Knock Characteristics of Liquid and Gaseous Fuels in Lean Mixtures

The knock characteristics of natural gas (NG), 89 octane unleaded gasoline, 2,2-dimethyl butane (22DMB), and methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) in stoichiometric and lean fuel-air mixtures were studied in a production 4-cylinder automotive engine. The Intake Temperature at the Knock Limit (ITKL) was found to be very different for each fuel but in every case the ITKL of lean mixtures was much higher than that of a stoichiometric mixture. Gasoline and 22DMB exhibited a much greater increase in ITKL than MTBE and NG at lean conditions. Surprisingly, for lean mixtures 22DMB exhibited values of ITKL that were much higher than MTBE and almost as high as those of NG. These results are compared with a detailed numerical model of autoignition chemistry. Good agreement between model and experiment is found for all modelled conditions. The computations show that the internal isomerization of alkylperoxy radicals which form much more readily in gasoline and 22DMB than the other fuels, accounts for the effect of equivalence ratio on the ITKL.