Butanol as an alternative fuel for Diesel engines

Supervisor

Co-supervisor

Project start

Project end

Programme

Partners

Budget

Tankai Zhang 2014-10-08

: Ingemar Denbratt

: Karin Munch

: 2013-09-01

: 2016-09-01

: FFI

: Chalmers, Perstorp AB, Scania CV,

Statoil, Volvo GTT and Volvo Car

: 3.725 MSEK

Background

2

Problems with using fossil fuels• Greenhouse warming

• Non-renewable

Policy issues• 25% biofuel in the European transportation fuel

consumption shall be achieved by 2030

Butanol has excellent fuel properties• Sustainable production

• Oxygen content

• Acceptable heating value

• Good miscibility in Diesel

Fuel Mixtures

3

Component of mixture A B C D E F

Diesel X X X X X X

n-Butanol X   X   X  

Iso-Butanol   X   X   X

HVO     X X    

Ignition improver         X X

Existing enginesFuture engines(Partially premixed combustion)

All the mixtures are tested in both heavy duty engine and light duty engine.

(Conventional combustion)

Goals Conventional combustion

•More than 80% reduction of particles at constant NOx levels for conventional combustion systems

•Clarification of how ignition improver influences the formation of emissions.

Partially premixed combustion (PPC)

•Show how PPC can be achieved with Butanol mixtures

•Achieve gross indicated efficiency of 53% at loads higher than 10 bar BMEP in combination with emissions below Euro 6 levels without after treatment.

4

Test bed with heavy duty engine

Engine typeSingle cylinder

from Volvo D12C

Bore 131 mm

Stroke 150 mm

Valves 4

Connecting rod length

260 mm

Compression ratio

17:1

Fuel injection system

Common rail

Nozzle 5 holes

5

• Operating conditions: A25, B50, C75 and B75• Different mixtures are tested under same engine settings at each operating

condition.

Fuel tests results from Statoil 

n-Butanol (vol%)

Diesel (vol%)

HVO (vol%)

Ignition improver (mg/kg)

Density (kg/l)

CN

Test standard  - - - - D-4052 D-613

Component No.1 100  -  -  - 0,8136 < 20

Component No.2  - 100 - - 0,8370 52,0

Component No.3  -  - 100 - 0,7799 75,1

… … …  …  … … …

Blend No.6 10 70 20 - 0,8223 50,6

Blend No.7 20 40 40 - 0,8082 50,3

Blend No.8 10 90 - 600 0,8338 51,3

Blend No.9 20 80 - 12000 0,8311 ~50

… … …  …  … … …

6

Diesel

n-Bu10H

n-Bu20H

n-Bu10I

n-Bu20I

Cetane number are tested in Cooperative Fuel Research Engine.

Cylinder pressure

7

• Different mixtures have similar and stable cylinder pressure trends.

-30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 600

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

Crank Angle (CAD ATDC)

Cyl

inde

r P

ress

rue

(bar

)

Pressure in Cylinder

Diesel A25Diesel B50

n-Bu10H A25

n-Bu10H B50

n-Bu20H A25n-Bu20H B50

-30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 600

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

Crank Angle (CAD ATDC)

Cyl

inde

r P

ress

rue

(bar

)

Pressure in Cylinder

Diesel C75Diesel B50

n-Bu10H C75

n-Bu10H B50

n-Bu20H C75n-Bu20H B50

-10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

Crank Angle (CAD ATDC)

Rat

e of

Hea

t R

elea

se (

J/C

AD

)

Rate of Heat Release

Diesel C75Diesel B75

n-Bu10H C75

n-Bu10H B75

n-Bu20H C75n-Bu20H B75

A25

B75

C75

B50

Brake thermal efficiency

8

Similar levels of brake thermal efficiency for various mixturesA25 B50 C75 B75

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

Operating condition

BS

FC

(g/

kWh)

With HVO

Diesel

n-Bu10Hn-Bu20H

A25 B50 C75 B750

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

Operating condition

Bra

ke T

herm

al E

ffic

ienc

y

With HVO

Diesel

n-Bu10Hn-Bu20H

A25 B50 C75 B750

0.02

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.1

0.12

Operating condition

Bra

ke s

peci

fic e

mis

sion

s (g

/kW

h)

With HVO

Diesel

n-Bu10Hn-Bu20H

A25 B50 C75 B750

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

Operating condition

Bra

ke s

peci

fic e

mis

sion

s (g

/kW

h)

With HVO

Diesel

n-Bu10Hn-Bu20H

A25 B50 C75 B750

50

100

150

200

250

300

Operating condition

BS

FC

(g/

kWh)

Brake specific fuel consumption

Diesel

n-Bu10In-Bu20I

Oc30I

A25 B50 C75 B750

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

Operating condition

Bra

ke T

herm

al E

ffic

ienc

y

With ignition improver

Diesel

n-Bu10In-Bu20I

Oc30I

A25 B50 C75 B750

0.02

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.1

0.12

Operating condition

Bra

ke s

peci

fic e

mis

sion

s (g

/kW

h)

With ignition improver

Diesel

n-Bu10In-Bu20I

Oc30I

A25 B50 C75 B750

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

Operating condition

Bra

ke s

peci

fic e

mis

sion

s (g

/kW

h)

With ignition improver

Diesel

n-Bu10In-Bu20I

Oc30I

Normalized brake specific particulate matter emission

9

PM emission decrease sharply when using more Butanol

•Oxygen content

•Lower C/H ratio

•No Aromatics in HVO

A25 B50 C75 B750

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

Operating condition

Nor

mal

ized

bra

ke s

peci

fic e

mis

sion

s (%

)

With ignition improver

Diesel

n-Bu10Hn-Bu20H

A25 B50 C75 B750

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

Operating condition

Nor

mal

ized

bra

ke s

peci

fic e

mis

sion

s (%

)

With ignition improver

Diesel

n-Bu10In-Bu20I

Oc30I

A25 B50 C75 B750

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

Operating condition

Nor

mal

ized

bra

ke s

peci

fic e

mis

sion

s (%

)

With ignition improver

Diesel

n-Bu10Hn-Bu20H

A25 B50 C75 B750

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

Operating condition

Nor

mal

ized

bra

ke s

peci

fic e

mis

sion

s (%

)

With ignition improver

Diesel

n-Bu10In-Bu20I

Oc30I

A25 B50 C75 B750

50

100

150

200

250

300

Operating condition

BS

FC

(g/

kWh)

With HVO

Diesel

n-Bu10Hn-Bu20H

A25 B50 C75 B750

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

Operating condition

Bre

ak T

herm

al E

ffic

ienc

y

With HVO

Diesel

n-Bu10Hn-Bu20H

A25 B50 C75 B750

0.02

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.1

0.12

Operating condition

Bra

ke s

peci

fic e

mis

sion

s (g

/kW

h)

With HVO

Diesel

n-Bu10Hn-Bu20H

A25 B50 C75 B750

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

Operating condition

Bra

ke s

peci

fic e

mis

sion

s (g

/kW

h)

With HVO

Diesel

n-Bu10Hn-Bu20H

A25 B50 C75 B750

50

100

150

200

250

300

Operating condition

BS

FC

(g/

kWh)

With HVO

Diesel

n-Bu10Hn-Bu20H

A25 B50 C75 B750

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

Operating condition

Bre

ak T

herm

al E

ffic

ienc

y

With HVO

Diesel

n-Bu10Hn-Bu20H

A25 B50 C75 B750

0.02

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.1

0.12

Operating condition

Bra

ke s

peci

fic e

mis

sion

s (g

/kW

h)

With HVO

Diesel

n-Bu10Hn-Bu20H

A25 B50 C75 B750

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

Operating condition

Bra

ke s

peci

fic e

mis

sion

s (g

/kW

h)

With HVO

Diesel

n-Bu10Hn-Bu20HA25 B50 C75 B75

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

Operating condition

BS

FC

(g/

kWh)

Brake specific fuel consumption

Diesel

n-Bu10In-Bu20I

Oc30I

A25 B50 C75 B750

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

Operating condition

Bre

ak T

herm

al E

ffic

ienc

y

With ignition improver

Diesel

n-Bu10In-Bu20I

Oc30I

A25 B50 C75 B750

0.02

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.1

0.12

Operating condition

Bra

ke s

peci

fic e

mis

sion

s (g

/kW

h)

With ignition improver

Diesel

n-Bu10In-Bu20I

Oc30I

A25 B50 C75 B750

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

Operating condition

Bra

ke s

peci

fic e

mis

sion

s (g

/kW

h)

With ignition improver

Diesel

n-Bu10In-Bu20I

Oc30I

Brake specific NOx emission

10

Euro5: 2,0 g/kWh

Euro5: 2,0 g/kWh

NOx increase slightly when using more Butanol

•Oxygen content may lead to higher local temperature

Summary

• It is possible to adjust the CN of Butanol-Diesel blends with HVO or ignition improver.

• With the same CN, Butanol/Diesel blends show similar combustion processes compared to pure Diesel.

• Particulate matter emission of Butanol / Octanol mixture are greatly reduced compared to pure Diesel and NOx can be kept at about the same level.

• Ignition improver seems to increase the NOx emission.

• Tests with using 20% n-Butanol, 40% HVO in the Diesel blend show that even production engines can use 60% renewable fuel.

11