Combustion and Emissions Characteristics of a Brassica Carinata FAME and N-Butanol Blend

In this study, the combustion and emissions characteristics of a new biodiesel and biodiesel blend in a direct injection (DI), experimental diesel engine and was compared to ultra-low sulfur diesel #2 (ULSD#2) at 1500 rpm and 4 bar indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP). The biodiesel blend, C90+BU10, included 90% brassica carinata (25% erucic acid methyl ester) and 10% n-butanol bio-alcohol by mass. The lower heating value of C90+BU10 was 37.25 MJ/kg, compared to 42.6 MJ/kg for ULSD#2. The ignition delay of ULSD#2 was 9.0 crank angle degrees (CAD) and decreased to 8.5 CAD for C90+BU10, which can be attributed to the higher cetane number of the biodiesel blend. The apparent heat release rate for both fuels exhibited a premixed and diffusion burn phase, with the peak heat release rate being 142 J/degree for ULSD#2 and 129 J/degree for C90+BU10. Nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions decreased by 7% for the C90+BU10 blend. The particulate matter (PM) emissions for C90+BU10 exhibited a decrease of 55%, from 0.21 g/kWh for ULSD#2 to 0.0096 g/kWh for C90+BU10. The renewable fuels used in the study proved to be capable of reducing soot by 55% without exhaust gas after treatment systems and without reducing combustion efficiency.