Front. Energy Power Eng.
China 2009, 3(1): 99–108
DOI 10.1007/s11708-009-0013-1
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Zhen HUANG, Xinqi QIAO, Wugao ZHANG, Junhua WU, Junjun ZHANG
Dimethyl ether as alternative fuel for CI engine and vehicle
© Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag 2009
Abstract As a developing and the most populous
country in the world, China faces major challenges in
energy supply and environmental protection. It is of great
importance to develop clean and alternative fuels for
internal combustion engines. On the basis of researches on
DME engine and vehicle at Shanghai Jiaotong University
in the last twelve years, fuel injection, combustion,
performance and exhaust emissions of DME engine and
DME vehicle are introduced in this paper. The results
indicate that DME engines can achieve high thermal
efficiency and ultra low emissions, and will play a
significant role in meeting the energy demand while
minimizing environmental impact in China.
Keywords dimethyl ether (DME), fuel injection, com-
bustion process, emission control, CI engine, vehicle
1 Introduction
Dimethyl ether (DME), whose chemical formula is CH3–O–
CH3, is the simplest ether compound and has been known to
be both non-toxic and environmentally benign. DME can be
made from a wide variety of resources including coal,
coalbed methane, natural gas and biomass etc. For engine
use, DME has a high cetane number of approximately 55–
60, which makes DME ideal for use in a compression
ignition (CI) engine. The chemical structure of DME with its
high oxygen content promises a smoke-free combustion.
DME is a relatively new alternative fuel for engine and
vehicle. Researches on DME as fuel were initiated in 1995.
Denmark Technical University, Haldor Topsoe A/S, Navis-
tar, AVL, AMOCO etc. conducted extensive investigations
on CI engines fueled with DME. Results show that DME
Received September 16, 2008; accepted November 25, 2008
✉
Zhen HUANG ( ), Xinqi QIAO, Wugao ZHANG, Junhua WU, Junjun
ZHANG
Key Laboratory of Power Machinery and Engineering, Ministry of
Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
E-mail: z-huang@sjtu.edu.cn
will be a potential and promising fuel for more efficient and
cleaner engine and vehicle [1–8].
As a developing and the most populous country in the
world, China faces major challenges of energy supply and
environmental protection. It is of great importance to
develop clean and alternative fuels for internal combustion
engines and vehicles. DME will be a solution for energy
security and environmental protection in China. In the last
decade, research and development of DME engine and
vehicle was conducted actively in several universities in
China [9–12].
Researches have been conducted on DME as alternative
fuel for CI engine and vehicle, including DME fuel
injection system, spray and combustion, engine perfor-
mance and emissions, engine reliability and DME-tolerant
seal material by the authors at Shanghai Jiaotong
University since 1996 [13–18]. Furthermore, a turbo-
charged 6114ZLQB DME engine and a DME city bus
were successfully developed. This paper introduces the
research results on DME fuel injection, combustion,
performance and exhaust emissions of DME engine and
DME vehicle.
2 Fuel properties and experimental
apparatus
The properties of DME and diesel fuel are shown in
Table 1. It can be seen that the properties of DME are quite
different from those of diesel fuel. DME has high vapor
pressure and low boiling temperature, which is a gas fuel at
room temperature and atmospheric pressure. Its handling
characteristics are very similar to LPG, a widely used fuel
for spark ignition engines. The heat value of DME is
significantly lower than conventional diesel fuel. There-
fore, the fuel supply and injection system, and the
combustion system of the engine should be redesigned or
modified.
In this study, experiments were conducted on a naturally
aspirated direct injection (DI) CI 2135 diesel engine and a
D6114 turbocharged heavy-duty CI engine respectively.
100 Front. Energy Power Eng. China 2009, 3(1): 99–108

Table 1 Properties of DME and diesel fuel Table 2 Technical parameters of 2135 diesel engine and DME engine
property (unit or condition) DME diesel fuel DME engine diesel engine
chemical formula CH3–O–CH3 – bore
stroke/(mm
mm) 135
145
mole weight/g 46.07 170 compression ratio 16.5∶1
boiling point/°C – 24.9 180–360 –1
rated power/ kW, rated speed/(r$min ) 29.4, 1500
–3
liquid density/(g$cm ) 0.668 0.84 plunger diameter/mm 10 8
liquid viscosity/cP 0.15 4.4–5.4 nozzle number
orifice diameter/(1
mm) 4
0.55 4
0.35
low heat value/(MJ$kg–1) 28.43 42.5 nozzle opening pressure/MPa 15 18
ignition temperature/°C 235 250
cetane number 55–60 40–55
Table 3 Technical parameters of D6114 turbocharged diesel engine and
stoichiometric air/fuel ratio/(kg$kg–1) 9.0 14.6
DME engine
mass fraction of carbon 52.2 86
DME engine diesel engine
mass fraction of hydrogen 13.0 14
bore
stroke/(mm
mm) 135
145
mass fraction of oxygen 34.8 0
compression ratio 18∶1
–2 8 9
modulus of elasticity/(N$m ) 6.37
10 1.486
10
displacement/cm3 8270
rated power/ kW, rated speed/(r$min–1) 184.1, 2200
maximum torque/(N$m), speed/(r$min–1) 1000,1400
plunger diameter/mm 13,12 12
nozzle number
orifice diameter/(1
mm) 6
0.4 6
0.24
fuel delivery advance angle (CA BTDC)/(°) 9,12 9
nozzle opening pressure/MPa 16 21
diameter of high pressure pipe/mm 2.2 1.8

The effects of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and

oxidation catalyst converter (DOC) on exhaust emission
control were also investigated. The layout of EGR and
DOC are shown in Fig. 2. Exhaust gas after the turbine
flows through an EGR valve and an EGR cooler, and then
enters the intake pipe before the compressor. The DOC is
Fig. 1 Schematic of DME engine experimental system installed in the exhaust pipe to reduce HC and CO
emissions. The EGR rate can be obtained by the following
The DME engine experimental system is shown in Fig. 1 equation:
and engine specifications and modifications are illustrated
in Tables 2 and 3. The fuel supply system contains a CO2 int – CO2 ambient
EGR rate ¼ , (1)
pressurized fuel tank, appropriate pipelines and valve, and CO2 ext – CO2 ambient
a fuel supply pump, which is capable of delivering fuel to
the high pressure pump at a pressure of up to 1.5 MPa to
prevent cavitations and vapor choke within the fuel
pipeline and the fuel injection system. In the fuel return
pipeline, a cooler is used to decrease the temperature of
DME. To keep the output of the DME engine the same as
that of the diesel engine, it is necessary to increase the
injection rate and quantity. Therefore, the diameter and the
stroke of the plunger, and the nozzle diameter were
enlarged and the adjustment of nozzle opening pressure
was also made. A lubricant additive was added to improve
the lubrication of DME fuel, due to its low viscosity and
poor lubrication. Since conventional rubber materials are
not chemically compatible and will deteriorate after
exposure to DME whose resolvability is high, a DME-
tolerant seal material was developed and used on the DME
engine system. Fig. 2 Layout of EGR and DOC
 Zhen HUANG et al. Dimethyl ether as alternative fuel
here, CO2 int, CO2 ambient, and CO2 ext indicate the CO2
concentration in air intake before the compressor, at
ambient condition and in the exhaust gas, respectively.
The DME fuel consumption was measured by an
electronic scale. The cylinder pressure was measured
using a Kistler Model 6125A pressure transducer. The
charge output from this transducer was converted to an
amplified voltage using a Kistler Model 5015 amplifier.
The 1440 pulses per rotation (four pulses per crank angle)
from a shaft encoder on the engine crankshaft were used as
the data acquisition clocking pulses to acquire the cylinder
pressure data. Based on measured cylinder pressure, the
heat release rate (HRR) is calculated and analyzed. NOx,
CO, HC, and CO2 emissions were measured by an AVL
CEB serials gas analyzer. Smoke emission was tested by a
fully-automated fqd-102A smoke meter and PM was
measured by an AVL 472 Smart Sampler PC.
3 Results and discussion
3.1 DME fuel injection
The characteristics of DME fuel injection, including
pipeline pressure, needle lift, acoustics velocity, injection
delay and ignition delay were measured in a 2135 CI
engine. Figure 3 shows the comparison of fuel pipeline
pressures at pump side between DME and diesel fuel. It is
indicated that under conditions of the same fuel delivery
advance angle and load, the peak pipeline pressure and
pressure rise rate of DME are much lower than those of
diesel fuel. For instance, at full load, the peak pressures of
DME and diesel fuel are 36.4 MPa and 51.6 MPa
respectively, which is believed to be caused by the
relatively larger nozzle orifice, the lower nozzle opening
pressure and the larger compressibility of DME. With the
decrease in engine load, the pipeline pressure decreases
and its phase retards as in the case of DME.
Figure 4 shows the comparison of the acoustics velocity
Fig. 3 Comparison of line pressure at nozzle side between DME
and diesel fuel
101
between DME and diesel fuel. It can be seen that with the
decrease in engine load, both acoustics velocity of DME
and diesel fuel are reduced. At 100%, 75% and 50% engine
load, the acoustics velocity of DME are 810 m/s, 675 m/s
and 578.6 m/s respectively; while the acoustics velocity of
diesel fuel are 1227.3 m/s, 1157.1 m/s and 1094.5 m/s
respectively. The acoustics velocity of DME is much lower
than that of diesel fuel. Figure 5 further illustrates a
comparison of variations of injection delay and ignition
delay between DME engine and diesel fuel engine. With
the decrease in engine load, the injection delay increases.
At 100%, 75% and 50% engine load, the injection delay
increases by 36.4%, 43.5% and 46.2% respectively in
comparison with that of diesel fuel. Differences in
acoustics velocity and injection delay between DME and
diesel fuel mainly result from the relatively larger
compressibility of DME.
Furthermore, as shown in Fig. 5, at 100%, 75% and 50%
engine load, the ignition delay decreases by 23.1%,
21.15% and 18.5%, compared with diesel fuel, which is
thought to be caused by a higher cetane number of DME.
As a result, since the increment in injection delay of DME
Fig. 4 Comparison of acoustics velocity between DME and
diesel fuel
Fig. 5 Variation of injection delay and ignition delay of DME in
comparison with diesel fuel
102 Front. Energy Power Eng. China 2009, 3(1): 99–108

is larger than the reduction in ignition delay, it is found that
at the condition of the same fuel delivery advance angle,
the start of ignition timing of DME is retarded in
comparison with diesel fuel. The retardation of ignition
timing of DME is more obvious as the engine load
decreases.
3.2 DME engine combustion and performance
Engine combustion and performance fuelled with DME was
further investigated in a D6114 turbocharged CI engine.
Figure 6 shows the comparison of cylinder pressure, HRR,
accumulated heat release and rates of pressure rise between
the DME engine and the diesel engine at full load and
different engine speeds. It can be seen that the peak value of
cylinder pressure and HRR of DME are lower than those of
diesel fuel and the phase of pressure and HRR rise are
retarded in comparison with diesel fuel. At the condition of
fuel delivery advance angle of 9° (CA BTDC), engine speed
of 800 r/min and full load, the maximum cylinder pressure is
8.2 MPa at 16° (CA ATDC) in the case of DME and
10.1 MPa at 11° (CA ATDC) in the case of diesel fuel,
respectively, with a phase difference of 5° (CA). The
maximum rate of pressure rise of DME is much lower than
that of diesel fuel. The same phenomena can be found at
conditions of engine speeds of 1400 r/min and 2200 r/min,
as shown in Fig. 6. The relatively low maximum cylinder
pressure, HRR and rate of pressure rise and phase

Fig. 6 Comparison of cylinder pressure, HRR, accumulated heat release and rates of pressure rise between DME engine and diesel engine
(for DME engine, plunger diameter = 12 mm, nozzle type: 6
0.40 mm)
(a) 800 r/min, pe = 0.87 MPa; (b) 1400 r/min, pe = 1.52 MPa; (c) 2200 r/min, pe= 1.21 MPa
 Zhen HUANG et al. Dimethyl ether as alternative fuel 103

retardation of DME is considered to result from the

relatively shorter ignition delay caused by higher cetane
number of DME and the later ignition timing caused by
relatively larger injection delay.
Moreover, it is worth noticing that although the ignition
timing of DME is retarded in comparison with diesel fuel,
the end of heat release of DME is almost the same as that of
diesel fuel. The combustion duration tends to be shorter
than that of diesel fuel, especially in the cases of engine
speed of 800 r/min and 1400 r/min. It is believed that the
high vapor pressure, the low boiling temperature and the
high oxygen content of DME lead to rapid fuel evaporation,
good fuel/air mixture formation and prompt combustion.
Figure 7 shows the comparison of engine torque and
power between DME and diesel fuel engine. It is found that
both the torque and the power of DME are greater than those
of diesel at all engine speeds, especially at lower engine
speed. The torque of the DME engine is increased by 29.1%
and 32.8% at the speed of 1000 r/min and 900 r/min,
respectively, in comparison with the diesel engine. Maxi-
mum output is usually determined by smoke limitation in
diesel engines. However, there is no smoke limitation in
DME engine due to its smoke-free combustion.

Fig. 7 Comparison of engine torque and power between DME

and diesel fuel engine

Fig. 8 Variation of BSFC with engine speed and load

Figure 8 shows the variation of brake specific fuel
consumption (BSFC) with engine speed and load. In order
to make a comparison of the BSFC between the DME
engine and the diesel engine, the fuel consumption of
DME is converted to that of diesel fuel based on the low
heating value. The equivalent BSFC of DME fuel is
defined as
hDME
BSFC ¼ BSFEDME
, With an increase in engine load, both BSFC of DME and
hdiesel
where hDME and hdiesel are the lower heating values of DME
and diesel fuel respectively. It can be seen that for both fuels,
the lowest BSFC is obtained in the range of speed where the
maximum torque is achieved. It is found that in the case of
(a) Full load; (b) 1400 r/min; (c) 2200 r/min
full load, when engine speed is less than 1500 r/min, the
equivalent BSFC of DME is better than that of diesel fuel.
When engine speed is larger than 1500 r/min, the equivalent
BSFC of DME is poorer than that of diesel fuel, which
indicates that at high engine speed, the fuel consumption will
deteriorate due to the lower heating value of DME.
diesel fuel are decreased. At the speed of 1400 r/min, the
equivalent BSFC of DME engine is lower than that of the
diesel engine at all test loads, especially at low load. At the
speed of 2200 r/min, the equivalent BSFC of the DME
engine is almost the same as that of the diesel engine at low
104 Front. Energy Power Eng. China 2009, 3(1): 99–108

load. With the increase of engine load, the equivalent
BSFC of the DME engine tends to be higher than that of
the diesel engine, especially at medium and high engine
load. Due to the lower heating value of DME, to keep the
engine output the same as that of the diesel engine, about
1.9 times as much as the diesel fuel volume should be
injected into the combustion chamber per cycle, which
leads to prolonged injection duration and combustion
duration at high engine speed, and results in the
deterioration of fuel consumption of DME.
3.3 DME engine exhaust emissions
Figure 9 shows the comparison of NOx emission between
DME and diesel fuel under different engine loads and at
engine speeds of 1400 r/min and 2200 r/min. It is
illustrated that the DME engine exhibits substantial
reduction in NOx emission at all test range of loads and
speeds. At the BMEP of 1.52 MPa and engine speed of
1400 r/min, NOx emission of the DME engine is reduced
by 28.1%, in comparison with that of the diesel engine. At
2200 r/min, the NOx emission is reduced more signifi-
cantly for the DME engine. Reduction of NOx is mainly
attributed to the physicochemical properties of DME. For
the DME engine, retardation of ignition timing due to
longer fuel injection delay, shorter ignition delay due to
high cetane number and larger latent heat of DME lead to a
decrease in cylinder pressure and local temperature which
result in a reduction of NOx emission.
The comparison of HC and CO emission between the
DME engine and the diesel engine under different engine
loads at an engine speed of 1400 r/min and 2200 r/min is
shown in Figs. 10 and 11. HC emission of DME is
significantly lower than that of diesel fuel at all test range
of loads and speeds. Meanwhile, with the increase of
engine load, HC emission tends to decrease. It is supposed
that the low boiling temperature and high vapor pressure of
DME will promote fuel atomization, mixture formation
and combustion which result in low HC emission.
CO emission of the DME engine is almost the same as

Fig. 9 Comparison of NOx emission between DME engine and diesel engine
(a) 1400 r/min; (b) 2200 r/min

Fig. 10 Comparison of HC emission between DME engine and diesel engine

(a) 1400 r/min; (b) 2200 r/min
 Zhen HUANG et al. Dimethyl ether as alternative fuel 105

Fig. 11 Comparison of CO emission between DME engine and diesel engine

(a)1400 r/min; (b) 2200 r/min

that of the diesel engine at low engine load. It is interesting
to note that CO emission of the DME engine is higher than
that of the diesel engine at high and medium engine loads,
with emission levels of 120
10–6 to 220
10–6. It is
considered that rich burning of DME at high load results in
an increase of CO. However, further study is necessary to
verify this possible mechanism.
The comparison of smoke emission between the DME
engine and the diesel engine under different loads at an
engine speed of 1400 r/min and 2200 r/min is indicated in
Fig. 12. DME presents almost zero emission of smoke at
all test engine loads and speeds. High oxygen content and
absence of C–C bonds in the molecular structure of DME
promises a smoke-free combustion.
Figure 13 shows the results of ESC emission test of the
DME engine. Thirteen modes of ESC tests were
conducted. The results show that without common rail
injection system, EGR and after-treatment system, NOx,
HC, CO and PM emissions of the DME engine are 19.7%,
80.5%, 62.5% and 50% below Euro III respectively. The
requirements for EURO III are satisfied with the DME
engine with in-line fuel pump. The baseline diesel engine
can only narrowly meet Europe II.
3.4 Effects of EGR and DOC on emissions
In order to meet more stringent emission regulation, effects
of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and oxidation catalyst
converter (DOC) on exhaust emission were evaluated.
Figure 14(a) shows the effect of EGR rate on NOx emission
under different engine loads at the speed of 1400 r/min. It
is indicated that substantial reduction in NOx emission
without smoke is obtained by means of EGR. With the
increase of EGR rate, NOx emission is decreased
remarkably. In the case of BMEP of 1.52 MPa and 10%
EGR rate, the NOx is reduced by 51.8%. In the case of
BMEP of 0.76 MPa and 25% EGR rate, the NOx is reduced
by 67.8%. With EGR, reduction of local temperature and
oxygen concentration within the cylinder results in the
suppression of NOx formation. EGR has influence on
engine fuel consumption, as shown in Fig. 14(b). At low
load, the BSFC of the DME engine is improved with EGR.
At medium load, with the increase of EGR rate, the BSFC
first decreases, then increases when EGR rate is larger than
15%. At full load, when EGR rate is larger than 10%, the
BSFC tends to deteriorate. It appears that there is no loss in
fuel consumption for test EGR rate in the case of BMEP of

Fig. 12 Comparison of smoke emission between DME engine and diesel engine
(a) 1400 r/min; (b) 2200 r/min
106 Front. Energy Power Eng. China 2009, 3(1): 99–108

duration will be prolonged due to the relatively low air/fuel

Fig. 13 Results of ESC emission test of DME engine
0.38 MPa, when EGR rate is less than 25% in the case of
BMEP of 0.76 MPa, and EGR rate is less than 10% in the
case of BMEP of 1.52 MPa. It is believed that at low load,
combustion will be promoted due to the introduction of
exhaust gas; therefore, fuel consumption is improved. At
high load, combustion will be suppressed and combustion
ratio within the cylinder, which will lead to deterioration of
fuel consumption.
The effect of EGR rate on HC and CO emissions under
different engine loads at the speed of 1400 r/min is shown
in Figs. 14(c) and (d). With the increase of EGR rate, HC
emission increases slightly. At all test EGR rates, HC
emission is maintained at a low level. It is worth noticing
that EGR has a great influence on CO emission. With the
increase of EGR rate, CO emission increases. Especially
when EGR rate is over a certain value and the engine runs
at medium and high load, CO emission increases
considerably. It is indicated that CO emission increases
dramatically when EGR rate is larger than 12% in the case
of BMEP of 1.52 MPa, 22% in the case of BMEP of
0.76 MPa and 35% in the case of BMEP of 0.38 MPa.
Deterioration of CO emission is considered to be attributed
to reduction in local air/fuel ratio and temperature with the
introduction of exhaust gas. However, HC and CO
emissions can be readily reduced by an oxidation catalyst
converter. In this work, effect of EGR on smoke is also
investigated. The result indicates that the chemical

Fig. 14 Effect of EGR rate on exhaust emission of DEM engine

(a) NOx emission; (b) fuel consumption; (c) HC emission; (d) CO emission
 Zhen HUANG et al. Dimethyl ether as alternative fuel 107

structure of DME with its high oxygen content promises
high EGR tolerance.
Figure 15 further shows the effect of DOC on HC and
CO emissions of the DME engine at different engine load
at the speed of 1400 r/min. It is illustrated that HC and CO
emissions is reduced significantly with an emission level of
less than 10
10–6 by means of DOC. For instance, in the
case of BMEP of 0.378 MPa, HC and CO emissions are
reduced by 87% and 92% respectively. As a result, it is
believed that DME engine with EGR and DOC will satisfy
more stringent emission regulation.
3.5 Performance of DME city bus
On the basis of DME engine research, a dedicated DME
fuel supply, injection and combustion system were
developed. In 2005, the first DME city bus in China was
successfully developed in cooperation with Shanghai Auto
Industry and Shanghai Diesel Works. In 2007, ten DME
city buses were manufactured by Shanghai Auto Industry
for demonstration and public use, as shown in Fig. 16.
The performance of the DME city bus is tested
according to the national vehicle standard. Table 4 shows
the test results. The noise of acceleration of the DME bus is
80.6 dB(A), which is 2.3 dB(A) lower than that of the
baseline diesel bus. The noise within the bus is 77.8 dB(A),
which is 2.5 dB(A) lower than that of the baseline diesel
bus. The maximum speed (25–60 km/h) and the accelera-
tion time satisfy the requirements of the national standard.
The fuel consumption of the DME bus was measured
under a condition of constant vehicle speed of 50 km/h.
The equivalent fuel consumption is 17.78 L/100 km, which
is better than that of the baseline diesel bus.
4 Conclusions
1) The injection delay of DME is longer than that of
diesel fuel due to the lower acoustics velocity resulting
from the higher compressibility of DME. The ignition
delay of DME is shorter than that of diesel fuel due to the
higher cetane number of DME. Since the increment in

Fig. 15 Effect of DOC on HC and CO emissions

(a) HC emission; (b) CO emission

Fig. 16 DME city bus developed by the project

(a) First DME city bus in China; (b) Shanghai DME city bus demonstration
108 Front. Energy Power Eng. China 2009, 3(1): 99–108
Table 4 Performance of DME city bus
test item DME national standard
1 combustion system for DI diesels operated on dimethyl ether. SAE
noise outside bus 80.6 dB(A) satisfy
2 noise inside bus 77.8 dB(A) ≤79 dB(A)
3 acceleration smoke zero
4 maximum speed 83.2 km/h ≥80 km/h
5 25–60 km/h acceleration time 34.9 s ≤50 s
injection delay of DME is much larger than the reduction
in ignition delay, the start of ignition timing of DME is
retarded in comparison with diesel fuel.
2) The peak value of cylinder pressure and HRR of
DME are lower than that of diesel fuel and the phase of
pressure and HRR rise is retarded in comparison with
diesel fuel. However, the combustion duration tends to be
shorter than that of diesel fuel. It is believed that the high
vapor pressure, the low boiling temperature and the high
oxygen content of DME lead to rapid fuel evaporation,
good fuel/air mixture formation and prompt combustion.
3) Both the torque and the power of the DME engine are
greater than those of the diesel engine at all engine speeds,
especially at lower engine speed. At low and medium
engine speeds, the equivalent BSFC of DME is better than
that of diesel fuel. However, at high engine speed, the fuel
consumption will deteriorate due to the lower heating
value of DME.
4) The DME engine exhibits a substantial reduction in
NOx and HC emissions and promises a smoke-free
combustion at all test range of loads and speeds, while
CO emission increases slightly in comparison with diesel
fuel.
5) A substantial reduction in NOx emission without
smoke is obtained by means of EGR. With the introduction
of exhaust gas, the fuel consumption is improved at low
load. However, the fuel consumption and CO emission
deteriorate when EGR rate exceeds a certain value, which
is strongly related with engine load.
6) The HC and CO emissions are significantly reduced
to an emission level of less than 10
10–6 by means of
DOC. The DME engine with EGR and DOC will satisfy
more stringent emission regulation.
Acknowledgements This work was funded by the “Clean Auto Action”
program (No. 2003BA408B12A) of the Ministry of Science and Technology
of China.
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