Ignition delay and soot emission characteristics of methanol-diesel fuel blends

Alcohols, as alternative fuels, may contribute to the solution of environme ntal and economical problems to a certain extend. But, they seem to have li ttle chances to be directly used in Diesel engines because of their low cet ane number. However, as blended fuels with diesel fuel they have places on the application area. In this study, the effect of the compression ratio on ignition delay and soot emission for methanol-diesel fuel blends with vari ous blending ratios is investigated on an ASTM-CFR engine and the results a re compared with baseline diesel fuel. Longer ignition delays and less soot emissions have been obtained for blend fuels as compared to diesel fuel.