Measurements of ignition delay time of gas-to-liquid (GTL) fuel blends

Abstract

The ignition delay time (IDT) is a fundamental combustion parameter of any fuel, which has a direct impact on its combustion and exhaust emissions in diesel engines. In this research, a thorough experimental study was conducted to investigate the ignition delay of Gas-to-Liquid (GTL) fuel and its 50%–50 % blends with diesel under a wide range of operating conditions using a conventional shock tube apparatus. Simultaneously, a comprehensive chemical kinetic model, based on the well-established POLIMI mechanism, was developed to simulate the complex combustion chemistry of diesel, GTL, and their blends. Several loading pressures in the driver section ranging from 6 to 14 bar that results in reflected pressure of 8–16 bar, and equivalence ratios ranging from 0.5 to 1.3 as well as different initial temperatures have been examined. Calibration of the shock tube indicated that a driver gas tailoring technique was necessary to be used, which was conducted by adding a small ratio of either argon or nitrogen to helium to get an extended test time by 32 % with a good rapture pressure. IDT measurements showed that GTL has the shorter ignition delay time than that of diesel fuel for all conditions. The findings show that IDT measurements for GTL fuel has a shorter ignition delay time than that of diesel fuel for all conditions. Under stoichiometric conditions (ɸ = 1.0), IDT of the blended fuel was about 3 ms, very close to that of GTL at 975 K. However, at a temperature above 1000 K, the IDT of the three fuels were almost identical and ranging between 1 and 2 ms. At a temperature of 1100 K, the IDT of the blended fuel was 5.5 ms, almost a middle value between those of the pure diesel, 0.522 ms, and GTL fuel, 0.495 ms. The shortest IDT of the blended fuel was about 0.4 ms with the highest value of the reflected pressure of 14 bar, while the longest IDT was around 10 ms with the rich mixture at ɸ = 1.3. The study can add to the existing literature illustrating the behavior of GTL-diesel blend can affect IDT.