Effect of adding oxygenated fuel on particles emissions of pilot-ignited natural gas engine

In order to reduce particles emissions of diesel pilot-ignited natural gas engines, the combustion and the particles emissions were experimentally investigated on a pilot-ignited natural gas engine using diesel-dimethyl carbonate (DMC) as the pilot fuel, and the corresponding combustion and emissions characteristics were also analyzed. The results show that an increase in the proportion of DMC in the pilot fuel can increase the oxygen content of pilot fuel, extend the ignition delay period, increase the peak of initial combustion rate and initial combustion period, and shorten the total combustion duration. The particle size distribution is all unimodal. With the increase in the oxygen content of pilot fuels, the peak of particle number concentration moves towards the larger particle size, and the particle number concentration and the particle mass concentration decrease simultaneously. The particle number concentration and the particle mass concentration decrease by up to 70% and 86%, respectively, at the oxygenate mass of 20% in pilot mass and a special load. These results indicate that adding DMC to the pilot fuel is an effective method for reducing particles emissions of diesel pilot-ignited natural gas engines.