n-butanol additive presents larger soot reduction ability at higher ambient temperatures.