Characterization of Particulates with Different Blends of Bio-Fuels in Light Commercial Vehicle

This paper covers the test work done on the comparative characterization of particulates using different blends of biofuels (like biodiesel and ethanol in diesel fuel) in light commercial vehicle under different operating conditions. The test vehicle selected was equipped with Direct Injection (DI) diesel engine with inline fuel injection pump. Under transient operating condition (Indian Driving Cycle), the results indicate that with increased percentage of biodiesel (upto 20%) in the blend, particulate concentration decreases. However, with 5% ethanol diesel blend, particulate concentration increases when compared with neat diesel as well as biodiesel blends while mass concentrations are lower with both the biofuels as compared to neat diesel. It is observed that the nanoparticles are higher with 5% ethanol diesel in IDC test mode. From the results of this work, it is observed that amongst the biofuels i.e. ethanol and biodiesel, biodiesel is a synergistic blending component for diesel for reducing mass and number of nanoparticles in DI engine powered vehicle.