Performance, combustion and emission characteristics of a CI engine using MTBE blended diesel fuel

Abstract

The effects of Methyl-Tetra-Butyl-Ether (MTBE), as an additive, on the performance, combustion and the emission characteristics of a compression ignition (CI) engine are investigated experimentally. The experimental set-up consists of a diesel engine coupled with an eddy current dynamometer, AVL Di-gas analyser, AVL smoke meter and a data acquisition system is used. The di-gas analyzer is used to measure NO, CO and HC in the exhaust gases and the smoke meter is used to measure the smoke coefficient of the exhaust gases. The whole investigation is carried in two phases using the neat diesel in the first phase and the MTBE blended diesel fuels in the second phase. The MTBE blended diesel fuels are prepared in the varying proportions of MTBE (2, 4 and 6 %); subsequently the stability characteristics of the fuels are studied under static conditions. All the experiments are conducted at a constant speed of 1500 RPM by varying the brake load and the data obtained from the experiments are used to evaluate the performance and the combustion characteristics while, the emission characteristics are directly measured. The experimental results revealed that a significant improvement in the performance and appreciable reduction in the emissions for the MTBE blended diesel fuels on compared with neat diesel. The combustion analysis is supported the outcome on the performance and emission of the engine.