Combustion Characteristics of Diesel Fuels as Measured in a Constant-Volume Bomb-A Report of the Coordinating Research Council, Inc.

A CONSTANT-VOLUME combustion bomb is being employed to give comprehensive data on the ignition characteristics of commercial-type and specially prepared diesel fuels in the investigation reported here.

Data presented show the great effect of aromatic and dicyclic compounds in increasing fuel ignition lag and temperature sensitivity. Effects of oxygen concentration and the influence of a diesel fuel additive are shown. The combustion records of some aromatic fuels suggest a 2-stage combustion process and further emphasize that ignition of fuels is not necessarily a threshold phenomenon.

Ignition characteristics of fuels are shown for wide ranges of pressures and temperatures. It is indicated that such wide range characterization of any fuel’s ignition properties should be useful in more accurately predicting its combustion behavior under diverse operational conditions.