Radial development of pentanol–biodiesel fuel spray in a high-pressure common-rail system

Abstract

Pentanol is a potential alternative fuel. The effect of blending pentanol on the radial diffusion of biodiesel spray was studied. There are seldom eyes on the comprehensive study on the radial development of spray. For evaluating the radial development ability, the spray characteristic parameters such as the maximum width, the actual distance from the widest part to the nozzle, the cone angle, and the spray mean width were chosen for study. The influences of ambient pressure and injection pressure were also analyzed. The radial diffusion ability of biodiesel spray could be improved by adding pentanol, and it would also be affected by the varying of ambient and injection pressures. With the addition of pentanol, the maximum width of spray increased, the distance from the nozzle to the widest range shortened, the spray cone angle increased, and the average spray width increased, which means the maximum radial diffusivity and average radial diffusivity of the spray were enhanced. When the ambient pressure increased, the distance from the nozzle to the widest range was shortened, the spray cone angle increased, and the average spray width increased. When the injection pressure increased, the maximum spray width of the blended fuel containing a small amount of pentanol increased, the distance from the nozzle to the widest width increased, and the average spray width increased. The maximum radial diffusivity of spray was only affected by ambient pressure, and the average radial diffusion capacity was affected by both ambient pressure and injection pressure.