Effects on Combustion by Using Kerosene or MK1 Diesel

Because of coming emission legislation emissions of nitrogen oxides and particular matter (PM) have to be substantially decreased. Several new concepts for low-emission engines have been proposed such as different variants on the HCCI engine but also engines with exhaust aftertreatment to reduce exhaust emissions. It is not only the engine design that influences emissions but also the fuel that is used. This study compares kerosene fuel with commercial diesel fuel. Kerosene fuel has considerable market availability since it is used in the aviation transport sector. Therefore it is possible to supply the land-based transportation sector with this fuel in relatively large quantities. Kerosene is a fuel with lower cetane number than diesel fuel, thus giving a longer ignition delay, making it viable for lower emissions since the longer ignition delay gives a longer time for the fuel to mix with the in-cylinder gas prior to combustion onset.

In this study a heavy-duty, direct-injected single-cylinder engine based on the Volvo D12C engine was used for the fuel comparison investigation. The results show that much lower soot emissions were obtained with the kerosene fuel at low load while soot emission was similar to that of diesel fuel at high engine load.