Effects of Cetane Number on Emissions From a Prototype 1998 Heavy-Duty Diesel Engine

As stringent emission regulations further constrain engine manufacturers by tightening both NO_x and particulate emission limits, a knowledge of fuel effects becomes more important than ever. Among the fuel properties that affect heavy-duty diesel engine emissions, cetane number can be very important. Part of the CRC-APRAC VE-10 Project was developed to quantify the effects of cetane number on NO_x and other emissions from a prototype 1998 Detroit Diesel Series 60. Three fuels with different natural cetane number (41, 45, 52) were treated with several levels and types of cetane improvers to study a range of cetane number from 40 to 60. Statistical analysis was used to define how regulated emissions from this prototype 1998 engine decreased with chemically-induced cetane number increase. Variation of HC, CO, NO_x, and PM were modeled using a combination of a fuel's naturally-occurring cetane number and its total cetane number obtained with cetane improver. Increasing cetane number decreased all regulated emissions.