Fuel 118 (2014) 243–249

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Fuel
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/fuel

Effects of altitude and fuel oxygen content on the performance of a high

pressure common rail diesel engine
Shaohua Liu, Lizhong Shen ⇑, Yuhua Bi, Jilin Lei
Yunnan Province Key Laboratory of Engines, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kun Ming 650500, China

h i g h l i g h t s

 Fuel oxygen content has a more significant effect on soot emission reduction than the altitude effect.
 The BED fuel with basically the same oxygen content as the BD fuel can reduce soot emissions more.
 The BSFC of the BED fuel with basically the same oxygen content as the BD fuel is lower.

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

Article history: The change of intake oxygen content caused by altitude variation and the change of fuel oxygen content
Received 13 July 2013 both affect the performance of diesel engines. In this paper, comparative experiments were performed on
Received in revised form 2 October 2013 a high pressure common rail diesel engine fueled with pure diesel and biodiesel–ethanol–diesel
Accepted 4 October 2013
(abbreviated as BED) blends with oxygen content of 2%, 2.5%, and 3.2% in mass percentage at different
Available online 17 October 2013
atmospheric pressures of 81 kPa, 90 kPa, and 100 kPa. Moreover, in order to study the effect of different
fuel blends with the same oxygen content on the performance of the diesel engine, tests were conducted
Keywords:
on the diesel engine fueled with the BED blend and a biodiesel–diesel (abbreviated as BD) blend at 81 kPa
Altitude
Fuel oxygen content
ambient pressure.
Diesel engine The experimental results indicate that the influence of altitude variation on the full-load engine brake
Performance torque is not significant when the pure diesel fuel is used. With the increase of BED fuel oxygen content,
Soot emission the engine brake torque reduces. When the pure diesel fuel is used, with the increase of atmospheric
pressure, the brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) decreases. As the fuel oxygen content increases,
there is no significant difference in brake specific fuel consumption of the BED blends. And the values
of brake specific energy consumption (BSEC) gradually decrease. Soot emissions of the diesel engine
decrease with the increase of atmospheric pressure and fuel oxygen content. The effect of soot emission
reduction by increasing the oxygen content of the fuel is more significant than the effect of increasing
atmospheric pressure. The effects of BD and BED fuels with basically the same oxygen content on the
full-load performance, fuel economy, and soot emissions of the diesel engine are different. The BSFC
and soot emissions of the BED fuel are lower than those of the BD fuel.
Ó 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

1. Introduction adaptability, and they have been widely used in many countries
and regions [1–7].
Extensive exploitation and application of petroleum fossil fuels Both bioethanol and biodiesel are oxygenated fuels. Previous re-
and their limited resources, together with the current situation of search showed that using oxygenated fuels can be helpful on
increasingly serious problems of environmental pollutions, have improving the combustion process of diesel engines and reducing
made seeking versatile and sustainable green alternative energy soot emissions [8–15]. However, there are no clear conclusions
sources a pressing need. Among various alternative fuels, on the mechanism of soot emission reduction caused by oxygen-
bioethanol and biodiesel have received great attention as hot top- ated fuels. Some researchers suggested that the soot emissions in
ics in engine fuel research due to their excellent performance and the diesel engine exhaust gas were mainly affected by the oxygen
content of the fuel, and the benefit of diesel engine emissions
reduction was mainly dependent on the oxygen concentration
and almost irrelevant to the type of oxygenated fuels and the
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 871 65916859.
way of adding oxygen element [8–10]. On the other hand, Liotta
E-mail addresses: liushaohua183@126.com (S. Liu), lzshen@foxmail.com
(L. Shen).
and Montalvo [11] reported that the effect of soot emission

0016-2361/$ - see front matter Ó 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2013.10.007
244 S. Liu et al. / Fuel 118 (2014) 243–249

reduction was strongly dependent upon the molecular structure of
oxygenated fuels. The research work by Chen et al. [12] indicated
that the effects of ethanol–diesel and biodiesel with the same
oxygen content on soot emissions were different, and the effect
of ethanol on reducing soot formation was more prominent. Sal-
amanca et al. [15] found that the degree of unsaturation of the fatty
acid esters could play a significant role on soot reduction.
In addition to the impact of fuel oxygen content, altitude level
also affects the combustion process and the performance of diesel
engines. Shen et al. [16,17] reported that engine power, fuel
economy, reliability, and emissions were affected by altitude level
as the atmospheric pressure and the intake air density reduce at
high altitude. Using oxygenated fuels can compensate the lack of
air at high altitude to a certain extent and may improve engine per-
formance. Previous researchers have studied the effects of different
altitude conditions and oxygenated biomass fuels on diesel engine
performance [18,19]. However, very little research has conducted
to date on the effects of intake oxygen content variation caused
by altitude level change and fuel oxygen content on diesel engine
performance. The purposes of this work are to explore different ef-
fects of intake oxygen content caused by altitude variation and fuel
oxygen content on diesel engine performance and the effects of
different types of fuels with the same oxygen content on engine
performance under high altitude conditions, and to provide a the-
oretical foundation for the application and promotion of biomass
oxygenated alternative fuels in high-altitude regions.
2. Experimental materials and methods
anhydrous ethanol fuel (having 99.5% concentration), and a biodie-
sel fuel (made from waste oil). Particularly for this experiment,
three types of BED fuels were prepared, denoted as BxEx (x means
volume fraction). They are: B10E3 (containing 10% biodiesel in vol-
ume percentage in the blend fuel, 3% ethanol, and 87% petroleum
diesel), B15E3 (containing 15% biodiesel, 3% ethanol, and 82%
petroleum diesel), and B15E5 (15% biodiesel, 5% ethanol, and 80%
petroleum diesel). Their oxygen contents are 2%, 2.5%, and 3.2%,
respectively. In addition, another type of BD fuel was prepared,
which contained 70% diesel in volume blending with 30% biodiesel,
denoted as B30. The physicochemical properties of the single fuels
and blend fuels used in the experiment are listed in Table 2.
The lower heating values of bioethanol and biodiesel are both
lower than that of the pure diesel fuel. Therefore, it is necessary
to introduce a parameter ‘‘brake specific energy consumption
(BSEC) (g/kW h)’’ to fully reflect the fuel economy of the engine
that is fueled with BED and BD blends. The calculation formula of
BSEC is defined as follows in Eq. (1). The BSFC (g/kW h) shown in
Eq. (1) is brake specific fuel consumption. qBED (g/cm3) is the den-
sity of biodiesel–ethanol–diesel blend fuel at 20 °C. VE, VB, and VD
are the volume fractions of ethanol, biodiesel, and diesel, respec-
tively. HVE (MJ/cm3), HVB (MJ/cm3), and HVD (MJ/cm3) are the volu-
metric lower heating values of ethanol, biodiesel, and diesel fuels,
respectively. HMD (MJ/g) is the gravimetric lower heating value of
the diesel fuel.
BSEC ¼ ðBSFC=qBED  V E  HVE þ BSFC=qBED  V B  HVB
þ BSFC=qBED  V D  HVD Þ=HMD ð1Þ

2.1. Testing equipment and experimental methods
The experimental test was carried out on a high pressure
common rail diesel engine, YN30CR, as shown in Table 1. Other
experimental devices included a hydrodynamic dynamometer
(WE31, China), a fuel consumption meter (AVL 733, Austria), and
a smoke meter (FQD-102A, China).
The simulated device for varying atmospheric conditions uses a
system of ‘‘micro-computer controlled simulated atmospheric con-
dition’’ to achieve simulated pressures and temperatures at differ-
ent altitude and ambient pressure conditions. And it mainly
consists of a dynamometer, an inlet and exhaust simulating device,
a controller, and several sensors of pressure, temperature, and air
flow rate [16,17].
During the test, all test data collections were performed after
stable operation of the engine. Under the same measurement
conditions, three measurements were carried out for each data
collection. And the average of the three measurements was used
to represent the test result.
2.2. Fuels used in the experiments
Based on the stability study of biodiesel–ethanol–diesel blend
fuels [20], several BED blends with different oxygen contents were
prepared with different proportions of the No. 0 diesel fuel, an
The experiment was conducted at the altitude level of 1912 m
with the atmospheric pressure of 81 kPa. Since the purpose of
the experiment was to investigate a relative and straight compar-
ison among different types of fuels, the base engine calibration and
design were not modified or adjusted, and it was not necessary to
correct the experimental data to standard environmental
conditions.
3. Results and discussions
3.1. Effects of altitude and fuel oxygen content on diesel engine
performance
3.1.1. Analysis of engine full-load performance
Engine testing was carried out on the diesel engine at full load
using the pure diesel fuel under three atmospheric pressures
(81 kPa, 90 kPa, and 100 kPa) and using four different types of fuels
(the pure diesel and three BED fuels, which were B10E3, B15E3,
and B15E5) with different oxygen contents under the atmospheric
pressure of 81 kPa. Table 3 shows the collected torque data of the
diesel engine using the pure diesel fuel at full load at 81 kPa ambi-
ent pressure and the uncertainties of the data. Fig. 1 shows the
effect of different altitude levels on full-load engine performance.

Table 2
Table 1 Physicochemical properties of fuels.
Engine specifications.
Fuel Density at Cetane Lower heating Oxygen content
Engine Configuration YN30CR BOSCH common rail system, type 20 °C (kg/m3) number value (MJ/kg) (% in weight)
turbocharged and intercooled Diesel 837.9 53.1 42.845 0
Number of cylinders In-line, 4 cylinders Biodiesel 880 56 39.5 10
Bore  stroke 95 mm  105 mm Ethanol 789.3 8 26.778 34.8
Engine displacement 2.977 L B10E3 835 52.037 42.32 2
Engine compression ratio 18:1 B15E3 839 52.182 42.05 2.5
Peak torque 289 N m at 2200 r/min B15E5 837 51.28 41.8 3.2
Rated power 79 kW at 3200 r/min B30 850 53.79 41.8 3.1
 S. Liu et al. / Fuel 118 (2014) 243–249 245

Table 3 300
Data acquisition and uncertainty evaluation of the engine brake torque.
280
Engine speed (r/ Engine brake Average Combined

Engine brake torque (N·m)

min) torque (N m) value standard 260
uncertainty
Value Value Value
240
1 2 3
3200 239.2 237.6 237.2 238.0 1.5 220 Pure diesel
3000 261.3 263.9 263.8 263.0 1.7 Oxygen content 2%
200
2800 277.3 275.2 274.6 275.7 1.8
Oxygen content 2.5%
2600 280.5 282.8 281.5 281.6 1.8 180
2400 286.8 287.9 290.2 288.3 1.9
Oxygen content 3.2%
2200 287.7 289.6 291.2 289.5 2.0 160
2000 278.5 279.8 280.5 279.6 1.7
1800 271.2 269.4 268.2 269.6 1.8 140
1600 248.7 249.6 250.8 249.7 1.6
120
1400 204.6 206.2 207.8 206.2 1.5 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 2800 3200 3600
1200 171.8 173.9 174.8 173.5 1.3
1000 147.8 149.5 149.7 149.0 1.1 Engine speed (r/min)

Fig. 2. Effect of fuel oxygen contents on full-load engine performance at 81 kPa

ambient pressure.

300
with altitude. When the atmospheric pressure increases, ambient
280 air density and the oxygen content in the engine intake air in-
Engine brake torque (N·m)

260
240
220
200
180
160
140
120
800 1200 1600 2000 2400
Engine speed (r/min)
Fig. 1. Effect of different altitude levels on full-load engine performance.
Fig. 2 indicates the effect of fuel oxygen contents on full-load per-
formance at 81 kPa ambient pressure.
Table 3 indicates three times of the engine brake torque data of
the diesel engine at full load when the pure diesel fuel is used at
81 kPa. The uncertainty evaluation of the measured data is based
on the ‘‘GUM’’ (Guide to the expression of Uncertainty in Measure-
ment) method. In this paper, combined standard uncertainties of
the engine brake torque, BSFC and soot emission are within
2 N m, 3.8 g/(kW h) and 0.2 BSU respectively.
As shown in Fig. 1, when the pure diesel fuel is used, as the
atmospheric pressure increases, the engine brake torque gradually
increases in the low speed range. As the speed increases, the
engine brake torque does not change significantly with the atmo-
spheric pressure. On the whole, the influence of the atmospheric
pressure change on the engine power performance was not signif-
icant. Fig. 2 shows that the torques of BED blends are lower than
those of the pure diesel fuel at 81 kPa ambient pressure, and these
parameters gradually decrease as the oxygen content increases.
The average drop is 10.51%.
Previous research suggests that the oxygen content in the en-
gine intake air decreases by approximately 10% as the altitude level
increases by one kilometer [21]. Through their study on the effects
of altitude on different parameters of diesel engines, Lapuerta et al.
[22] pointed out that atmospheric pressure, mole fraction of
oxygen in the air and oxygen concentration in the air decreased
with altitude. And the effect of pressure was the most important
factor which contributed to the decrease in oxygen concentration
crease. If the engine fueling rate is kept unchanged, the air–fuel ra-
tio inside the cylinder increases, and this may improve the
combustion process. But the fuel quantity injected and the fuel
flow rates are not increased accordingly [23,24], so the change in
81 kPa
90 kPa the engine power performance with the atmospheric pressure
100 kPa was not significant. Because the lower heating values of bioethanol
and biodiesel are both lower than that of the pure diesel fuel, the
lower heating values of the BED blends gradually decrease as the
fuel oxygen content increases. Therefore, at the engine full-load
torque decreases when the fueling mass flow rate is not adjusted.
A comparison between Figs. 1 and 2 reveals that the increase of in-
2800 3200 3600 take air oxygen content caused by the increasing atmospheric
pressure does not change the engine torque significantly and the
lower heating value of the fuel is not affected. In contrast, the in-
crease of fuel oxygen content decreases the engine torque because
of the reduced lower heating values of the BED fuels. Therefore, in
the latter case, fueling rate has to be increased if the original en-
gine power needs to remain unchanged.
3.1.2. Fuel economy analysis
Engine performance testing was conducted at different loads at
rated speed 3200 r/min and peak torque speed 2200 r/min. Two
fixed engine operating modes, 3200 r/min 220 N m and 2200 r/
min 250 N m, were chosen for more convenient comparison and
analysis of different fuels or altitude conditions. Fig. 3 shows the
BSFC curve of the pure diesel fuel at different altitude conditions.
Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate the effect of oxygen content of BED fuels
on BSFC, effective thermal efficiency and BSEC at the 81 kPa ambi-
ent pressure.
Fig. 3 shows that as atmospheric pressure increases, the BSFC
gradually decreases, with a maximum of 3% at 3200 r/min and
2.9% at 2200 r/min. Fig. 4 shows that no significant difference in
BSFC of the BED blends can be observed and the effective thermal
efficiency is improved at 81 kPa ambient pressure. From the point
of view of energy consumption in Fig. 5, the BSEC of the BED blends
are all lower than that of the pure diesel fuel, and this parameter
gradually decreases with the increase of oxygen content. The great-
est drop at 3200 r/min is 4.72%, and 4.71% at 2200 r/min.
Both elevated atmospheric pressure and oxygen-containing
characteristics of the BED fuels are beneficial in term of increasing
the oxygen content in the combustion process, hence improving
combustion and the thermal efficiency and reducing fuel consump-
tion. Because bioethanol has a higher value of latent heat of vapor-
246 S. Liu et al. / Fuel 118 (2014) 243–249

260 1.6

1.4
250
BSFC (g/(kW·h))

1.2 81 kPa
240

Smoke (BSU)
3200r/min (220N•m) 1.0 90 kPa

230 2200r/min (250N•m) 0.8 100 kPa

0.6
220
0.4
210
81 90 100 0.2
Atmospheric pressure (kPa)
0.0
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2
Fig. 3. Effect of different altitude levels on BSFC using the pure diesel fuel.
BMEP (MPa)
(a)

Effective thermal efficiency

260 1.0
250 0.9
240 0.8 1.4
BSFC (g/(kW·h))

230 0.7
220 1.2
0.6
210
0.5 (%)
200 1.0

Smoke (BSU)
0.4 81 kPa
190
180 0.3 0.8 90 kPa
3200r/min (220N•m) 0.2
170 100 kPa
160 2200r/min (250N•m) 0.1 0.6
150 0.0
0 2.0 2.5 3.2 0.4
Oxygen content (%) 0.2
Fig. 4. Effect of oxygen content of BED fuels on BSFC and effective thermal 0.0
efficiency at 81 kPa ambient pressure. 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4
BMEP (MPa)
(b)
260
Fig. 6. Effect of different altitude levels on soot emission using the pure diesel fuel.
250 (a) 3200 r/min engine speed. (b) 2200 r/min engine speed.
BSEC (g/(kW·h))

240
3200r/min (220N•m)
the differences in the state of oxygen in air or fuel and the fuel
230 2200r/min (250N•m) physicochemical properties.
220

210 3.1.3. Soot emission analysis

200
0 2.0 2.5
Oxygen content (%)
Fig. 5. Effect of oxygen content of BED fuels on BSEC at 81 kPa ambient pressure.
ization, the processes of fuel evaporation and atomization can be
improved. Because biodiesel has a higher cetane number than
the pure diesel fuel, the ignition process can be improved. These
are also the reasons for the improved effective thermal efficiency.
When the BED fuels are used, the reduction in the lower heating
values of the fuels and the improvement of the effective thermal
efficiency lead to no significant change in BSFC.
Assuming that the oxygenated fuels have the same lower heat-
ing values as the diesel fuel, the fuel consumption of the BED
blends is lower than that of the diesel fuel. A comparison between
Figs. 3 and 5 reveals that as the atmospheric pressure increases
from 81 kPa to 100 kPa, the oxygen content in the engine intake
air may increase by more than 10%. This increase percentage is
far above the oxygen content of the tested BED blends (note that
the highest oxygen content in this experiment is 3.2%). However,
under the assumption of the same lower heating values, the
improvement in fuel consumption due to the increase of BED
blend’s oxygen content is even greater. The main reason is due to
Fig. 6 indicates the effect of different altitude levels on soot
emission. Fig. 7 shows the effect of oxygen content of the BED
3.2
blends on soot emission at 81 kPa ambient pressure.
It is observed from Fig. 6 that when the pure diesel fuel is used,
as the atmospheric pressure increases, soot emission decreases by
an average percentage of 41% at 3200 r/min and 35% at 2200 r/min.
Fig. 7 shows that the soot emissions of the BED blends are basically
lower than those of the pure diesel fuel at all engine load levels at
the two engine speeds at 81 kPa ambient pressure. Moreover, the
soot emissions gradually decrease as the oxygen content increases.
The average percentage of reduction is 56% at 3200 r/min and 47%
at 2200 r/min. Therefore, it can be concluded that compared to the
effect of increasing atmospheric oxygen content by altitude varia-
tion, the effect of increasing oxygen content in BED fuels on soot
emission reduction is more prominent.
In general, soot formation mainly is due to lack of oxygen in the
high temperature region of the fuel mixture in the combustion
zone. The increase of the oxygen content in the engine intake air
caused by an atmospheric pressure increase and the oxygenated
characteristics of BED fuels may help reduce the hypoxic areas
and allow the fuel to fully combust. Because biodiesel has a higher
cetane number than the pure diesel fuel, the ignition process can
be improved. Because bioethanol has a greater value of latent heat
of vaporization, the processes of fuel evaporation and atomization
can be improved and the gas temperature in the cylinder can be re-
duced. In addition, it is generally believed that acetylene (C2H2)
 S. Liu et al. / Fuel 118 (2014) 243–249 247

1.6 300

Engine brake torque (N·m)

1.4 Pure diesel 280
1.2 Oxygen content 2% 260
Smoke (BSU)

1.0 Oxygen content 2.5% 240

Oxygen content 3.2% 220
0.8
Pure diesel
0.6 200
BD blended fuel
0.4 180
BED blended fuel
0.2 160
0.0 140
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2
120
BMEP (MPa) 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 2800 3200 3600

(a) Engine speed (r/min)

Fig. 8. Effect of BED and BD fuels with the same oxygen content on full-load engine
1.4 performance at 81 kPa ambient pressure.
1.2 Pure diesel
Oxygen content 2%
Smoke (BSU)

1.0
Oxygen content 2.5%
0.8 1600
Oxygen content 3.2% 200
0.6
180 1400
0.4 1200 r/min

Cylinder temperature (K)

160
2200 r/min

Cylinder pressure (bar)

0.2 1200
140 3200 r/min
0.0 1000
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 120
BMEP (MPa) 100 800

(b) 80 600

Fig. 7. Effect of oxygen content of the BED fuels on soot emission at 81 kPa ambient
pressure. (a) 3200 r/min engine speed. (b) 2200 r/min engine speed.
plays a key role in the growth of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
(PAHs) and soot particles. It is a precursor of soot formation. Previ-
ous research showed that the contents of acetylene (C2H2) formed
in the combustion process of oxygenated fuels are less than those
of hydrocarbon fuels. Therefore, compared to hydrocarbon fuels, it
is not easy to form soot for oxygenated fuels [25]. Based on the
above analysis, increasing oxygen content in BED fuels has a more
significant impact on soot emission reduction, and therefore it is
one of the effective measures to use oxygenated BED fuels in
high-altitude anoxic regions for soot emission reduction.
There exists a well-known trade-off relationship between the
NOx and PM emissions in the diesel engine. Lapuerta et al. [22]
found that marked reductions in NOx emissions can be observed
in naturally aspirated engines with altitude. Reducing NOx emis-
sions with altitude is mainly due to decreased adiabatic combus-
tion temperature. Ye and Boehman [26] suggested that the
increase of biodiesel fueling can significantly reduce PM emissions
at low load condition, while can significantly increase the NOx
emissions at the same SOI and fuel injection pressure. In this paper,
the increase of the atmospheric pressure and the using of the BED
oxygenated fuels are conducive to the reduction in soot emissions.
But the effect of these factors on the NOx emissions and the trade-
off relationship between the NOx and PM emissions need to be
further researched and analyzed.
3.2. Effect of BED and BD fuels with the same oxygen content on diesel
engine performance
In order to compare the effect of different categories of fuels
with the same oxygen content on diesel engine performance, tests
were carried out on the diesel engine fueled with B15E5 and B30,
with basically the same oxygen content of approximately 3% at
81 kPa ambient pressure.
60
400
40
200
20
0 0
-25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0
Crank angle (Deg.)
Fig. 9. The cylinder pressure and cylinder temperature on full-load engine
performance using the pure diesel fuel at 81 kPa ambient pressure.
3.2.1. Comparative analysis of engine full-load performance
The effect of BED and BD fuels with the same oxygen content of
approximately 3% on full-load engine performance at 81 kPa
ambient pressure is presented in Fig. 8. The cylinder pressure
and cylinder temperature on full-load engine performance using
the pure diesel fuel at 81 kPa ambient pressure is presented in
Fig. 9.
It is observed from Fig. 8 that the engine brake torques of the
two blended fuels are both lower than that of the pure diesel fuel
at full load, which mainly is due to the decreased lower heating
values of the fuel blends. At low speeds, the torque of the BD fuel
is higher than that of the BED fuel. As the engine speed increases,
the difference in torque between the two fuels reduces and finally
basically vanishes. This mainly is due to the reason that before
combustion, the pressure and temperature in the cylinder at low
speeds are relatively low, and the high value of latent heat of
vaporization of the bioethanol in the BED fuels will further reduce
the temperature and pressure, causing an adverse effect on com-
bustion. As the engine speed increases, the pressure and tempera-
ture in the cylinder before combustion increase, and the effect of
the high value of latent heat of vaporization of the bioethanol
becomes weakened, while the oxygen content of the fuel plays a
dominant role. Therefore, it can be concluded that the BED and
BD fuels with the same oxygen content have different effects on
full-load engine performance because of their different fuel catego-
ries and characteristics.
248 S. Liu et al. / Fuel 118 (2014) 243–249

445 2.0
430
415 1.8
400 1.6 Pure diesel
BSFC (g/(kW·h))

385 Pure diesel

370 1.4 BD blended fuel

Smoke (BSU)
355 BD blended fuel 1.2 BED blended fuel
340 BED blended fuel
325 1.0
310 3200 0.8
295
280 0.6
265
250 0.4
235 2200 0.2
220
205 0.0
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4
BMEP (MPa) BMEP (MPa)
(a)
Fig. 10. Effects of the BED and BD fuels with the same oxygen content on BSFC at
81 kPa ambient pressure.
2.0
1.8
0.5 1.6 Pure diesel
Effective thermal efficiency (%)

1.4 BD blended fuel

Smoke (BSU)
1.2 BED blended fuel
0.4 2200
1.0
0.8
0.3 0.6
3200 Pure diesel
0.4
BD blended fuel
0.2
0.2 BED blended fuel
0.0
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4

0.1 BMEP (MPa)

0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4
(b)
BMEP (MPa)
Fig. 13. Effects of the BED and BD fuels with the same oxygen content on soot
Fig. 11. Effects of the BED and BD fuels with the same oxygen content on effective emission at 81 kPa ambient pressure. (a) 3200 r/min engine speed. (b) 2200 r/min
thermal efficiency at 81 kPa ambient pressure. engine speed.

Fig. 12 indicates that the BSEC of the BED fuel is lower than that
430 of the pure diesel fuel, while the BSEC of the BD fuel becomes basi-
415 cally the same level as the diesel fuel at low loads at 3200 r/min
400
385 and substantially higher at high loads of both speeds. Therefore,
BSEC (g/(kW·h))

370 Pure diesel the BED and BD fuels with the same oxygen contents have different
355
340
BD blended fuel effects on the fuel economy. The fuel economy in the former case is
325 BED blended fuel better.
310 It should be noted that although the oxygen contents of both
295 3200
280 types of the blended fuels are basically the same, there are great
265 differences in cetane number, density, latent heat of vaporization,
250
235 viscosity, saturation vapor pressure, and these are the reasons for
2200
220 the difference in fuel economy. Because the bioethanol in the
205 BED blended fuel has a lower boiling point and a higher value of
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4
BMEP (MPa) latent heat of vaporization, the process of fuel atomization, evapo-
ration, and fuel–air mixing can be improved, leading to higher
Fig. 12. Effects of the BED and BD fuels with the same oxygen content on BSEC at combustion efficiency and better fuel economy. The adverse effects
81 kPa ambient pressure. of high viscosity and density on fuel atomization may be the main
reason for the poor economy of the BD fuel.

3.2.2. Comparative analysis of fuel economy
Figs. 10–12 show the effects of the BED and BD fuels with
oxygen content of approximately 3% on BSFC, effective thermal
efficiency and BSEC at 81 kPa ambient pressure.
Figs. 10 and 11 indicates that the BSFC of the BED fuel is lower
than those of the pure diesel fuel and the BD fuel at low loads of
both speeds, while the BSFC of the BED fuel is substantially the
pure diesel fuel level at high loads. The BSFC of the BD fuel at each
load level of both speeds is substantially higher than that of the
pure diesel fuel. The effective thermal efficiency of the BED fuel
is higher than those of the pure diesel fuel and the BD fuel.
3.2.3. Comparative analysis of soot emissions
The effects of the BED and BD fuels with oxygen content of
approximately 3% on soot emission of the diesel engine at 81 kPa
ambient pressure are shown in Fig. 13.
It is observed from Fig. 13 that the soot emissions of the BED
and BD fuels at each load level of both speeds are basically lower
than that of the pure diesel fuel. Compared with the soot emission
of the BD fuel, the soot emission of the BED fuel is even lower. Pre-
vious research showed that bioethanol can reduce soot formation
during the combustion process to a greater extent compared with
biodiesel [12]. This mainly is associated with the lower boiling
 S. Liu et al. / Fuel 118 (2014) 243–249
point and viscosity as well as the combustion characteristics of the
bioethanol. Therefore, it can be concluded that soot emission is not
only affected by the oxygen content of the fuel, but also related to
the type and property of the fuel.
4. Conclusions
In this research, the effects of altitude (denoted as atmospheric
pressures 81 kPa, 90 kPa, and 100 kPa) and the BED fuel oxygen
content (2%, 2.5%, and 3.2%) were evaluated in terms of engine
power, fuel economy and soot emission of a high pressure common
rail diesel engine. Furthermore, the effect of different fuel blends
BD (B30) and BED (B15E5) with the same oxygen content (approx-
imately 3%) on the performance of the diesel engine was investi-
gated. From this study, the following conclusions can be drawn:
(1) The effects of altitude variation and fuel oxygen content
change on engine power of the diesel engine are different.
When the pure diesel fuel is used, the full-load engine brake
torque does not change significantly as the atmospheric
pressure increases. With the increase of BED fuel oxygen
content, the engine brake torque reduces.
(2) With the increase of atmospheric pressure, the brake specific
fuel consumption decreases when the pure diesel fuel is
used. No significant difference in brake specific fuel con-
sumption of the BED blends can be observed and the values
of brake specific energy consumption gradually decrease as
the fuel oxygen content increases.
(3) On this diesel engine, the soot emission decreases with the
increase of atmospheric pressure and the fuel oxygen con-
tent. Fuel oxygen content variation has a more remarkable
effect on soot emission reduction than the effect of intake
air oxygen content affected by altitude variation.
(4) The effects of the BD and BED fuels with basically the same
oxygen content on full-load performance, fuel economy, and
soot emission of the diesel engine are different. The brake
specific fuel consumption and soot emission of the BED fuel
are lower than those of the BD fuel.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foun-
dation of China (Nos. 51166006 and 51246004) and the Applied
Basic Research Program of Yunnan Province (No. 2011FA011).
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