Applied Energy xxx (2012) xxxxxx

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Applied Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apenergy

Impact of biodiesel in bioethanol blended diesel on the engine performance

and emissions characteristics in compression ignition engine
Su Han Park, Junepyo Cha, Chang Sik Lee
School of Mechanical Engineering, Hanyang University, 17 Haengdang-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul 133-791, Republic of Korea

h i g h l i g h t s

" Combustion and emission characteristics of bioethanoldiesel fuel were studied.

" Especially, impact of biodiesel fuel was investigated.
" Increasing biodiesel caused the decrease of IMEP and advance of ignition delay.
" Increasing biodiesel induced the signicant reduction of HC emission.
" In early injection timings, biodiesel blending caused the decrease of CO and soot.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In engine combustion studies of bioethanol blended diesel fuels, biodiesel is a very important blending
Received 4 March 2012 fuel for preventing phase separation between diesel and bioethanol. The purpose of this study is to inves-
Received in revised form 15 May 2012 tigate the impact of biodiesel in bioethanol blended diesel fuel on ignition delay, premixed combustion
Accepted 27 May 2012
phasing, engine performance and exhaust emissions characteristics. In this work, the fuel properties of
Available online xxxx
dieselbioethanol blends were measured and engine tests were conducted using a single cylinder diesel
engine.
Keywords:
Based on the experimental results, we found that increasing the biodiesel blending ratio recovered the
Bioethanoldiesel blended fuel
Biodiesel impact
reduced fuel density and cetane number of bioethanol blended diesel fuel, while the kinematic viscosity
Premixed combustion phasing and surface tension both increased. In addition, the lower heating value (LHV) slightly decreased when
Hydrocarbon emission biodiesel fuel was added. By increasing the blending ratio of biodiesel fuel, the ignition delay and the pre-
Combustion performance mixed combustion phasing advanced, and the IMEP decreased. However, the premixed combustion dura-
tion in all tested blended fuels showed almost similar values, regardless of the biodiesel contents.
Biodiesel blending decreased the EI-HC emission in wide engine operating regions. In addition, for the
premixed combustion phasing and ignition delay, the increase of biodiesel fuel inuenced the decrease
of EI-HC emission. In the case of EI-CO and EI-soot emissions at advanced injection timings (around
30 BTDC), when the combustion occurred in the squish area of the combustion chamber, the biodiesel
blending impact was clear. The increase of biodiesel fuel reduced EI-CO and EI-soot emissions. In addi-
tion, the increase of biodiesel fuel slightly reduced the EI-NOx emission.
2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Increasing awareness in the energy and in the emissions of
greenhouse gases has prompted both the energy consumers and
vehicle manufacturers to consider alternative fuels and highly
efcient energy conversion devices. In addition, concerns about
compression ignition diesel engine systems are rising due to the
need to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) and fuel consumption. Diesel
Corresponding author. Tel.: +82 2 2220 0427; fax: +82 2 2281 5286.
E-mail address: cslee@hanyang.ac.kr (C.S. Lee).
engines have better thermal efciency and higher engine torque
than gasoline engines. However, their large emissions of nitrogen
oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) is a serious obstacle for
the wide use of diesel engines in automobiles. Therefore, many
engine researchers and manufacturers have worked to develop
the optimal methods for reducing harmful emissions from diesel
engines. In the past two decades, various methods to reduce
exhaust emissions have been developed, including the low temper-
ature combustion (LTC) [1,2], the premixed compression ignition
[3,4], multiple-injection strategies [5,6], and the use of alternative
fuels (dimethyl ether, biodiesel, gas-to-liquid (GTL), hydrogen, and
bioethanol) [712].

0306-2619/$ - see front matter 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2012.05.050

Please cite this article in press as: Park SH et al. Impact of biodiesel in bioethanol blended diesel on the engine performance and emissions characteristics
in compression ignition engine. Appl Energy (2012), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2012.05.050
2 S.H. Park et al. / Applied Energy xxx (2012) xxxxxx
Nomenclature
Pinj injection pressure (MPa)
mfuel injection quantity (mg)
SOE start of energizing (degree of crank angle)
D100 pure diesel fuel
BD05 blended fuel of 5% biodiesel + 20% bioethanol + 75% die-
sel
BD10 blended fuel of 10% biodiesel + 20% bioethanol + 70%
diesel
BD20 blended fuel of 20% biodiesel + 20% bioethanol + 60%
diesel
Using biofuel in diesel engines is an attractive method for
reducing emissions. This article deals with the use of diesel
bioethanol blended fuels in a compression ignition diesel engine.
It is already known that the hydroxyl group of alcohol molecules
signicantly contributes to reduction of soot emission among func-
tional groups with the same oxygen content [1315].
Some researchers have already studied spray atomization, en-
gine performance, and emissions characteristics in dieselbioetha-
nol blended fueled engine. Lu et al. [16] and Yan et al. [17] reported
that the use of bioethanol in diesel engine caused the increase of
ignition delay and the reduction of NOx emission in a single cylin-
der diesel engine. Xu et al. [18] and Sahin and Durgun [19] revealed
that the increase of bioethanol content in test fuel caused an in-
crease in brake thermal efciency. Mohammadi et al. [20] reported
that blending bioethanol with diesel fuel effectively reduces NOx
and PM emissions, while HC and CO emissions slightly increased.
Hashimoto [21] analyzed the cause of ignition retardation in die-
selbioethanol blended fuel combustion by using CHEMKIN 4.
Investigations on the spray and atomization characteristics of die-
selbioethanol blended fuels have mainly been conducted by Park
et al. [2225]; these studies concluded that bioethanol in blended
fuel caused a slightly short spray tip penetration and a wide spray
cone angle. In addition, they showed that the atomization perfor-
mance of diesel fuel can be improved through blending bioethanol
fuel.
The most convenient method of using dieselbioethanol
blended fuels is to directly blend diesel and bioethanol fuels. How-
ever, if even a slight amount of water is blended, phase separation
results, due to hydrogen bonds between the hydroxyl of bioethanol
and water molecules. The main factors affecting the phase separa-
tion of dieselbioethanol blended fuels are the water content, the
temperature, and the bioethanol blending ratio in the blended fuel
[26]. Another problem is the low cetane number of the blended
fuel, which decreases rapidly as the bioethanol blending ratio in-
creases. Therefore, in order to solve these problems of phase sepa-
ration and the reduction of the cetane number, various additives
are used. A recent study of solubility and properties of blending
fuels reported that biodiesel fuel is a good additive to prevent
phase separation [27]. In addition, the use of biodiesel fuel results
in an increase in the low cetane number.
However, research about dieselbioethanol blended fuel has
not investigated the effect of biodiesel fuel in blended fuel on the
fuel spray, engine combustion and exhaust emissions characteris-
tics. In order to study the effects of bioethanol fuel, biodiesel fuel
for preventing the phase separation should be thoroughly analyzed
and discussed for its effect on combustion and emissions charac-
teristics. Therefore, in this study, the impact of biodiesel fuel on
the engine performance and exhaust emissions characteristics
was experimentally investigated in a single cylinder diesel engine.
The combustion pressure curves and the indicated mean effective
pressure (IMEP) was measured and analyzed. The exhaust emis-
Please cite this article in press as: Park SH et al. Impact of biodiesel in bioethanol blended diesel on the engine performance and emissions characteristics
in compression ignition engine. Appl Energy (2012), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2012.05.050
ATDC after top dead center
BTDC before top dead center
ISFC indicated specic fuel consumption (g/kW h)
IMEP indicated mean effective pressure (MPa)
EI emission index
HC hydrocarbon
CO carbon monoxide
NOx nitrogen oxides
CA10 crank angle at 10% of the cumulative heat release
CA50 crank angle at 50% of the cumulative heat release
sions, such as NOx, soot, HC, and CO, for injection timings, the pre-
mixed combustion phasing, and ignition delay were measured and
are discussed.
2. Experimental setup and procedure
2.1. Test engine and emission analyzer
Fig. 1 shows the schematic diagram of bioethanol blended die-
sel fueled engine and test setup. The single cylinder diesel engine
used in this work was modied from a 1.5 L four-cylinder diesel
engine (Hyundai motor company, U-engine). The at-type cylinder
head was equipped with double overhead camshafts (DOHC) pro-
viding for two exhaust ports and two intake ports. The swirl ratio
was xed to 1.9. The bore and stroke sizes of this test single cylin-
der engine are 75 mm and 84.5 mm, respectively, and its compres-
sion ratio is 17.8. In addition, the test engine has a re-entrant type
piston bowl. The engine operating conditions were controlled
using a direct current (DC) dynamometer with a maximum braking
power of 55 kW at 3500 rpm. The detailed engine specication is
listed in Table 1.
The exhaust gas emissions from a single cylinder diesel engine
were measured and analyzed using an HC, CO, and NOx analyzer
(Horiba, MEXA-554JKNOx), and a soot analyzer (AVL, 415-S). The
CO and HC emissions were measured with non-dispersive infrared
rays, and the NOx emissions were measured by means of a chemi-
luminescence detector (CLD). The soot analyzer is a lter-type
smoke meter for measuring the soot content. The measured values
are displayed as lter smoke number (FSN). The detailed specica-
tions for emission analyzer are listed in Table 1.
2.2. Data acquisition
The combustion pressure in the cylinder was measured with a
piezo-electric pressure transducer (6052A80, Kistler) coupled to a
charge amplier (5011B, Kistler). The combustion pressure data
were acquired from a DAQ board (PCI-MIO-16E-1, National Instru-
ment) with a sampling interval of 0.1 crank angle (CA) to ensure
the accurate ignition timing and phasing of heat release during
300 cycles. The obtained in-cylinder combustion pressure data
for the crank angle were averaged in order to remove the effect
of cycle-to-cycle variations using the detailed position of crank
and cam, an optical cam position sensor (BF4RE, Autonics) and a
rotary type of encoder (HYRE-A-1800, Hanyoung) with a resolution
of 1800 pulse per 360 are installed at cam and crank shafts. Each
signal was synchronized to the TDC signal. An injector driver
(TEMS, TDA-3300H) synchronized with a crank angle sensor was
used to control the injection timing and injection mass. On the
other hand, the emission data were measured and averaged with
the acquisition of the combustion data for the security of data
 S.H. Park et al. / Applied Energy xxx (2012) xxxxxx 3

Fig. 1. Single cylinder test engine and piston shape geometry along with a schematic diagram of the engine setup. (a) Schematic diagram of test setup. (b) Piston shape
geometry (re-entrant type).

Table 1 Table 2
Specications of the four-cylinder diesel engine and exhaust emission analyzer. Fuel properties of each pure fuel.

Item Specication Diesel Biodiesel Bioethanol

Single cylinder diesel engine Formula C12H26 C19H34O2 C2H5OH
Engine type Direct injection diesel engine C14H30
Number of cylinder 1 Molecular weight 170198 294 46.07
Bore  stroke 75.0 mm  84.5 mm Density (kg/m3 @ 15 C) 824.8 883 795
2
Displacement volume 373.3 cc Kinematic viscosity (mm /s @ 15 C) 4.54 7.16 1.65
Fuel injection system Bosch common rail Surface tension (mN/m @ 15 C) 26.9 31.1 21.7
Valve type DOHC 4 valves Flash point (C) 52 100170 13
Compression ratio 17.8 Auto-ignition temperature (C) 300340 425
Injector Number of hole 6 Lower heating value (MJ/kg) 43 3638 27
Hole diameter 0.128 mm Cetane number >50 4865 <15
Spray angle 156 Vapor pressure (kPa @ 38 C) 0.34 17
Stoichiometric air/fuel ratio 14.7 13.8 8.96
Exhaust emission analyzer
Latent heat of vaporization (kJ/kg) 370 330 921.1
Model MEXA-554JK for NOx, CO, HC/AVL 415S for soot
Oxygen contents (%) 11 34.8
Range HC: 010,000 ppm vol.
CO: 010% vol. Distillation (C)
NOx: 04000 ppm IBP 77.025 313.7
Soot: 010 FSN (032,000 mg/m3) 10 mass% 138.825 332.725
Repeatability HC: 12 ppm vol. 50 mass% 265.325 346.925
CO: 0.06% vol. 90 mass% 350.225 351.075
NOx: Less than 1.0% FBP 516.85 514.5
Soot: 0.005FSN 3%
Response HC and CO: 90% response within 10 s
NOx: within 30 s
Soot: 0.001FSN/0.01 mg/m3
2.3. Test fuels and operating conditions

In this study, three blended fuels and conventional diesel fuel

accuracy. As listed in Table 1, the emission analyzer has the mea- were. In order to clarify the effect of the biodiesel fuel, the bioeth-
surement error within 0.5%. anol fuel ratio in blends was xed to 20% as a volumetric ratio.

Please cite this article in press as: Park SH et al. Impact of biodiesel in bioethanol blended diesel on the engine performance and emissions characteristics
in compression ignition engine. Appl Energy (2012), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2012.05.050
4 S.H. Park et al. / Applied Energy xxx (2012) xxxxxx

Table 3
Experimental conditions.
Engine speed 1200 rpm
Injection pressure 120 MPa
Injection quantity 10 mg
Injection timing 30 BTDCTDC
Intake air ow-rate 10.7 kg/h
Global equivalence ratio 0.4520.458
Fuel temperature 15 C (+/ 1 C)
The blending ratios of biodiesel fuel are 5%, 10%, and 20% as volu-
metric ratio. The diesel contents decreased as the biodiesel blend-
ing ratio increased. Biodiesel fuel used in this study was derived
from soybean oil. The detailed fuel properties of each fuel, such as
diesel, biodiesel, and bioethanol were listed in Table 2. The test en-
gine was operated at an engine speed of 1200 rpm, and the injection
pressure of 120 MPa. The injected fuel mass was xed at 10 mg for
representing the middle engine load condition. The intake air ow-
rate was about 10.73 kg/h, and exhaust gas recirculation was not
applied to this test. The test conditions are listed in Table 3.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Fuel properties characteristics
Fig. 2 shows the basic fuel properties of dieselbioethanol
blended fuels as the amount of biodiesel fuel is increased. The
properties test was conducted at a fuel temperature of 15 C. The
blending of bioethanol generally reduced the fuel density, kine-
matic viscosity, surface tension, heating value, and cetane number
[22,28,29]. As shown in Fig. 2, the biodiesel blending inuenced the
fuel properties as follows. As the biodiesel fuel content increased,
the fuel density, kinematic viscosity, surface tension, and cetane
number were increased, while the lower heating value was de-
creased. The fuel density, which decreased due to the bioethanol
blending, was increased with as the biodiesel fuel increased.
Hence, the spray momentum will be recovered by the increase of
fuel density. In particular, a 20% biodiesel blend is denser than con-
ventional diesel fuel. The kinematic viscosity also signicantly in-
creased when biodiesel fuel was added. As shown in Fig. 2, the
kinematic viscosity increased with the increase of biodiesel con-
tent due to the long chain length of biodiesel fuel. The kinematic
viscosity mainly increases with the chain length of the fatty acid
in a fatty ester, and biodiesel fuel consists of fatty ester and fatty
acid [30]. The surface tension of blended fuels also linearly in-
creased with the biodiesel content. The lower heating value de-
creased as more biodiesel was added. The reason for reduction of
surface tension is as follows. In this test, the test fuels have a xed
bioethanol blending ratio. This means that the increase of biodiesel
induced a decrease in the diesel blending ratio. Therefore, the in-
crease of biodiesel fuel with a relatively low heating value caused
a decrease in the total heating value in blends. From the cetane
number result, the increase in the biodiesel ratio caused the in-
crease of dieselbioethanol blended fuel with biodiesel because
the biodiesel fuel has a higher cetane number than either bioetha-
nol or diesel fuel. Generally, the cetane number of the biodiesel
fuel was related to the kinds of feedstock used for its production.
In addition, the long fatty acid carbon chains and more saturated
molecules results in a high cetane number [31,32].
3.2. Engine combustion performance and characteristics
Fig. 3 shows the combustion pressure histories and detailed
progress of combustion performance for dieselbioethanol
blended fuels with varying amounts of biodiesel content. In the ta-
ble, CA10 and CA50 mean the crank angle when 10% and 50% of the
cumulative heat release has occurred, respectively. Also, CA10 and
CA50 were, for the test operating conditions, assumed to be repre-
sentative of the start of ignition and of the premixed combustion
phasing, respectively. Therefore, the duration between CA10 and
CA50 indicates the duration of the premixed combustion. In addi-
tion, the ignition delay was obtained from the duration between
the SOE and CA10. By comparing D100 and BD05, it can be ob-
served that the bioethanol blending in diesel fuel caused the exten-
sion of ignition delay due to the reduction in cetane number
[16,17,24]. In addition, the extension of the ignition delay is due
to the consumption reaction of the hydroxyl radical (OH), which
restrains the heat release [21]. In comparison among B05, B10,
and B20, the ignition delay became shorter as the amount of bio-
diesel fuel increased, as about 1.0 of crank angle. This means that
the start of ignition advanced due to an increase in the biodiesel
blended ratio. In the premixed period, the injected spray developed
without a ame. During the above-mentioned ignition delay and
premixed period, the injected spray in all test fuels developed suf-
ciently to the piston surface, considering the geometry of the
combustion chamber, in-cylinder temperature, and pressure. In
the case of 5 BTDC and 15 BTDC, the spray had been progressed
to the piston bowl, and in the case of 30 BTDC, the spray was lo-
cated at the squish and crevice regions in this test engine [33,34].
In addition, due to the active evaporation of bioethanol and the
wide spray cone angle, bioethanol blended fuels with 5%, 10%,
20% biodiesel fuel have a relatively wide spray shape in the com-
bustion chamber (refer to Fig. A1 in the Appendix). This affects
the higher peak combustion pressure in blended fuels compared
to conventional diesel fuel. On the other hand, the increase of bio-
diesel fuel caused a slight advance in the premixed combustion

24.5 832
Surface tension

Fuel density

24.0 828
(mN/m)

3
kg/m

23.5 824

23.0 820

22.5 816
Cetane number (-)

34.5 3.65 55
Lower heating

Viscosity
value (MJ/kg)

Cetane number
34.0 3.60
Viscosity

50
mm /s
2

33.5 3.55 45
33.0
3.50
40
32.5
BD05 BD10 BD20 BD05 BD10 BD20

Fig. 2. Basic fuel properties results for the increase of biodiesel fuel in dieselbioethanol blended fuels. The fuel temperature used in this test was xed to 15 C (1 C).

Please cite this article in press as: Park SH et al. Impact of biodiesel in bioethanol blended diesel on the engine performance and emissions characteristics
in compression ignition engine. Appl Energy (2012), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2012.05.050
 S.H. Park et al. / Applied Energy xxx (2012) xxxxxx 5

12 12
o o
Combustion pressure (MPa) Pinj=120MPa, mfuel=10mg, SOE=5 BTDC Pinj=120MPa, mfuel=10mg, SOE=30 BTDC

Combustion pressure (MPa)

D100 B05 D100 B05
B10 B20 B10 B20
9 9

6 6

3 3

0 0
-30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30
Crank angle (deg. ATDC) Crank angle (deg. ATDC)

(a) SOE=5o BTDC (b) SOE=15o BTDC

12
o
Pinj=120MPa, mfuel=10mg, SOE=15 BTDC
D100 B05
Combustion pressure (MPa)

B10 B20

0
-30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30
Crank angle (deg. ATDC)

(c) SOE=30o BTDC

Fig. 3. Effect of biodiesel fuel on the combustion pressure curves characteristics (Pinj = 120 MPa, mfuel = 10 mg).

phasing (CA50), and it has little inuence on the premixed com- decrease of the IMEP. It can be explained by following reasons: the
bustion duration (CA50-CA10). This combustion phenomenon can advance of ignition timing and the premixed combustion phasing,
be explained with the following steps. The relatively short ignition the increase of negative work before the top dead center (TDC), the
delay due to the increase of biodiesel fuel makes the premixed reduction of LHV, and the low combustion pressure in the expan-
duration decrease. But, the increased biodiesel fuel contents re- sion stroke.
sulted in the increase of the oxygen content and the cetane num- The rate of heat release (ROHR) characteristics for test fuels is
ber; consequently, it made a better mixture formation. Therefore, illustrated in Fig. 4. Heat release was calculated from the combus-
the premixed combustion duration showed almost similar values, tion pressure curve using the thermodynamics law. As shown in
regardless of the biodiesel contents. On the other hand, when the Fig. 4, the occurrence of heat release slightly advanced based on
injection timing advanced, the ignition delay in all test fuels signif- the increase of biodiesel fuel. The peak ROHR in blended fuels
icantly increased, while the premixed combustion duration slightly did not show a clear trend according to the addition of biodiesel
increased. In addition, the increase of biodiesel content caused the fuel, but it was either similar to or higher than that of diesel fuel.

Please cite this article in press as: Park SH et al. Impact of biodiesel in bioethanol blended diesel on the engine performance and emissions characteristics
in compression ignition engine. Appl Energy (2012), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2012.05.050
6 S.H. Park et al. / Applied Energy xxx (2012) xxxxxx

150 500
Rate of heat release (J/degree)

o
Pinj=120MPa, mfuel=10mg, SOE=5 BTDC Pinj = 120MPa, m fuel= 10mg
D100 B05
B10 B20 B05
B10
100 B20

ISFC (g/kWh)
400

50
300

-10 0 10 20 200
Crank angle (deg. ATDC) -30 -25 -20 -15 -10 -5
o Start of injection (deg. ATDC)
(a) SOE=5 BTDC
(a) ISFC
150
Rate of heat release (J/degree)

o
Pinj=120MPa, mfuel=10mg, SOE=15 BTDC 0.45
D100 B05 Pinj = 120MPa, m fuel= 10mg
B10 B20
B05
0.40 B10
100
B20

IMEP (MPa)
0.35

50
0.30

0 0.25

-20 -10 0 10
0.20
Crank angle (deg. ATDC) -30 -25 -20 -15 -10 -5
(b) SOE=15o BTDC Start of injection (deg. ATDC)
(b) IMEP
150
Rate of heat release (J/degree)

o
Pinj=120MPa, mfuel=10mg, SOE=30 BTDC
Fig. 5. Combustion performance indicator characteristics for biodiesel fuel in wide
D100 B05
B10 B20 injection timing ranges (Pinj = 120 MPa, mfuel = 10 mg).

100
50
0
-30 -20 -10
Crank angle (deg. ATDC)
(c) SOE=30 o BTDC
Fig. 4. Characteristics for the rate of heat release.
This is due to the extended ignition delay and the increase of pre-
mixed mixture.
The combustion performance characteristics, such as the indi-
cated specic fuel consumption (ISFC) and the IMEP for the varia-
tion of biodiesel fuel content are shown in Fig. 5. As shown in this
gure, the retardation of injection timing gradually induced both
the decrease of ISFC and the increase of IMEP. The increase in bio-
diesel fuel resulted in an increase in ISFC and a decrease in IMEP.
These results were related to the combustion phasing and heating
value. Because the biodiesel fuel has a lower heating value than
diesel fuel, the increased biodiesel content caused a greater injec-
tion quantity for the equivalent engine performance with diesel
fuel, and consequently, the ISFC increased. As mentioned in the dis-
cussion for Fig. 3, the premixed combustion phasing and the start
of ignition advanced with the increase of biodiesel. Due to these
phenomena, the IMEP decreased.
Fig. 6 shows the effect of biodiesel contents on the EI-HC emis-
sion characteristics as a function of the injection timing, the CA50
(premixed combustion phasing), and the ignition delay. The EI-
emission is the ow-rate of emission for the ow-rate of injected
fuel, and EI means the emitted emission amount per the supplied
mass as the emission index. As shown in Fig. 6a, the EI-HC emission
showed the lowest value around the injection timing of 20 BTDC
0 because the injected spray is directly toward to the piston bowl
and the utilization of oxygen is relatively high. The increase of bio-
diesel fuel resulted in the decrease of EI-HC emission for the whole
injection timings range under investigation; due to the increase of
oxygen by biodiesel fuel prompted the active combustion reaction
in the combustion chamber. The EI-HC emission as a function of
CA50 is showed in Fig. 6b. CA50 is important parameter to discuss
for HC emission because it determines and controls the tempera-
ture, pressure, and mixture status during premixed combustion
[35]. In blended fuels (bioethanol, biodiesel), the EI-HC emission
is independent from the CA50 around 9 of CA50, which is corre-
spond to 25 and 30 BTDC of injection timing. At these injection
timings (25 BTDC and 30 BTDC), lots of injected fuels is directed
into the squish and crevice volumes, then the use of oxygen for
combustion is low; consequently, a locally fuel-rich region is
formed. From these reasons, lots of HC emissions are exhausted.
Retarding the injection timing after 25 BTDC, EI-HC and CA50 have
a linear relationship as shown in Fig. 6b. This phenomenon was ob-
served in Fig. 6c. After about 7 of ignition delay, EI-HC and ignition
delay have a linear relationship because the long ignition delay
formed a lean airfuel mixture. The linear relationship in the EI-
HC/CA50 and the EI-HC/ignition delay was represented at the re-
gion that the injected spray was directly toward to the piston bowl.

Please cite this article in press as: Park SH et al. Impact of biodiesel in bioethanol blended diesel on the engine performance and emissions characteristics
in compression ignition engine. Appl Energy (2012), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2012.05.050
 S.H. Park et al. / Applied Energy xxx (2012) xxxxxx 7

3 180
Pinj=120MPa, mfuel=10mg Pinj = 120MPa, mfuel =10mg
B05 B05
B10 B10
B20 120 B20

EI-CO (g/kgfuel)
EI-HC (g/kgfuel)

60
1

0
-30 -25 -20 -15 -10 -5 -30 -25 -20 -15 -10 -5

Start of injection (deg. ATDC) Start of injection (deg. ATDC)

(a) EI-HC for injection timings (a) EI-CO for injection timings

3 200
Pinj=120MPa, mfuel=10mg Pinj=120MPa, mfuel =10mg

Diesel Diesel
B05 150 B05
B10

EI-CO (g/kgfuel)
B10
EI-HC (g/kgfuel)

2 B20
B20
100

1
50

0
0
-18 -12 -6 0 6 -18 -12 -6 0 6
CA50 CA 50
(b) EI-HC for CA50 (b) EI-CO for CA50
3 200
Pinj=120MPa, mfuel=10mg Pinj =120MPa, m fuel =10mg
Diesel Diesel
B05 150 B05
B10 B10
EI-CO (g/kgfuel)
EI-HC (g/kgfuel)

2
B20 B20

100

1
50

0
0
0 5 10 15 20 0 5 10 15 20
Ignition delay (degree) Ignition delay (degree)
(c) EI-HC for ignition delay (c) EI-CO for ignition delay
Fig. 6. HC emissions characteristics for the injection timings, CA50, and ignition Fig. 7. CO emissions characteristics for the injection timings, CA50, and ignition
delay. delay.

The EI-CO emissions results for the variation of biodiesel fuel are
also represented as a function of the injection timing, the CA50, and
the ignition delay in Fig. 7. In the retarded injection timing regions
(20 BTDCTDC), the blending effect of biodiesel fuel had hardly any
inuence on the EI-CO emission for injection timing, the premixed
combustion phasing (CA50), and the ignition delay. However, the
blending of biodiesel fuel slightly reduced of EI-CO emissions in
the advanced injection timing regions (25 BTDC, 30 BTDC). CO
emission mainly depends on the airfuel ratio relative to the stoi-
chiometric mixture. The fuel-rich combustion results in the forma-
tion of CO, and it increases nearly linearly with deviation from
stoichiometry [36,37]. At the advanced injection timing region,
the high EI-CO emission is due to the fuel-rich combustion.
However, replacing diesel fuel with biodiesel fuel increased the
oxygen contents, and then the degree of fuel-rich combustion re-
duced. Therefore, the EI-CO emission was slightly decreased by
the increase of biodiesel in that region. On the other hand, there
were almost no EI-CO emission at the ignition delay between 5
and 10, regardless of the biodiesel blend. Synthesizing the results
shown in Fig. 7ac, it can be said that EI-CO emission is mainly af-
fected by the injection timing and ignition delay, rather than by the
premixed combustion phasing (CA50). Further, the biodiesel blend-
ing effect on CO emission appeared at advanced injection timing
regions such as 30 BTDC near the region of squish area.
Fig. 8 shows the EI-NOx emission characteristics. As shown in
Fig. 8a, at the same injection timing, the increase of biodiesel fuel

Please cite this article in press as: Park SH et al. Impact of biodiesel in bioethanol blended diesel on the engine performance and emissions characteristics
in compression ignition engine. Appl Energy (2012), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2012.05.050
8 S.H. Park et al. / Applied Energy xxx (2012) xxxxxx

150 1.2
Pinj = 120MPa, mfuel=10mg Pinj = 120MPa, mfuel=10mg
B05 B05
B10 0.9 B10
EI-NOx (g/kgfuel)

B20 B20

EI-soot (g/kgfuel)
100
0.6

50 0.3

0.0
0
-30 -25 -20 -15 -10 -5 -30 -25 -20 -15 -10 -5
Start of injection (deg. ATDC) Start of injection (deg. ATDC)
(a) EI-NOx for injection timings (a) EI-Soot for injection timings
1.5
Pinj =120MPa, m fuel =10mg
Pinj=120MPa, m fuel =10mg
150 Diesel
Diesel
B05
B05
B10
EI-NOx (g/kgfuel)

EI-Soot (g/kgfuel)
1.0 B10
B20
B20
100

0.5
50

0 0.0
-18 -12 -6 0 6
-18 -12 -6 0 6
CA 50
CA 50
(b) EI-NOx for CA50
(b) EI-Soot for CA50

Pinj =120MPa, mfuel =10mg 1.2

Pinj =120MPa, mfuel =10mg
150 Diesel
B05 Diesel
0.9
EI-NOx (g/kgfuel)

B10 B05
EI-Soot (g/kgfuel)

B20 B10
100 B20
0.6

50
0.3

0 0.0
0 5 10 15 20
Ignition delay (degree) 0 5 10 15 20

(c) EI-NOx for ignition delay Ignition delay (degree)

(c) EI-Soot for ignition delay
Fig. 8. NOx emissions characteristics for the injection timings, CA50, and ignition
delay. Fig. 9. Soot emissions characteristics for the injection timings, CA50, and ignition
delay.

caused the decrease of EI-NOx emission due to the reduction in the

heating value (refer to Fig. 2). However, at the same CA50 and igni-
tion delay, there is little difference in EI-NOx emission due to the
biodiesel blend. That is because the formation of NOx emission de-
pends mainly on the equivalence ratio and temperature. The igni-
tion delay affects the duration that is available for the formation of
mixture between air and fuel before the start of ignition. The same
ignition delay has a nearly similar mixture quality. Therefore, in
this status, biodiesel fuel has little inuence on NOx emission. On
the other hand, the retardation of CA50 and the long ignition delay
caused a decrease in EI-NOx emission in all test fuels.
Fig. 9 shows the EI-soot emission characteristics as a function of
injection timing, CA50, and ignition delay for biodiesel blends of
5%, 10%, and 20%. As shown in Fig. 9ac, the EI-soot emission is
nearly zero, regardless of the injection timing, CA50, and ignition
delay, as well as the content of biodiesel fuel, except in the most
advanced injection timing condition (30 BTDC). This can be ex-
plained by the increase of oxygen content in blended fuels. The
bioethanol has about 34.8% oxygen, and the biodiesel fuel has
about 11% oxygen. By increasing biodiesel blending ratio, the
oxygen contents in blended fuels increased from 7.3% to 9.0%
(BD05-7.3%, BD10-7.9%, BD20-9.0%). Therefore, blended fuels have
sufcient high oxygen to achieve nearly complete combustion, and
then have ultra-low soot emission. However, at the advanced
injection timing condition (30 BTDC), which has a relatively low
oxygen content (the spray injected into squish and crevice
regions), the EI-soot emission resulted from the fuel-rich

Please cite this article in press as: Park SH et al. Impact of biodiesel in bioethanol blended diesel on the engine performance and emissions characteristics
in compression ignition engine. Appl Energy (2012), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2012.05.050
 S.H. Park et al. / Applied Energy xxx (2012) xxxxxx 9

combustion. At this region, the increase of biodiesel fuel caused the EI-CO and EI-soot emission. In EI-NOx emission, the increase
decrease of EI-soot emission due to the effect of reduction in the of biodiesel fuel slightly reduced the emission.
local equivalence ratio.
Acknowledgements
4. Conclusions
This work was supported by the Second Brain Korea 21 Project
This study deals with the impact of biodiesel blending contents and was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea
on the combustion performance and exhaust emissions character- (NRF) Grant funded by the Korea government (MEST) (No. 2011-
istics in a single cylinder diesel engine operated by bioethanol 0025295 and No. 2012007015).
blended diesel fuel. From the experimental results and the discus-
sion, the following conclusions are obtained.
Appendix A
1. The increase of biodiesel blending ratio recovered the reduced
fuel density and the cetane number of bioethanol blended die- The spray images were obtained from the spray visualization
system, which consists of a high-speed camera, light source (a me-
sel fuel, while it resulted in an increase in the kinematic viscos-
ity and surface tension, which affected the atomization tal-halide lamp), fuel injection system, and data acquisition and
analysis program. The spray tip penetration, spray cone angle,
performance. In addition, the lower heating value was slightly
decreased by biodiesel fuel. and spray area were measured using the spray analysis program,
2. From the increase of biodiesel fuel, the ignition delay and the
premixed combustion phasing advanced, which then caused a
decrease in IMEP. However, the premixed combustion duration
in all tested blended fuels showed almost similar values,
regardless of the biodiesel contents. The fuel consumption
increased from the increase of biodiesel in the blended fuel.
3. The EI-HC emission decreased from the impact of biodiesel
blending increases in wide operating regions. In addition, for
CA50 (premixed combustion phasing) and ignition delay, the
increase of biodiesel fuel inuenced the decrease of EI-HC
emission.
4. For the EI-CO and EI-soot emissions, both emissions for injec-
tion timing, the CA50, and the ignition delay showed nearly
zero level emission when the combustion occurred in the piston
bowl. However, when the injected spray is directed into the
squish and crevice volume by the change of spray targeting,
EI-CO and EI-soot emissions increased remarkably. With this, Fig. A2. Denition of the spray characteristics including the spray tip penetration
the biodiesel blending effect resulted in the reduction of and the spray cone angle.

Fig. A1. Spray behavior characteristics in the constant volume chamber (Pinj = 100 MPa, mfuel = 10 mg, tasoe = 0.8 ms (about 5.76 of crank angle)).

Please cite this article in press as: Park SH et al. Impact of biodiesel in bioethanol blended diesel on the engine performance and emissions characteristics
in compression ignition engine. Appl Energy (2012), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2012.05.050
10 S.H. Park et al. / Applied Energy xxx (2012) xxxxxx
which was developed by MATLAB program in the authors labora-
tory. The denition of spray tip penetration and spray cone angle
are illustrated in Figs. A1 and A2.
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