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Experimental investigation on NOx and PM

pollutions of a common-rail diesel engine fueled
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Cite this: DOI: 10.1039/c9se00209j

with diesel/gasoline/isopropanol blends
Peng Zhang, * Xin Su, Hao Chen, Limin Geng and Xuan Zhao

Received 2nd April 2019
Accepted 9th June 2019
DOI: 10.1039/c9se00209j
rsc.li/sustainable-energy
Gasoline and isopropanol are mixed with diesel to form stable, transparent and homogeneous blend fuels, to
augment the air inhalation with high volatility and to increase the fuel oxygen. Nitrogen oxide (NOx) and
particulate matter (PM) pollutions of diesel, gasoline and isopropanol blends were experimentally studied on
a 4-cylinder common-rail diesel engine. The test fuels were marked as D100 (diesel), D70G20P10 (20%
gasoline, 10% isopropanol and 70% diesel, by vol) and D70G10P20 (10% gasoline, 20% isopropanol and 70%
diesel, by vol). Blend fuels have longer ignition delays (IDs), less combustion durations and hotter peak
combustion temperatures (PCTs) than diesel, which are very important reasons for the reduction of PM and
increment of NOx. The test results of PM number and volume concentrations and NOx pollutions have
supported it. Moreover, an interesting result is found: isopropanol has a better effect than gasoline in
reducing PM pollutions and increasing NOx pollutions. Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) has been applied to
decrease the NOx pollutions. NOx and UFP emissions are simultaneously reduced by isopropanol at
a suitable EGR ratio, and D70G10P20 is a potential applicable fuel for low-pollution diesel engines with EGR.

UFPs produced from vehicles have a very low mass concentra-

1. Introduction
Transport vehicles consume huge amounts of petroleum oil and
emit huge amounts of pollutants and greenhouse gases. Emis-
sion pollutants from vehicles cause severe air pollution and
greatly threaten human health. With the advantages of high
thermal efficiency, favorable power performance, low hydro-
carbon and carbon monoxide emissions and good reliability,
diesel engines are widely applied in the elds of automobiles,
agricultural equipments, ships, engineering machineries and
military equipments. In Europe, nearly half of the passenger
cars are powered by diesel engines, while in China most of them
are gasoline automobiles. More than 90% of particulate matter
(PM) emission in the total emissions from vehicles in China
originates from diesel vehicles, which only accounts for 10.2
percent of vehicles in China, mostly heavy-duty diesel vehicles.1
Much attention has been paid on the PM and nitrogen oxide
(NOx) emissions of diesel vehicles. The PM pollutions of vehi-
cles are mainly composed of PM2.5 and PM1, especially in
urban road traffic circumstances.2 More and more heart and
respiratory diseases in the human body are diagnosed due to
the impact of high PM concentrations.3 PM0.1 is dened as
ultrane particles (UFPs), which can inltrate into the blood-
stream and even disrupt gene function.4 In this point, the
number concentration of PM0.1 plays a more important role in
the origin of diseases compared to the mass concentration.5
School of Automobile, Chang'an University, Xi'an 710064, PR China. E-mail:
276877634@qq.com; Tel: +86 29 82334430
tion and very high number concentration. NOx has a negative
effect on the ecological environment and human health by
causing photochemical smog and ozone depletion. As a result,
the worldwide emission standards have become increasingly
stringent. For example, the Euro 6 standard restrains the NOx
and PM pollutions of heavy-duty diesel engines to 0.46 g kW
1
h
1 and 0.01 g kW
1 h
1, respectively, under the WHTC test
cycle. Moreover the number of PM is required to be no higher
than 6  1011 per kW h.
The evolution of fuel to PM pollutions is generally accepted
to involve the following ve related processes: pyrolysis, nucle-
ation, accumulation, surface growth and agglomeration.6
Alkynes from cracking of the fuel in the pyrolysis process are
copolymerized into polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs),
both of which are precursors. The growth of PAHs results in the
nucleation process (soot formation). It has been veried that the
decrease in the PAH and sulfur contents in the diesel fuel can
reduce soot and PM emissions.7 It has been found that the air
inhalation and oxygen in the fuel fundamentally determine soot
oxidation.8 Many oxygenated additives have been applied to
diesel engines for pollution reduction, such as alcohols and
biodiesels (esters). It has been attested that the hydroxyl groups
in alcohols are more conducive for oxidation and inhibition of
soot precursor formation than the ester groups in biodiesels.9
Further, ethers are more effective than alcohols in reducing
PM.10 Recently, polyoxymethylene dimethyl ethers (PODEs) have
received much attention owing to their advantages in fuel
characteristics, such as viscosity, pour points, distillation,

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Table 1 Test engine specifications a better soot-reduction effect than long alcohols. However, they
have lower energy densities, leading to lower power perfor-
Items Specications
mance and running mileage. Further, the boiling temperature
Fuel injection system Common rail of ethanol or methanol is much lesser than that of long alco-
Bore  stroke (mm) 105  130 hols, which may cause vapour bubbles in the fuel line. Finally,
Displacement (L) 4.5 both methanol and ethanol have a higher polarity than long
Compression ratio 18 carbon alcohols and cannot be directly dissolved into diesel.
Rated power (kW@rpm) 113@2300
Rated torque (N m@rpm) 500@1600–1800
Isopropanol is soluble in diesel and has the highest oxygen
content among the C3 and longer alcohols. With the increase in
the isopropanol proportion, the viscosity decreases under all
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temperature.15 It was conrmed that the li-off length of the

Fig. 1 Test engine system.
oxygen contents and cetane number (CN).8,11,12 Blending PODEs
in diesel can remarkably decrease the soot or PM emission.13,14
However, ethers are much more expensive than alcohols.
Especially, PODE is 20 thousand Yuan per ton, which can be
hardly used in practice. The more shorter the alcohols, the more
higher are the oxygen content; theoretically light alcohols have
blend ame with the addition of isopropanol and butanol is
much longer than that of neat diesel, contributing to the
reduction in soot emissions.16,17 However, the diesel and iso-
propanol blend fuel generated more THC, CO and NOx pollu-
tions relative to diesel.18 Further, both isopropanol and butanol
spread out an inferior capability to reduce PM pollutions rela-
tive to methanol and ethanol, which can be ascribed to the
higher C/O ratio with the longer carbon chain and the small
amount of unsaturated hydrocarbons from fuel pyrolysis that
promote PAH formation and growth.19
Besides oxygenating the diesel fuel, enhancing air inhalation
in the lied portion of the diesel jet is also a critical way to
decrease PM pollution. It has been proved that the blending of
high volatility fuel in diesel can strengthen the air inhalation
and improve the uniformity of the air–fuel mixture gas. In this
case, gasoline is the most convenient and effective additive. On
blending gasoline with diesel, the spray penetration reduces
linearly with the increase in the gasoline content, but the li-off
length of the ame shows a non-linear opposite change.20
Mixing gasoline-like components in diesel has been conrmed
to reduce soot emissions by increasing ame li-off length with
an optical experiment.21 As a result, this paper devotes to

Table 2 Range and accuracy of measured parameters

Instrument Measured parameters Range Accuracy

Eddy current Speed 0–10 000 rpm 1%

dynamometer Torque 0–520 N m 0.2%
Combustion system Cylinder pressure 0–25 MPa 1 bar
MAHA MET6.X NOx 0–5000 ppm 20 ppm
SMPS-3936 UFPs (2.5–220 nm) 2.5–1000 nm 10 nm

Table 3 Fuel propertiesa

Properties D100 P100 G100 D70G20P10 D70G10P20

Density (g cm
3) 0.830 0.79 0.74 0.808 0.813

Viscosity at 20  C (mm2 s
1) 4.78 — — 2.17 2.58
CN 50 1217 1512 39.2 38.9
Oxygen content a (%) 0 26.6 0 2.6 5.2
LHV (MJ kg
1) 42.89 30.4 43.92 41.82 40.56
95% distillation temperature ( C) 363 — 166 — —
Boiling temperature ( C) — 82 — — —
a
Note: CNs of diesel, isopropanol and gasoline are extracted from ref. 12 and 17. CNs of D70G20P10 and D70G10P20 are calculated.

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Table 4 Engine operation conditions

Original strategy of diesel engine

Fuel injection strategy Pilot plus main injection

BMEP (MPa) 0.42 0.56 0.7 0.84 0.98

Engine speed (rpm) 1800
Intake pressure (bar) 1.14 1.24 1.33 1.44 1.52
Intake temperature ( C) 48 49 50 51 52
Injection pressure (MPa) 74.4 82.5 88.6 97.2 101.5
Pilot injection timing ( CA ATDC)
20
20.5
21
21.4
21.3
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Main injection timing ( CA ATDC)
11
11.5
12
12.4
12.3

Engine speed (rpm) 2200
Intake pressure (bar) 1.28 1.41 1.55 1.67 1.83
Intake temperature ( C) 50 51 52 53 55
Injection pressure (MPa) 100.1 108.7 114.4 119.4 128.4
Pilot injection timing ( CA ATDC)
21
22.8
23.4
23.2
23.7
Main injection timing ( CA ATDC)
11
13
13.6
13.4
13.9

combine the two methods to reduce soot emission by blending
both isopropanol and gasoline in diesel.
NOx is mainly composed of NO and a small quantity of NO2,
and in most cases, N2O, N2O5 and NO3 are negligible.22 In NOx
pollutions of engines, NO2 is generated from NO, which is
mainly controlled by the thermal mechanism depicted by the
Zeldovich mechanism, in which it is affected and controlled by
the local temperature in the ame front region, oxygen
concentration in the boundary of air and ame front and the
duration of high temperatures in ame front.23,24 Engine loads,
engine speeds, injection parameters, such as injection timing
and pressure, and fuel properties, including CN, oxygen
content, viscosity and distillation temperature, are the interac-
tive inuencing factors of diffusion combustion temperature
and thereby the NOx emission.25 In general, pursuing high
thermal efficiency of the diesel engine will lead to the high
combustion temperature and high NOx emission.26 Accordingly,
exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) is used to compensate the
potential increase in the NOx emission for diesel/gasoline/
isopropanol blend fuels.27
In this study, isopropanol and gasoline were used in a diesel
engine in the blend mode due to their better properties. EGR
was also introduced in the test engine for NOx emission
reduction. It is an operational and worthwhile study for the
development and application of sustainable energy or fuels.
2. Experimental system and method
The NOx and PM pollutions of the diesel/gasoline/isopropanol
blend fuels were experimentally studied on a 4-cylinder
common-rail in-line diesel engine with an additional turbo-
charger and intercooler. The specications of the test engine are
shown in Table 1. Fig. 1 shows the diagrammatic sketch of the
engine bench and the experimental system. The eddy current

Table 5 Injection strategy at various engine loads at 1800 rpm

Pilot injection ( CA ATDC) Main injection ( CA ATDC)

BMEP (MPa) Fuels Start End Duration Start End Duration

0.14 D100
19
15.4 3.6
10
4.4 5.6

D70G20P10
19
15.4 3.6
10
4.3 5.7
D70G10P20
19
15.4 3.6
10
4.1 5.9
0.42 D100
20
16.7 3.3
11
4.1 6.9
D70G20P10
20
16.7 3.3
11
4.0 7.0
D70G10P20
20
16.7 3.3
11
3.7 7.3
0.56 D100
20.6
17.5 3.1
11.6
4.0 7.6
D70G20P10
20.6
17.5 3.1
11.6
3.8 7.8
D70G10P20
20.6
17.5 3.1
11.6
3.6 8.0
0.70 D100
21
18.0 3.0
12
3.6 8.4
D70G20P10
21
18.0 3.0
12
3.4 8.6
D70G10P20
21
18.0 3.0
12
3.1 8.9
0.84 D100
21.4
18.5 2.9
12.4
2.4 10.0
D70G20P10
21.4
18.5 2.9
12.4
2.2 10.2
D70G10P20
21.4
18.5 2.9
12.4
1.8 10.6
0.98 D100
21.3
18.4 2.9
12.3
0.3 12.0
D70G20P10
21.3
18.4 2.9
12.3 0.0 12.3
D70G10P20
21.3
18.4 2.9
12.3 0.4 12.7

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Fig. 2 Designations for SOI, SOC and EOC.
dynamometer (FST3) is applied to control and adjust the engine
torque and speed. The common-rail injection system is manu-
factured by BOSCH. The combustion analyzer (KIBOX, Kistler)
provides in-cylinder pressure curves, where pressure data are
provided from a charge amplier (5019B, Kistler) and a piezo-
electric type pressure sensor (6052A, Kistler) mounted on the
head of the rst cylinder, and the crank angle data are recorded
by a magnetoelectric crank angle adapter (2619, Kistler) with
a resolution of 0.1  CA. An exhaust gas analyzer (MAHA MET6.X)
and an aerodynamic particle sizer spectrometer (TSI SMPS-3936)
are used to obtain NOx and PM emissions data, respectively.
The engine was started with diesel and then warmed up for
half an hour, until the temperature of the coolant and the
Fig. 3 IDs and combustion durations of test fuels at different conditions.
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pressure of the lubrication oil were stabilized. In the whole
experiment process, the coolant temperature remained almost
unchanged from 73.8  C to 74.8  C. The pressure of the lubri-
cation oil varied from 6.6 bar to 7.2 bar. The peak torque occurred
at 1600–1800 rpm and the rated power at 2200–2300 rpm.
Accordingly, 1800 rpm and 2200 rpm were chosen and the tor-
ques changed from 150 N m to 350 N m. Aer the test fuel was
changed, the engine worked for about 10 min to consume the
former blend in the fuel line and the rail pipe. In each condition,
the engine was operated for 3 min in steady motion. The in-
cylinder pressure curve data were average data over 100 contin-
uous cycles. NOx emissions were measured by MAHA MET6.X
with volume concentrations and PM emissions by SMPS-3936
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with number concentrations. SMPS-3936 displays the graphical 2.1. Data processing
results of particle number concentrations (NCs) and gives the
For diesel engines, a simplied model was adopted to calcu-
digital results of NCs and particle volume concentrations (VCs).
late the heat release rate (HRR) and the combustion
The range and accuracy are shown in Table 2.
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Fig. 4 In-cylinder pressure of test fuels at different operation conditions.

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temperature.28,29 The formulas for the calculations are given by
eqn (1) and (2), where the specic heat ratio is denoted as k and
set as invariable value of 1.35, the instantaneous cylinder
volume is indicated as V, the in-cylinder pressure is specied as
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p, and the intake air mass and the constant volume specic heat
are separately identied as m and cv, respectively. The heat
transfer, which is the energy loss of temperature transfer, is
neglected in this model.

Fig. 5 Instantaneous heat release rate of test fuels at different operation conditions.

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Fig. 6 In-cylinder temperature of test fuels at different operation conditions.

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dQ k dV 1 dp corresponding to the demarcation point of HRR from the

¼ p þ V (1)
d4 k
1 d4 k
1 d4 positive to negative. The ignition delay (ID) is specied as the
duration from SOI to SOC. The injection system of the test
 
dT 1 dQ dV engine adopts the double injection strategy with pilot plus main
¼
p (2)
d4 mcv d4 d4 injection. The SOIs at different engine loads are listed in
Table 5. At 0.42 MPa BMEP, pilot injections of D100 and blend
fuels begin at
19  CA ATDC. The main injections of
2.2. Fuel properties
D70G20P10 and D70G10P20 start at
11  CA ATDC and end at
The test diesel and gasoline are commercial 0# diesel and 95#
4.0  CA ATDC and
3.7  CA ATDC, respectively. Correspond-
gasoline. The purity of the test isopropanol is higher than 99%. ingly, the main injection durations are a little longer than that
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The major fuel properties are listed in Table 3. The lower
heating value (LHV) of isopropanol is only 30.4 MJ kg
1,
showing the lowest energy density. The addition of gasoline can
compensate the LHV loss of blend fuels. Viscosities of
D70G20P10 and D70G10P20 at 20  C are 2.17 mm2 s
1 and 2.58
mm2 s
1, respectively, which are much less than that of diesel.
Isopropanol and gasoline are helpful for improving the spray
atomization. The boiling temperature of isopropanol is 82  C
and 95% distillation temperature of gasoline is 166  C, indi-
cating that both the fuels have higher volatility than diesel.
Accordingly, the mixing quality and uniformity of the mixture
will be improved in blend fuels. CNs of D70G20P10 and
D70G10P20 are apparently lower compared to that of diesel,
exhibiting poor ignitability.
2.3. Operation conditions
Table 4 presents the engine operation conditions and the
original injection strategy when fueled with D100. The intake
pressure, intake temperature and injection pressure increase
with engine speed controlled at 1800 rpm and 2200 rpm.
3. Experimental results and
discussion
3.1. Combustion characteristics for NOx and PM emissions
The injection timing is indicated by the start of injection (SOI)
of direct injector, which is discerned by the timing corre-
sponding to where the peak drive current locates. Start of
combustion (SOC) is specied by the timing corresponding to
the demarcation point of the negative and the positive in HRR
and the end of combustion (EOC) is specied by the timing
of D100. At 0.98 MPa BMEP, the main injection duration of
D70G10P20 increases 0.7  CA compared to D100, this obvious
increment is owing to the lower heat value (LHV). According to
the output data of the ECU (electronic control unit), the original
injection strategy of the experimental engine does not change
when EGR is introduced. Fig. 2 gives the designations for SOI,
SOC and EOC. The IDs and the combustion durations of the test
fuels can be calculated, and are shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 4(a)–(h),
5(a)–(h) and 6(a)–(h) exhibit the in-cylinder pressure, HRR and
in-cylinder temperature of the test fuels at different engine
working conditions, respectively.
At 0.42 MPa BMEP and 1800 rpm, the IDs of D70G20P10 and
D70G10P20 are 9.4  CA and 10.2  CA, respectively, which are
prolonged by 1.1  CA and 1.9  CA, respectively, compared to
that of diesel. ID in compression ignition engine is affected by
a number of factors, such as CN, fuel physical characteristics
and mixing time of mixture.30 The CNs of isopropanol and
gasoline are 12 and 15, respectively, which are much less than
that of diesel. Therefore, the IDs of blends obviously lengthen
with the increase in the isopropanol proportion. Similar
observations were also reported by Zhang et al.31 for 2,5-dime-
thylfuran (DMF). At 0.84 MPa BMEP, the IDs of D70G20P10 and
D70G10P20 are 8.1  CA and 8.4  CA, respectively, which are
prolonged by 1.2  CA and 1.5  CA, respectively, compared to
that of diesel. At 0.98 MPa BMEP, the IDs are 7.5  CA and 7.6

CA, respectively, which are separately prolonged by 1.1  CA and
1.2  CA compared to those of diesel. Therefore as the engine
load increases, the IDs of the test fuels decrease because the in-
cylinder pressure and temperature improve and the effect of CN
on both ID and SOC wears off. It was also observed by Killol
et al.32 in biodiesel n-butanol blends.

Table 6 PHRRs and PCTs of test fuels at various loads

PHRR (J  CA
1) PCT (K)

Engine speeds and BMEP D100 D70G20P10 D70G10P20 D100 D70G20P10 D70G10P20

1800 rpm and 0.42 MPa 63.6 65.4 64.8 1690 1706 1717
1800 rpm and 0.56 MPa 73.5 78.6 78.7 1822 1871 1873
1800 rpm and 0.70 MPa 86.5 86.3 87.3 1963 1975 1987
1800 rpm and 0.84 MPa 92.0 93.4 91.3 2141 2148 2158
1800 rpm and 0.98 MPa 95.8 95.5 94.4 2241 2252 2259
2200 rpm and 0.42 MPa 62.4 63.5 64.5 1390 1396 1402
2200 rpm and 0.56 MPa 75.0 77.1 77.1 1504 1527 1536
2200 rpm and 0.70 MPa 83.9 83.1 84.5 1612 1619 1626
2200 rpm and 0.84 MPa 87.9 88.3 87.5 1693 1699 1702
2200 rpm and 0.98 MPa 90.3 89.9 89.2 1779 1785 1792

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Table 7 PHRRs and PCTs of test fuels at various EGR ratios

PHRR (J  CA
1) PCT (K)

BMEP (MPa) EGR (%) D100 D70G20P10 D70G10P20 D100 D70G20P10 D70G10P20

0.56 0 73.5 78.6 78.7 1822 1871 1873

10 73.4 78.4 78.1 1815 1870 1877
20 72.2 78.6 78.4 1807 1867 1872
30 71.6 77.9 77.8 1799 1861 1865
40 70.2 77.7 76.7 1802 1852 1856
0.98 0 95.8 95.5 94.4 2241 2252 2259
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10 96.1 95.8 95.2 2239 2248 2258

20 95.6 95.5 93.2 2236 2248 2255
30 95.7 94.6 94.2 2237 2245 2253
40 94.4 94.1 93.4 2231 2237 2246

As reported by Killol et al.,32 for n-butanol the number of OH
radicals increases with the consumption of n-butanol by the chain
branching reaction, which in turn accelerates the combustion
process in the diesel engine.33 The hydroxyl group in isopropanol
supplies more oxidative free radicals-OH radicals than do diesel
and gasoline, contributing to the high combustion rate and
combustion efficiency. Further, the distillation capacity of gaso-
line and the boiling capacity of isopropanol are superior to that of
diesel, indicating that D70G20P10 and D70G10P20 have better
volatility than diesel. Their high volatility enhances the air
entrainment in the fuel spray jet, and they produce a more
homogeneous air fuel mixture than does diesel. As a result, with
the addition of gasoline and isopropanol, the combustion dura-
tions shorten obviously and the durations of the blend fuels
decrease with isopropanol. A similar trend was seen in an
experimental study of diesel DMF blends.31
The peak HRR (PHRR, corresponding to the main
injection) and peak combustion temperature (PCT) of the

Fig. 8 Effects of EGR ratios on NOx emissions at 0.56 MPa and

Fig. 7 NOx emissions of test fuels with engine loads. 0.98 MPa BMEP.

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blends at different loads are listed in Table 6. The injection
system of the test engine employs the double injection
strategy with pilot plus main injection. Corresponding to the
pilot injection, the rst peak HRRs of the blends are lower
relative to that of diesel and decrease with isopropanol
content.
At this stage, the pilot injection produces the premixed
charge combustion. As reported by Hwang,34 the PHRRs and the
in-cylinder pressure reduced with increase in isopropanol for
the lower energy content. According to Buyukkaya,35 the longer
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ID was helpful to improve the cylinder pressure, while the PHRR
increased. Due to the prolonged ID, blend fuels have larger
amounts of premixed gases. At low and medium engine loads,
PHRRs of D70G20P10 and D70G10P20 are higher than that of
D100, whereas a little lower at high loads. Similar results are
reported by Qi et al.36 Additionally, the in-cylinder pressure and
PHRR also increased due to the low viscosity and high volatility
of isopropanol.37 The higher the PHRR the higher the PCT, and
PCT ties with HRR. At 0.42 MPa BMEP and 1800 rpm, the PCTs
of D70G20P10 and D70G10P20 are 16 K and 27 K higher relative
to the PCT of diesel, respectively. At 0.96 MPa BMEP and
1800 rpm, they are 7 K and 18 K higher than that of D100,
respectively. It is because the difference in the IDs between the
test fuels narrowed down with rise in engine load. In addition,
Fig. 9 PM number concentrations of test fuels at 1800 rpm and
2200 rpm.
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Huang et al.38 noted that the oxygen in the oxygenated blend
was benecial to improve the combustion completion.
The PHRR and PCT of the blends at various EGR ratios are
listed in Table 7. PHRR and PCT reduce with increase in EGR
rate for the different blends. At the same EGR rate, PHRR and
PCT increase with the increase in isopropanol content. As re-
ported, the higher the specic heat capacities of the recirculated
CO2 and H2O, the reduction of the oxygen concentration, the
endothermic dissociation of H2O and CO2, the effect of recir-
culated soot and the extended ID all make the PHRR and PCT
lower.39–42 It is also why ID prolongs with increase in iso-
propanol. Also, EGR can't change the inuence of blend fuels
on PHRR and PCT. It was also illustrated by Zhang et al.31 for
diesel DMF blends.
3.2. NOx and PM emissions with or without EGR
3.2.1. NOx emissions. Fig. 7(a) and (b) presents the NOx
emissions of the test fuels at 1800 rpm and 2200 rpm. Fig. 8(a)
and (b) exhibits the effect of EGR ratios on NOx emissions of
blend fuels at 0.56 MPa and 0.98 MPa BMEP and 1800 rpm. As
we know, the oxygen concentration, the temperature and the
residence time of high temperature are major determinants of
NOx emission, which was also mentioned by Varatharajan
Fig. 10 PM volume concentrations of test fuels at 1800 rpm and
2200 rpm.
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et al.43 Diesel NOx emission mainly refers to NO, with a little NO2
and others.44 The Zeldovich mechanism indicates that
combustion temperature over 1500  C promotes thermal NOx
formation by the reaction N2 + O 4 NO + N. It is the decisive
factor for NOx emission and is encouraged by high tempera-
ture.45 Compared with that of D100, the NOx emission concen-
trations of D70G20P10 and D70G10P20 increase a little.
Previous combustion studies have conrmed that the diffusion
combustion temperatures, especially the peak combustion
temperatures, of D70G20P10 and D70G10P20 are higher than
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those of D100, contributing to the higher NOx emissions. By the
same reason, the NOx emissions increase with increase in load.
By comparing the NOx emissions at two engine speeds it is clear
that the NOx emission decreases with increase in engine speeds
for lower PTC. It was also found by Buyukkaya.35 At 0.56 MPa
and 0.98 MPa BMEP, NOx emissions of all the test fuels decrease
obviously with EGR ratio, because the exhaust emission recir-
culation reduces the combustion temperature. Further, the NOx
emissions of D70G20P10 and D70G10P20 with 20% or higher
EGR ratios are lower than those of D100 without EGR. Similar
results are reported by Huang et al.46 In addition, the oxygen in
the air has an important and positive impact on NOx emissions.
With the increase in the isopropanol fraction in the blends, the
oxygen concentration becomes higher and more NOx emissions
Fig. 11 Effects of EGR on PM number concentrations at 0.56 MPa and
0.98 MPa BMEP.
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are produced. With the increase in EGR, the oxygen concen-
tration becomes lower and less NOx emissions are produced.
These can also be used to interpret the results in Fig. 7 and 8.
3.2.2. PM emissions. Fig. 9(a) and (b) and 10(a) and (b) give
the PM number concentrations (NCs) and volume concentra-
tions (VCs) of the test fuels at 1800 rpm and 2200 rpm. Fig. 11(a)
and (b) and 12(a) and (b) show the effect of EGR ratios on the
PM number and volume concentrations of the test fuels at
0.56 MPa and 0.98 MPa BMEP and 1800 rpm. It can be
concluded that both the NCs and VCs of the PM and UFPs are
obviously reduced with the addition of gasoline and iso-
propanol at each engine load and EGR ratio. The lower CN and
favorable volatility of gasoline and isopropanol can result in the
reduction of PM emission in good nebulization.47 Due to the
lower carbon and higher oxygen of isopropanol, the basic
carbon structures for PM formation were reduced,48 soot
precursors formation was inhibited,49 the diffusive combustion
was more complete,50 and soot was oxidized to CO2.45 Further,
the PM and UFP NCs and VCs of the D70G10P20 are lower than
those of D70G20P10, indicating that isopropanol has a better
effect in reducing PM and UFPs than gasoline. It is due to the
fact that isopropanol produces more active hydroxyl radicals,
the aromatic growth process and soot formation and nucleation
are limited.17–19 Similar results were reported by Tsai et al.51
Fig. 12Effects of EGR on PM volume concentrations at 0.56 MPa and
0.98 MPa BMEP.
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Sustainable Energy & Fuels Paper

Moreover, the oxygen in the air has an important and positive higher and the oxidation of PM is enhanced. The NCs and VCs
impact on PM emissions. With the increase in the isopropanol of diesel PM and UFPs increase with EGR ratio. At 0.56 MPa
fraction in the blends, the oxygen concentration becomes BMEP of medium loads the NCs of D70G20P10 and D70G10P20
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Fig. 13 Distribution of number concentration with diameter at different operation conditions.

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Paper Sustainable Energy & Fuels

PM and UFPs decrease with 10% EGR and then increase with combustion studies have conrmed that the combustion
EGR. At 0.98 MPa BMEP of high loads the NCs of D70G20P10 process at 0.56 MPa has the premixed combustion phase, but
and D70G10P20 PM and UFPs increase with EGR. Previous the combustion process at 0.92 MPa only has the diffusion
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Fig. 14 Distribution of volume concentration with diameter at different operation conditions.

This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2019 Sustainable Energy Fuels

Sustainable Energy & Fuels
combustion phase. The air engulfment in the fuel-enriched area
is high due to the favorable volatility of gasoline and iso-
propanol at lower EGR ratio,46 and more soot is oxidized. For
20% or higher EGR ratios and EGR at 0.92 MPa, lower
temperature promotes soot formation and inhibits soot oxida-
tion.49 The VCs of diesel and blend fuel PM emissions increase
with the rise in EGR ratio and those of UFPs only slightly
increase. Besides, with the increase in EGR, the oxygen
concentration becomes lower and the oxidation of PM is
weakened.
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Fig. 13(a)–(h) and 14(a)–(h) exhibit the number and volume
concentration distributions of blends at different operation
conditions. At 0.42 MPa BMEP, the peak NC of D70G20P10 is
the highest among the test fuels, but VC is barely higher in the
range of 20–60 nm UFPs. In explanation, Huang et al. note that
since the in-cylinder temperatures during the combustion of
gasoline or n-butanol blends are higher than that for D100, the
number concentrations of nucleation (particle size < 50 nm)
have higher peak values.46 In addition, although the higher
volatility of gasoline contributes to reduce the particulate
pollution by improving the atomization and mixing of fuel, the
lower combustion efficiency and uncompleted combustion of
D70G20P10 brings about high NMPs in the exhaust gas at low
loads.52 Both NCs and VCs of blends signicantly reduce with
increase in isopropanol concentration, due to the inuence of
molecular oxygen. As shown, both NCs and VCs of blends
decline with load, mainly because the thermal efficiency of the
engine increases with engine loads. It can be also found that
both NCs and VCs of blends decline with engine speed, mainly
because the mixing efficiency of air and fuel increases with
engine speeds.
4. Conclusions
Isopropanol is a potential fuel for diesel engine by virtue of its
intersolubility with diesel and high oxygen content among the
C3 and longer alcohols. High volatility fuel in diesel may
strengthen the air entrainment and improve the homogeneity
of the air–fuel mixture gas. With the addition of gasoline, the
isopropanol diesel blend can form a homogeneous mixture. For
high NOx emission, EGR is used to compensate the potential
increase in the NOx emission for diesel/gasoline/isopropanol
blend fuels.
1. Compared with diesel, diesel/gasoline/isopropanol blends
extend IDs, shorten combustion durations and improved
thermal efficiency. A faint abatement of premixed combustion
continues with the increased load. The ID plays a remarkable
role in the PHRRs of blends. PHRRs increase notably in 3 blend
fuels with the increase in the isopropanol proportion. Iso-
propanol improves diffusion combustion and rates up the
combustion process. In consequence, the PCTs increase with
isopropanol. EGR reduce the PHRRs and PCTs of different
blends through dilution effect and temperature effect, and has
no effect on PHRRs and PCTs of blends.
2. Diesel/gasoline/isopropanol blend fuels have a triing
impact on NOx emissions. They are strongly affected by PCTs;
the NOx emissions go hand in hand with the engine loads, and
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Paper
are also affected by engine speed. The NOx emissions of all the
blends decrease obviously with EGR ratio, because the exhaust
emission recirculation reduces the combustion temperature.
Further, the NOx emissions of D70G20P10 and D70G10P20 with
20% or higher EGR ratios are lower than those of D100 without
EGR.
3. Diesel/gasoline/isopropanol blends lower the UFP pollu-
tions at each engine load and EGR ratio. With the maximum
isopropanol proportion, D70G10P20 has the minimum UFP
pollutions. Both NCs and VCs of blends decline with engine
load and engine speed, mainly because the thermal efficiency of
the engine increases with engine loads, and the engine speed
has a negative effect on the NCs and VCs of gasoline and
isopropanol.
4. Compared to 0% EGR, increase in the EGR ratio results in
an obvious decrease in NOx and a slight increase in NCs and
VCs for all the fuels. As the load increases, the effect of NOx
decreases as EGR is enhanced, and the effect of NCs and VCs
increase is diminished. NOx and UFP emissions can be reduced
at the same time by isopropanol and EGR. Compared to D100
and D70G20P10, D70G10P20 is a potential fuel for diesel engine
at proper EGR ratio.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conicts to declare.
Acknowledgements
This work is supported by the Key Research and Development
Program of Shaanxi Province (2019ZDLGY15-07), the National
Natural Science Foundation of China (51806020), the Youth
Innovation Team of Shaanxi Universities (Energy Saving and
New Energy Vehicles), and the Opening Foundation of State Key
Laboratory of Engines, Tianjin University (K2018-06).
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