Research on conversion of diesel engines for operation on methanol is, currently, of worldwide interest. Due to requirements of higher cyclic delivery of methanol and changes in fuel properties e.g. compressibility, wave propagation velocity, viscosity, surface tension, density etc., injection and atomization characteristics of methanol are expected to be different from diesel.
From the equation of continuity and forces acting on the injection system elements and applying the principles of similarity, modifications required in the injection system were identified. Methanol injection and atomization characteristics were studied with a modified injection system and compared with those observed with diesel fuel. Methanol gave more favourable cyclic delivery characteristics than diesel.
Laser diffraction technique was used to study time and space resolved drop size distribution in methanol and diesel sprays. With methanol, drop size distribution were, generally, much narrower and droplets were smaller than diesel. Spatial distribution of drop size in methanol spray showed somewhat different trends than for diesel.