This content is not included in
your SAE MOBILUS subscription, or you are not logged in.
Vehicle Demonstration of Naphtha Fuel Achieving Both High Efficiency and Drivability with EURO6 Engine-Out NOx Emission
Journal Article
2013-01-0267
ISSN: 1946-3936, e-ISSN: 1946-3944
Sector:
Topic:
Citation:
Chang, J., Kalghatgi, G., Amer, A., Adomeit, P. et al., "Vehicle Demonstration of Naphtha Fuel Achieving Both High Efficiency and Drivability with EURO6 Engine-Out NOx Emission," SAE Int. J. Engines 6(1):101-119, 2013, https://doi.org/10.4271/2013-01-0267.
Language:
English
Abstract:
Demand for transport energy is growing but this growth is skewed
heavily toward commercial transport, such as, heavy road, aviation,
marine and rail which uses heavier fuels like diesel and kerosene.
This is likely to lead to an abundance and easy availability of
lighter fractions like naphtha, which is the product of the initial
distillation of crude oil. Naphtha will also require lower energy
to produce and hence will have a lower CO₂ impact compared to
diesel or gasoline. It would be desirable to develop engine
combustion systems that could run on naphtha. Many recent studies
have shown that running compression ignition engines on very low
Cetane fuels, which are very similar to naphtha in their
auto-ignition behavior, offers the prospect of developing very
efficient, clean, simple and cheap engine combustion systems.
Significant development work would be required before such systems
could power practical vehicles. Naphtha has much lower Cetane
compared to a conventional European diesel fuel.
The aim of this study is to investigate if and how an existing
modern diesel engine could be run on low Cetane fuels in general
and naphtha in particular. Extensive single-cylinder engine tests
using different low Cetane fuels showed that the engine could be
run on narrow-cut naphtha with a derived Cetane (DCN) number of 38,
at all relevant speed and load conditions, while meeting or
exceeding the efficiency and emissions requirements. Based on these
engine studies, a downsized four-cylinder 1.6-liter diesel engine
adapted with piezoelectric fuel injectors, EGR cooling and
two-stage air-boosting system was installed in a demonstration
vehicle equipped with an on-board combustion control system. The
vehicle was successfully run under cold NEDC (New European Driving
Cycle) operation at high efficiency with good transient operation
and acceptable noise levels while achieving engine-out NOx emission
below EURO6 levels using naphtha. Moreover, engine-out PM
(particulate matter) emissions were lower than those generated with
conventional diesel fuel on the base engine. This work demonstrated
that a modern diesel vehicle can run at high efficiency and low
noise and emissions on a simple fuel that requires little
processing in the refinery compared to the diesel fuel and will be
easily available in the future.