Performance of a Heavy Duty DME Engine - The Influence of Methanol and Water in the Fuel

In the study reported here the combustion and emission characteristics of a heavy duty six-cylinder diesel engine fuelled with dimethyl ether (DME) of chemical grade and DME with small and varying amounts of methanol and/or water were experimentally investigated. In addition, the size distribution of emitted particles and selected unregulated emissions were sampled.

Methanol and water additions had a very limited effect on emissions, but affected the combustion processes in a way that accentuated the premixed combustion and thus caused more energy to be released early in the cycle. At high load, however, the effect was reversed, due to the lack of distinct premixed combustion.

The results confirm that DME combustion does not generate any accumulation mode particles. The particles that are detected are smaller than the soot size range and do not occur in greater numbers than those from a diesel engine in the corresponding size range.