Influence of Aromatic Type on Diesel Emissions Investigated by Blending Narrow-Cut Components and Pure Hydrocarbons Into a Base Fuel

The influence of fuel aromatic content and type on the exhaust emissions from a heavy-duty diesel engine were investigated by blending predetermined amounts of aromatic compounds with a known chemical structure into a low-aromatic base fuel. Seven test fuels were blended with constant cetane numbers and densities, but with mono-, di-, and tri-aromatic contents ranging from 10 to 30%, 0 to 10%, and 0 to 8%, respectively. The engine experiments were run using the AVL eight-mode steady-state simulation of the EPA transient test procedure. The results show that fuel total aromatic content or type did not significantly affect the engine’s PM emissions. NO_x emissions, however, increased by 4.3% as the fuel mono-aromatic content increased from 10 to 30%.