Energy 124 (2017) 272e283

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Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/energy

Numerical study of the performance and NOx emission of a

diesel-methanol dual-fuel engine using multi-objective Pareto
optimization
Sangjun Park a, Jungkeun Cho a, Jungsoo Park b, Soonho Song c, *
a
The Graduate School, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Yonsei University, 134 Sinchon-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 120-749, Republic of Korea
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Chosun University, Kwangju, 510-759, Republic of Korea
c
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Yonsei University, 134 Sinchon-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 120-749, Republic of Korea

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

Article history: The effect of methanol addition on the performance and NOx emission of a diesel engine was investigated
Received 15 April 2016 using one-dimensional engine cycle simulation. The methanol component was injected into the intake
Received in revised form manifold of a diesel engine at a certain energy fraction (0, 5, 10, or 15%) of the fuel. The in-cylinder
29 November 2016
pressure and temperature decreased as the methanol content increased due to the lower cetane num-
Accepted 6 February 2017
Available online 7 February 2017
ber and lower heating value of methanol. The resulting decrease in the combustion efficiency lowered
the NOx emission and brake thermal efficiency of the engine, and consequently deteriorated the brake
specific fuel consumption (BSFC). The BSFC decreased but the NOx emission increased with advanced
Keywords:
1D engine cycle simulation
injection timing under dual-fuel operating conditions. Response surface plots of the BSFC and NOx
Design of experiment emission as a function of the injection timing and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) rate were obtained
Diesel-methanol dual-fuel engine using a design of experiment method. The optimal Pareto fronts that improved both the BSFC and NOx
Multi-objective Pareto optimization emission were found. The EGR rate had a greater influence on the optimal Pareto front than the injection
Optimal Pareto front timing, which suggested that design parameters such as the injection timing and EGR rate could be used
to control the performance and emission under various duel-fuel conditions.
© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Diesel engines have the advantages of high efficiency, reliability,
adaptability, and low fuel consumption. However, they are also a
major source of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM)
in urban areas. Due to their harmful effects on the environment and
human health, many countries have enforced stringent emission
regulations. Advanced technologies, such as exhaust gas recircu-
lation (EGR), low temperature combustion (LTC), and after-
treatment systems have been explored to comply with regula-
tions. Extensive research has been conducted to improve the per-
formance and emission of diesel engines. Dual-fuel combustion
with additive fuels has also been suggested as an alternative. The
performance and emission characteristics of diesel-additive fuel
(natural gas, biofuel, hydrogen, ethanol, methanol, and others)
blends have been studied [1e10].
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: soonhosong@yonsei.ac.kr (S. Song).
Methanol easily mixes with air and reduces NOx and PM emis-
sions due to its lower viscosity, oxygen content, high H/C ratio, and
latent heat of vaporization. The general properties of diesel and
methanol are shown in Table 1 [11]. The effects of blends of
methanol with diesel fuel on the performance and emissions of
spark ignition (SI) or compression ignition (CI) engines have been
extensively investigated. Yao et al. [11] introduced the diesel/
methanol compound combustion system (DMCC) and investigated
its application to a diesel engine. The experimental results showed
that the diesel engine operating with the DMCC method reduced
the soot and NOx emissions but increased the hydrocarbon (HC)
and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions. Wei et al. [12,13] investigated
the combustion and emission characteristics of a dual-fuel diesel
engine with premixed diesel-methanol fuel. The results showed
that the HC, CO, and formaldehyde emissions, and the NO2/NOx
ratio, significantly increased with increasing methanol content, but
the NOx and dry soot emissions were reduced. The effects of
methanol and injection timing of the diesel engine on its com-
bustion, performance and emissions were also reported. The igni-
tion delay was prolonged and became more sensitive to injection

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2017.02.029
0360-5442/© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 S. Park et al. / Energy 124 (2017) 272e283 273

ignition delay. An optimized solution is needed due to the trade-off

Abbreviations relationship between BSFC and NOx emission. Numerical analysis is
becoming more and more important in optimization studies
ANFIS Adaptive-neuro fuzzy inference system because experiments are often time-consuming and expensive.
ANN Artificial neural network Consequently, performance and emission optimization almost al-
BMEP Brake mean effectiveness pressure ways uses numerical methods in conjunction with optimization
BSFC Brake specific fuel consumption approaches. Roy et al. [16e18] investigated the prediction and
BSNOx Brake specific nitrogen oxides optimization of the performance and emission of a diesel-CNG
CI Compression ignition dual-fuel engine using various optimization processes with
CNG Compressed natural gas model-based analysis. The numerical studies were conducted using
DMDF Diesel-methanol dual fuel the GreyeTaguchi method, an artificial neural network (ANN)
DIPulse Direct-injection diesel multi-pulse meta-model, and an adaptive-neuro fuzzy inference system
DoE Design of experiment (ANFIS)-based model. Through these optimization methods, the
EGR Exhaust gas recirculation optimal combination of the input parameters was obtained as a
IVC Intake valve closing performance index, which achieved the desired response charac-
LHV Lower heating value teristics and simultaneously provided the trade-off values under
LSM Least square method dual-fuel operation. Park et al. [19,20] optimized the operating
LTC Low temperature combustion parameters for improving NOx emission under various engine
NOx Nitrogen oxides conditions using a design of experiment (DoE) method. The com-
PM Particulate matter bustion and emission characteristics of diesel-natural gas dual-fuel
RBFN Radial basis function network engines were numerically studied using a DoE method. Multi-
SI Spark ignition objective Pareto optimization was performed to maximize the
TDC Top dead center torque and minimize the NOx emission by controlling the EGR and
compression ratio [21]. Also, Jung et al. [22] evaluated the perfor-
mance and NOx emission of a biogas-fueled turbocharged engine
using a DoE method.
In this study, dual-fuel engine operation with diesel-methanol
Table 1 blends using engine cycle simulation was evaluated and pre-
Fuel properties of diesel and methanol. dicted. The performance and NOx emission of an engine fueled by
different diesel-methanol blends were evaluated under various
Properties Diesel Methanol
load conditions, and the effect of the injection timing on the BSFC
Molecular formula C10 ~ C15 CH3OH
and NOx was predicted using a DoE method. The main goal was to
Molecular weight 190e220 32
Cetane number 51 <5
investigate the performance and NOx emission trends and suggest
Lower heating value (MJ/kg) 42.5 19.7 design parameters through a multi-objective optimization
Density @ 20
C (kg/m3) 840 790 approach.
Viscosity @ 20
C (mPa s) 2.8 0.59
Heat of evaporation (KJ/kg) 260 1178
Stoichiometric A/F 14.7 6.45
Autoignition temperature (
C) 316 464
Carbon content (%wt) 86 37.5
Hydrogen content (%wt) 14 12.5
Oxygen content (%wt) 0 50
2. Methodology

Numerical analysis was carried out using a one-dimensional

(1D) cycle simulation (GT-Power, Gamma Technologies), to pre-
timing with increasing methanol mass flow rate, and the engine
dict engine performance quantities such as torque, BMEP, BSFC, and
power decreased almost linearly with the retarding injection
emissions. The model was validated by comparison with experi-
timing. The NOx and soot emissions decreased simultaneously with
mental data. The specifications of the diesel engine are shown in
increasing methanol mass flow rate, but the HC and CO emissions
Table 2. The operating conditions of the diesel engine as provided
increased. Furthermore, the trade-off relationship between NOx
by the OEMs were 4, 8, 12, and 16 bar of BMEP at 2500 rpm. An
and PM improved with increasing methanol mass flow rate, and
overview of the research is shown in Fig. 1. The detailed operating
disappeared when the diesel-to-methanol mass ratio was 1.54. The
conditions of the diesel engine are listed in Table 3.
combustion and emissions characteristics of a diesel-methanol
dual-fuel (DMDF) engine were also studied to evaluate the effects
of pilot fuel injection timing and intake temperature on the per- Table 2
formance [14,15]. In that research, the combustion process was Engine specifications.
highly affected by the intake temperature and injection timing, and Item Specification
raising the intake temperature improved the brake thermal effi-
Engine type In-line four cylinders
ciency under light loads by 7.3%. Increasing the intake air temper- Displacement (cc) 1396
ature reduced the PM and all gaseous emissions, with the exception Bore (mm) 75
of NOx. Stroke (mm) 79
It is evident from the prior research that the dual combustion of Connecting rod (mm) 140
Compression ratio 17:1
fuel blends in diesel engines has been extensively studied. Meth-
Maximum power 67 kW @4000 rpm
anol is of particular interest as an additive because it reduces the Maximum torque 22.4 kgm @1500e2750 rpm
PM and NOx emissions from the diesel engine. However, there are Injection type Common rail direct injection
disadvantages to increasing the brake specific fuel consumption EGR system High pressure EGR
(BSFC) and decreasing the brake thermal efficiency by a long Firing order 1-3-4-2
274 S. Park et al. / Energy 124 (2017) 272e283

Fig. 1. Overall research process.

Table 3 together in a turbulence-driven process. The mixture in each pulse

Operating conditions of the diesel engine. underwent an ignition delay that was modeled with an Arrhenius
Case No. 1 2 3 4 expression. When a pulse ignited, the mixture present at that time
was set aside for premixed combustion. The rate of this combustion
Engine speed (RPM) 2500 2500 2500 2500
BMEP (bar) 4 8 12 16 was assumed to be kinetically limited. After a pulse ignited, the
Boost pressure (bar) 1.43 1.88 2.08 2.18 remaining unmixed fuel and entrained gas in the pulse continued
Rail pressure (bar) 782 1178 1332 1386 to mix and burn in a primarily diffusion-limited phase. In addition,
Injected mass (mg/stroke) 10.19 18.12 25.90 33.86
there were three categories of chemical species for considering the
Pilot1 injection timing (CA BTDC) 28.61 29.93 29.65 29.85
Pilot2 injection timing (CA BTDC) 17.47 18.09 17.97 17.71 combustion in GT-Power; (1) unburned non-fuel species - any basic
Main injection timing (CA BTDC) 4.91 4.22 2.96 0.19 species for which lower heating value ¼ 0, (2) Fuel e any basic
EGR rate (%) 20 13.5 2.8 0 species for which lower heating value > 0, (3) Products of com-
bustion e CO2, H2O, N2, O2, CO, H2, H, O, OH, NO, N etc. Therefore,
the results of performance and emission of dual-fuel engine could
2.1. 1D engine modeling be predicted by DIPulse (predictive combustion model). The NOx
emissions were calculated using the extended Zeldovich mecha-
The engine model consisted of the cylinder geometry (bore, nism [23]. Fig. 2 shows the in-cylinder pressure diagram with
stroke, connecting rod length, compression ratio, and TDC clear- multiple injections obtained from the DIPulse combustion model.
ance height), the injection profile of the diesel fuel, intake/exhaust
valve profiles, EGR systems that included the EGR valve and EGR 2.2. DoE and multi-objective Pareto optimization
cooler, and performance maps of the wastegate-type turbocharger.
A proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller was used to The many interrelated engine design parameters make thor-
meet the target boost pressure and EGR fraction. The methanol ough experimental testing difficult. DoE and numerical analysis can
injector was added to the intake manifold of the engine model for identify the optimal values of multiple parameters having complex
dual-fuel combustion operation. The injected mass flow rate of dependencies. Generally, the operating points for DoE are selected
methanol was calculated using Eq. (1): by a sampling method such as full-factorial or Latin hypercube
sampling, and a response contour or surface plot are generated by
Methanol Energy Fraction ¼ mmethanol LHVmethanol = fitting the method-based (e.g., least squares method (LSM), radial
 ðmdiesel LHVdiesel basis function network (RBFN), or artificial neural network (ANN))
numerical results at the sampling points. In this study, 400 random
þ mmethanol LHVmethanol Þ (1)
sampling points were generated by the Latin hypercube sampling
The fuels were D100, D95/M5, D90/M10, and D85/M15, corre- approach, and a RBFN was used for a mathematical fitting method
sponding to various fuel/methanol content (e.g., D95/M5 refers to to develop the response surface plot. Table 4 gives the sampling
95% diesel fuel and 5% methanol fuel in terms of energy content). ranges that were used for the DoE Latin hypercube sampling.
The combustion model was the direct-injection diesel multi- Additionally, the injection timing, which was a dominant
pulse (DIPulse) model, which tracked the fuel as it was injected, parameter in this study, involved a trade-off relationship between
evaporated, mixed with surrounding gas, and burned. The DIPulse the performance and emission of the engine. If injection timing was
model can predict the combustion rate and associated emissions for
direct-injection diesel engines with single and multiple injection
events. The in-cylinder combustion process was discretized into
three thermodynamic zones, each with their own temperature and
composition. The main unburned zone contained all of the cylinder
mass at IVC, the spray unburned zone contained the injected fuel
and entrained gas, and the spray burned zone contained the
combustion products. The DIPulse model also included several
submodels that simulated the relevant physical processes taking
place during injection and combustion. These submodels took into
account the physical conditions in the cylinder and are described
below. Once the fuel was injected, each contiguous injection event
was defined as an injection pulse and was separately tracked from
all of the other pulses. The injected fuel was added to the spray
unburned zone. As the spray penetrated, it slowed down as the
surrounding unburned and burned gases became entrained into
the pulse. Intermixing of pulses occurred through entrainment. The
entrainment rate was determined by applying conservation of
momentum to an empirical spray penetration law. The fuel evap- Fig. 2. The representative numerical results of cylinder pressure and injection profiles
orated as it was heated by the entrained gas, and these were mixed by using DIPulse combustion model.
 S. Park et al. / Energy 124 (2017) 272e283 275

Table 4 The objective functions and constraints consist of the design

Sampling ranges for Latin hypercube sampling of design of experiment. variables, given below:
Case No. 1 2 3 4  !
fi ð x Þ ¼ fi ðx1 ; x2 ; …; xn Þ; i ¼ 1; …; k
Engine speed (RPM) 2500 2500 2500 2500 ! (3)
BMEP (bar) 4 8 12 16 gi ð x Þ ¼ gi ðx1 ; x2 ; …; xn Þ; i ¼ 1; …; m:
Methanol fraction 0e0.15 0e0.15 0e0.15 0e0.15
Adv. Injection timing (deg) 0e8 0e8 0e8 0e8 When the objective functions are in a trade-off relationship, it is
EGR rate (%) 0e20 0e20 0e20 0e10 difficult to simultaneously minimize or maximize all objective
Number of sampling points 400 points for each case functions. In many multi-objective optimization problems, the
considered objectives are in conflict with each other. Therefore, it is
impossible to achieve a solution that optimizes each objective
function concurrently. The solution to such problems is a set of
advanced, the brake thermal efficiency and BSFC improved because solutions, called Pareto-optimal solutions. Before defining this
the ignition delay was shorter. However, thermal NOx emission term, the concept of dominance will be introduced.
increased due to the higher cylinder pressure and temperature. ! !
Assume that x 1 and x 2 are vectors in n-dimensional space
! ! ! !
When several diesel engine performance metrics are dependent on ( x 1 ; x 2 2Rn ) and f is a function. x 1 dominates x 2 if the condi-
one input parameter, the optimal solution for simultaneously tions of Eq. (4) are satisfied,
improving these performances can be found using multi-objective 8 !
Pareto optimization. The multi-objective Pareto optimization with < fi ð x 1 Þ  fi ð!x 2 Þðc i ¼ 1; …; kÞ
the response surface plot was used to identify the input parameters and (4)
: ! !
that would simultaneously improve the BSFC and NOx emission. fi ð x 1 Þ  fi ð x 2 Þðd i ¼ 1; …; kÞ:
The multi-objective optimization is defined by Eq. (2) [21,24e28]:
A solution that is not dominated by any other solution in the
( !! ! ! ! solution space is known as Pareto- optimal. The main characteristic
min f ðnx Þ ¼ ðf1 ð x Þ; f2 ð x Þ; …; fk ð x ÞÞT o of the Pareto-optimal solution is that it cannot be improved with
! ! n ! (2)
x 2X ¼ x 2R jgj ð x Þ  0ðj ¼ 1; …; mÞ : respect to an objective without deteriorating at least one other
objective. A set of all of these non-dominated solutions is called the

Fig. 3. (a) Comparison between experimental and numerical results of BMEP for each case. (b) Comparison between experimental and numerical results of BSFC under different
load conditions. (c) Comparison between experimental and numerical results of maximum cylinder pressure under different load conditions. (d) Comparison between experimental
and numerical results of BSNOx emissions under different load conditions. (e) Comparison between experimental and numerical results of EGR rate under different load conditions.
(f) Comparison between experimental and numerical results of boost pressure under different load conditions.
276 S. Park et al. / Energy 124 (2017) 272e283

Fig. 4. (a) Cylinder pressure diagram and heat release rate as energy fraction of methanol at 4 bar. (b) Cylinder pressure diagram and heat release rate as energy fraction of methanol
at 8 bar. (c) Cylinder pressure diagram and heat release rate as energy fraction of methanol at 12 bar. (d) Cylinder pressure diagram and heat release rate as energy fraction of
methanol at 16 bar.

Pareto-optimal set and the corresponding objective function values intention of the optimization is to minimize both objective
in the objective space are called the Pareto front. Finding the Pareto functions. However, both objectives cannot be simultaneously
front, which consists of the Pareto-optimal solutions, is the major minimized due to the conflicting relationship between them.
goal of multi-objective optimization. For a minimum problem, a Being optimal for one objective implies being suboptimal for the
feasible solution x* is a Pareto-optimal solution if and only if there other. From the definition above, the Pareto-optimal solutions are
is no other feasible solution x such that compromise solutions in the region of feasible solutions.
 
fi ðxÞ  fi x* ; i ¼ 1; …; n
3. Results and discussion
and for at least one j, 1  j  n, satisfies
3.1. Validation and effects of methanol blends on the performance
  characteristics
fi ðxÞ  fi x* :

For example, in a two-objective optimization problem, the The numerical results were validated with experimental data
 S. Park et al. / Energy 124 (2017) 272e283 277

Fig. 4. (continued).

for each case to verify the engine model accuracy. The validation
results are shown in Fig. 3. The experimental and numerical
values of the BMEP, BSFC, maximum cylinder pressure, brake
specific NOx (BSNOx) emission, EGR rate, and boost pressure were
compared; the maximum error was less than about 3%. Under the
operating conditions of boost pressure, rail pressure, injection
timing, and EGR rate shown in Table 3, the effects of the meth-
anol energy fraction addition (0, 5, 10, and 15%) in the intake
manifold on the combustion, performance, and NOx emission of
the engine were investigated. The in-cylinder pressure and heat
release rate versus crank angle of the diesel engine with 0e15%
methanol content for each case are shown in Fig. 4(a)e(d). Under
all load conditions, the cylinder pressure and heat release rate
decreased as the methanol fraction increased due to the lower
LHV and higher auto-ignition temperature than that of pure
diesel fuel. The second peak of the pressure diagram was also
lower than the first peak. This trend was particularly apparent
under high load conditions.
The effects of the diesel-methanol blends on the performance
and NOx emission characteristics under the different load condi-
tions were investigated. Fig. 5(a)e(c) shows the BSFC, brake ther-
mal efficiency, and BSNOx emission with different dual-fuel
compositions; the other operating conditions were the same as in
Table 3. The BSFC increased (Fig. 5(a)) and the brake thermal effi-
ciency decreased (Fig. 5(b)) with increasing methanol content. The
difference was greater under relatively low load conditions such as
4 or 8 bar of BMEP. The BSFC for D85/M15 increased to 30.5% at
4 bar and 31.4% at 8 bar, but was 26.7 and 23.2% at 12 and 16 bar,
respectively. In a similar manner, the brake thermal efficiency with
D85/M15 reduced to 10.5, 11.5, 8.7, and 6.2% under 4, 8, 12, and
278
Fig. 5. (a) The effect of methanol blends on BSFC under different load conditions. (b) The effect of methanol blends on brake thermal efficiency under different load conditions. (c)
The effect of methanol blends on BSNOx under different load conditions. (d) The effect of methanol blends on maximum temperature in cylinder under different load conditions.
16 bar of BMEP. This was because methanol addition deteriorated
the combustion efficiency under high EGR rate conditions.
Fig. 5(c) shows the BSNOx emission for different methanol
contents for each case. This characteristic focused on the NOx
emission trends, not on the exact value of the NOx emission,
because the NOx emission was predicted using the 1D engine cycle
simulation based on thermodynamic processes. In that simulation,
the NOx emission was predicted by the extended Zeldovich
mechanism, which strongly relates the NOx emission to the in-
cylinder temperature. Thus, the NOx emission trend is reliable.
The BSNOx emission decreased to 47.5% on average for D85/M15, for
all cases. This is because methanol has a higher latent heat of
vaporization than diesel fuel, so it can decrease the in-cylinder
combustion temperature (Fig. 5(d)). These performance and
emission trends are similar to those previously reported [14,15,29].
In detail, Wang et al. [15] reported the effect blend of methanol
with diesel engine on performance and NOx emission by experi-
mental study. Results of this paper also decreased brake thermal
efficiency and reduced NOx emission with increasing the methanol
contents in diesel engine.
S. Park et al. / Energy 124 (2017) 272e283
3.2. Effects of diesel injection timing on the BSFC and NOx emission
The NOx emission from the diesel engine was dramatically
reduced by the addition of methanol to the fuel, but the BSFC also
deteriorated due to decreasing combustion efficiency and brake
thermal efficiency. Therefore, a reselection of the engine parame-
ters was required to compensate the performance characteristics.
The effects of different injection timing on the performance and
emission characteristics were evaluated. The BSFC and BSNOx
emission data were obtained when the injection timing was
advanced from 0 to 8
of the crank angle from standard conditions
under constant load conditions (BMEP ¼ 4, 8, 12, and 16 bar).
Fig. 6 shows the effect of the advanced injection timing and
methanol content on the BSFC and BSNOx emission under constant
load conditions of (a) 4, (b) 8, (c) 12, and (d) 16 bar. The results show
that increasing the methanol content increased the BSFC and
decreased the BSNOx emission for all conditions, as discussed in
Section 3.1. However, the BSFC decreased and the NOx emission
increased as the injection timing was advanced. When the injection
timing was advanced to 8
of crank angle for D85/M15 under the
standard load conditions of 4, 8, 12, and 16 bar, the BSFC decreased
Fig. 6. (a) The effect of methanol blends on BSFC and BSNOx as a function of injection timing at 4 bar. (b) The effect of methanol blends on BSFC and BSNOx as a function of injection timing at 8 bar. (c) The effect of methanol blends on BSFC
and BSNOx as a function of injection timing at 12 bar. (d) The effect of methanol blends on BSFC and BSNOx as a function of injection timing at 16 bar.
280 S. Park et al. / Energy 124 (2017) 272e283

Fig. 9. The obtained optimal Pareto front with the numerical values and design points
at 12 bar load condition under 10% methanol blends.

Fig. 7. The representative plot of predicted points by RBFN at 12 bar load condition for
D90/M10.
by 4.0, 6.7, 5.6, and 3.9%, respectively, but the BSNOx emission
increased by 23.0, 6.4, 13.3, and 21.7%, respectively. With advanced
injection timing, MBF50, which is the crank angle at which 50% of
the total fuel that passes through the cylinder is consumed by
combustion, may become smaller; thus, the combustion efficiency
would improve. So these caused to decrease in BSFC, however, the
NOx emission increased due to higher in-cylinder temperature
during combustion. The tendencies of lower BSFC and higher
BSNOx emission were shown as load condition increased except
4 bar of BMEP condition. The reason is that the MBF50 and com-
bustion duration could become relatively shorter even if the in-
jection timing was equally advanced under 4 bar of BMEP because
of less reactivity in-cylinder and lower brake thermal efficiency
relatively compared with other load conditions. It means that there
is room for applying more advanced injection timing to achieve
better reactivity under such lower load conditions. These results are
similar to the trends reported elsewhere [13,15]. Wei et al. [13]
investigated experimentally that engine power and brake thermal
efficiency were improved, but NOx emission was increased with
advanced injection timing under diesel-methanol dual-fuel con-
dition. The performance and NOx emission of numerical model had
very similar trends compared to other experimental results.
3.3. Design of experiments and multi-objective Pareto optimization
As noted in Sections 3.1 and 3.2, previous results demonstrated
that the brake thermal efficiency and BSFC deteriorated, and the
NOx emission diminished, when the methanol content increased
and the injection timing was retarded. Thus, there are trade-off

Fig. 8. (a) The response surface plot of the BSFC as function of adv. Injection timing and EGR fraction at different methanol contents under 12 bar load condition. (b) The response
surface plot of the BSNOx as function of adv. Injection timing and EGR fraction with different methanol contents at 12 bar load condition.
 S. Park et al. / Energy 124 (2017) 272e283 281

Fig. 10. (a) The optimal Pareto front with various methanol blends at 4 bar load condition. (b) The optimal Pareto front with various methanol blends at 8 bar load condition. (c) The
optimal Pareto front with various methanol blends at 12 bar load condition. (d) The optimal Pareto front with various methanol blends at 16 bar load condition.

relationships between the BSFC and NOx emission with methanol
content and injection timing. The injection timing and EGR are an
important control factors for dual-fuel operation of the engine
because injection timing has an effect on the combustion charac-
teristics such as MBF50 and combustion duration and the oxygen
concentration and cylinder temperature are influenced by the EGR.
It is necessary to optimize the EGR rate to control the NOx emission
with different injection timings because the EGR rate strongly de-
pends on the BSFC and NOx emission of the engine. Therefore, the
BSFC and NOx emission were investigated using DoE and Pareto
optimization to identify the optimal design point for the injection
timing and EGR rate. The detailed DoE parameters and their ranges
are shown in Table 4; 400 sampling points were used for the DoE at
different loads and methanol contents. Then, the response surface
plots were obtained on the basis of the numerical results using
RBFN as the fitting method. RBFN is a popular fitting method
because it has many advantages compared with other fitting
methods [30]. The representative plot of the points predicted by the
RBFN for the 12-bar load condition with the 10% methanol blend is
shown in Fig. 7. Fig. 8 shows the response surface plots of the (a)
BSFC and (b) BSNOx emission as a function of the injection timing
and EGR rate for different methanol blends under the 12-bar load
condition. In this way, the response surface plots were obtained for
all operating conditions.
Multi-objective Pareto optimization identified the optimal
design parameter, such as injection timing and EGR rate, to improve
both BSFC and BSNOx emission. The representative optimal Pareto
front with the numerical values and design points are shown in
Fig. 9. The two optimal design points that minimized BSNOx
emission (design point 1) and minimized BSFC (design point 2)
were chosen. The appropriate control factor (injection timing or
EGR rate) can be selected to meet the objectives, for example, to
minimize the BSFC or NOx emission and meet target values, based
on the optimal Pareto front. The optimal Pareto fronts were simi-
larly obtained by multi-objective optimization for all of the oper-
ating conditions (Fig. 10(a)e(d)). The BSFC increased and the BSNOx
emission decreased with increasing methanol content for all cases.
The injection timing and EGR rate have trade-off relationships with
282 S. Park et al. / Energy 124 (2017) 272e283

Fig. 11. (a) The result of the optimal Pareto solution at design points 1 (minimized BSNOx) and 2 (minimized BSFC) with various methanol blends under 4 bar load condition. (b) The
result of the optimal Pareto solution at design points 1 (minimized BSNOx) and 2 (minimized BSFC) with various methanol blends under 8 bar load condition. (c) The result of the
optimal Pareto solution at design points 1 (minimized BSNOx) and 2 (minimized BSFC) with various methanol blends under 12 bar load condition. (d) The result of the optimal
Pareto solution at design points 1 (minimized BSNOx) and 2 (minimized BSFC) with various methanol blends under 16 bar load condition.

BSFC and BSNOx emission, and the EGR rate has a greater influence
on the BSNOx emission. Also, the slope of the Pareto front under
high load conditions (12 and 16 bar) was greater, which indicated a
strong trade-off relationship between the BSFC and BSNOx emis-
sion under a high load.
The injection timing and EGR rate at design points 1 and 2 were
investigated with the optimal Pareto front to evaluate the trade-off
relationship. Fig. 11(a)e(d) shows the trend of the injection timing
and EGR rate from design point 1 to 2. The maximum EGR rate was
at point 1 for all cases and the injection timing was advanced
compared with the reference injection timing. This was to
compensate the BSFC. It also led to advanced injection timing with
higher methanol content due to the decreased combustion effi-
ciency under dual-fuel operation. Moving from design point 1 to 2
in the optimal Pareto front, the BSFC was minimized by advancing
the injection timing and lowering the EGR rate. Generally, the EGR
rate has a greater influence than the injection timing; the effect of
the injection timing on the optimal Pareto front was relatively
strong with increasing load. However, the injection timing had little
effect on the performance and emission even for high engine loads
with high-methanol blends. This is the reason why the injection
timing was maintained in the advanced conditionethe brake
thermal efficiency and BSFC deteriorated with increasing methanol
content. Therefore, for high methanol content, it is recommended
to control the dual-fuel engine by a EGR distribution strategy rather
than by injection timing.
4. Conclusions
In this study, the performance and NOx emission characteristics
of the diesel-methanol dual-fuel engine were investigated by a 1D
engine cycle simulation. Optimization to simultaneously improve
the BSFC and NOx emission was carried out using the multi-
objective Pareto method. The main results of this study are sum-
marized below.
(1) The numerical model was validated with the experiment
data of a diesel engine under various load conditions at a
constant 2500 rpm. The DIPulse combustion model was used
to ensure the reliability of the engine model.
(2) The effect of diesel-methanol blends on the combustion,
performance, and NOx emission of the diesel engine were
investigated. The cylinder pressure and temperature
decreased with increasing methanol content, and the BSFC
 S. Park et al. / Energy 124 (2017) 272e283
increased to 28.0% and the NOx emission decreased to 47.5%
on average when the methanol energy fraction was 15%.
(3) The BSFC and NOx emission were evaluated with advanced
injection timing under constant load conditions. The BSFC
improved to 4.5%, but the NOx emission increased by 17.6% as
the injection timing was advanced by 8
of crank angle from
the standard condition.
(4) Response surface plots of the BSFC and NOx emission as
functions of injection timing and EGR rate were obtained
using DoE and RBFN methods. The optimal Pareto fronts and
trends of the design parameters were identified that
improved both the BSFC and NOx emission. The EGR rate was
a dominant factor for all load conditions, and the injection
timing had a relatively strong influence on the BSFC and NOx
emissions with increasing load conditions. Based on these
results, it is suggested that design parameters should use
EGR and injection timing strategies to control the dual-fuel
engine.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Technology Innovation Program
(10047586, The source technology development of diesel-hybrid
system for 1-liter car) funded by the gs1:Ministry of Trade, In-
dustry and Energy (MI, Korea).
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