The combustion and emission characteristics of pure methanol as a substitute fuel for compression ignition engines

Abstract

ABSTRACT Methanol, as a carbon-neutral resource, exhibits significant potential in the automotive sector. The objectives of this study are to investigate the fuel economy, emission characteristics, and combustion properties of methanol in compression-ignition engines. The research findings indicated that the combustion duration of methanol significantly extended with increasing speed and load. In comparison to diesel, methanol exhibited a relatively lower peak heat release rate under various operating conditions. With an increase in injection pressure or an advancement in injection timing, the brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) decreased initially and then increased. The optimal injection pressure for methanol was lower than that for diesel, while the optimal injection timing was advanced. As the EGR rate increased, BSFC gradually decreased at each speed. When comparing optimized methanol with diesel, the brake thermal efficiency (BTE) of methanol was 37.54%, slightly lower than that of diesel. Methanol’s NOx, soot, and CO emissions were significantly lower than diesel, while methanol and formaldehyde emissions were higher, especially with a methanol emission of 0.83 g/kW.h. Overall, applying pure methanol as fuel in compression-ignition engines can significantly reduce emissions while maintaining the BTE as compared with that of diesel fuel, but the methanol emissions in the exhaust increase significantly.