Comparison between Combustion, Performance and Emission Characteristics of JP-8 and Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel Fuel in a Single Cylinder Diesel Engine

JP-8 is an aviation turbine engine fuel recently introduced for use in military ground vehicle applications and generators which are mostly powered by diesel engines. Many of these engines are designed and developed for commercial use and need to be adapted for military applications. This requires more understanding of the auto- ignition and combustion characteristics of JP-8 under different engine operating conditions. This paper presents the results of a comparative analysis of an engine operation using JP-8 and ultra low sulfur diesel fuel (ULSD). Experiments were conducted on 0.42 liter single cylinder, high speed direct injection (HSDI) diesel engine equipped with a common rail injection system. The results indicate that the distillation properties of fuel have an effect on its vaporization rate. JP-8 evaporated faster and had shorter ignition delay as compared to ULSD. The fuel economy with JP-8 was better than ULSD. The gaseous emission components such as unburned Hydrocarbons (HC), Carbon monoxide (CO) reduced with JP-8 suggesting improved combustion quality. A slight reduction in NOx was recorded with JP-8, whereas Nano particle emissions increased compared to ULSD.