Energy 72 (2014) 608e617

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

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

Combustion and emission characteristics of a DME (dimethyl ether)-

diesel dual fuel premixed charge compression ignition engine with
EGR (exhaust gas recirculation)
Yuwei Zhao, Ying Wang*, Dongchang Li, Xiong Lei, Shenghua Liu
School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, People's Republic of China

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

Article history: In this study, effects of DME (dimethyl ether) pre-mixing ratio and cooled external EGR (exhaust gas
Received 3 November 2013 recirculation) rate on combustion, performance and emission characteristics of a DME-diesel dual fuel
Received in revised form PCCI (premixed charge compression ignition) engine were investigated in a 2105 engine. PCCI com-
22 May 2014
bustion at a high pre-mixing ratio exhibited a three-stage-combustion behavior. The peak values of heat
Accepted 23 May 2014
release rate and pressure rise rate increased in HCCI (homogeneous charge compression ignition)
Available online 18 June 2014
combustion stage and decreased in diesel diffusion combustion stage. A higher DME pre-mixing ratio
caused lower smoke and NOx (nitrogen oxides) emissions but higher HC (hydrocarbons) and CO (carbon
Keywords:
DME (dimethyl ether)-diesel dual fuel
monoxide) emissions. Adopting EGR, the peak values of in-cylinder pressure and calculated mean charge
Premixed charge compression ignition temperature decreased. Meanwhile, the crank-angle positions corresponding to the maximum heat
Exhaust gas recirculation release rate and maximum pressure rise rate lagged respectively. Equivalent brake specific fuel con-
Combustion characteristics sumption increased. With an increase in EGR rate, NOx emission decreased sharply, however, smoke, HC
Exhaust emissions and CO emissions increased. Nevertheless, decreasing levels in maximum values of in-cylinder pressure
and temperature, heat release rate and pressure rise rate, as well as lagging degrees in crank-angle
positions corresponding to the above-mentioned maximum values, gradually weakened with an in-
crease in DME pre-mixing ratio.
© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction conducted to improve the performance and emission of the diesel

The worldwide usage of fossil fuels in the autos produces vast
harmful pollutants such as NOx (nitrogen oxides), PM (particulate
matter), CO (carbon monoxide) and HC (hydrocarbons) [1]. Addi-
tionally, the increasingly stringent emission regulations and rising
cost of fossil fuel drive engineers to develop the more high-
efficiency and low-emission engines. Thus, the interests have
been focused on the domains of the engine-related and the fuel-
related techniques in the automotive industry [2]. Compared to
the gasoline engines, the diesel engines are more attractive because
of their higher fuel economy, durability, reliability, and specific
power output. However, the conventional diesel combustion suf-
fers from higher NOx and smoke emissions because of the local fuel
richness and overall lean combustion [3]. Many studies have been
* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ86 29 82668726; fax: þ86 29 82668789.
E-mail addresses: ervrn@126.com (Y. Zhao), yingw@mail.xjtu.edu.cn (Y. Wang),
494446572@qq.com (D. Li), 1272988347@qq.com (X. Lei), shenghua@mail.xjtu.edu.
cn (S. Liu).
engines [4]. Several new alternative combustion processes have
been proposed to achieve such a goal. HCCI (homogeneous charge
compression ignition) engines can keep almost the same brake
thermal efficiency as that of DICI (direct injection compression
ignition) engines and reduce both NOx and smoke emissions at the
same time [5]. However, the HCCI concept faces many challenges,
such as lack of effective control of the ignition timing and com-
bustion phase under different operating conditions, difficulty in an
extension of the operating range, and high level of HC and CO
emissions [6].
PCCI (premixed charge compression ignition) combustion is
considered as an intermediate concept between HCCI combustion
and DICI combustion. It combines the advantages of HCCI and DICI
combustion and shows the low pollution and high combustion
efficiency [7e9]. Due to the simultaneous reduction in NOx and
smoke emissions, PCCI combustion has been studied over the past
years. Lee et al. [10] experimentally and numerically studied the
influences of a pre-mixing ratio on the combustion and emission
characteristics in a PCCI engine, and found that both NOx and smoke
emissions decreased remarkably with an increase in the pre-

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2014.05.086
0360-5442/© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 Y. Zhao et al. / Energy 72 (2014) 608e617
mixing ratio. Experiments conducted by Tsolakis et al. [11] evalu-
ated the application of the exhaust gas fuel reforming technique in
diesel engines as a way to extend the premixed combustion and
thus assist the partial PCCI engine operation. Laguitton et al. [12]
studied the effects of injection timing and compression ratio on
the emission characteristics of a PCCI diesel engine. Their results
showed that both NOx and smoke emissions decreased greatly by
retarding the injection timing and reducing the compression ratio.
However, HC and CO emissions slightly increased. Jia et al. [13]
investigated the effects of SOI (start of injection) and IVC (intake
valve close) timing on the performance and emissions of a diesel
PCCI engine using a full-cycle CFD (computational fluid dynamics)
simulation. The results indicated that the operating range could be
divided into the kinetically controlled region and the mixing-
controlled region, in which the ignition timing was solely
controlled by IVC timing and SOI timing respectively. NOx emission
was significantly reduced by using the retarded IVC timing and
optimized SOI timing. More recently, Torregrosa et al. [14] found
that compared with the conventional diesel combustion, PCCI
combustion with pilot and main injections produced a significant
reduction in NOx (mostly due to the use of a high EGR (exhaust gas
recirculation) rate) and smoke (due to the increased pre-mixing
levels of air and fuel before start of combustion).
Dimethyl ether is of great potential to be an alternative fuel in the
diesel engines due to its higher cetane number [15]. In addition, DME
(dimethyl ether) is an extremely clean fuel due to its simple chemical
structure (no carbonecarbon bonds) and high oxygen content
(around 35% by mass). In view of these advantages, the PCCI engine
fueled with DME has been researched in recent years. The investi-
gation conducted by Zhang et al. [16] focused on decreasing the
brake specific fuel consumption of a diesel engine by introducing the
pyrolyzed DME into the air intake and fueling the emulsified fuel to
the diesel engine together. Their results showed that the BSFC (brake
specific fuel consumption) reduced a lot when DME was heated to
about 1000 K before being introduced into the intake air. The reason
DME could afford a high saving rate of BSFC was that it could produce
much hydrogen when being heated to such a high temperature.
Wang et al. [17] investigated the effect of DME pilot quantities on the
combustion and emissions in a DME PCCI engine. They found that
NOx emission reduced about 20e90%, but HC and CO emissions
increased sharply in comparison to those at DICI mode.
Exhaust gas recirculation has also been proved to be an excellent
method to reduce NOx emission and control the combustion process
[18]. A part of exhaust gas containing CO and CO2 (carbon dioxide) is
recycled into the engine intake air, which effectively increases the
specific heat capacity and decreases the combustion temperature.
Concurrently, the recycled gas dilutes the O2 (oxygen) concentration
of the working fluid. Therefore, NOx formation can be effectively
controlled. Many studies on the combustion and emission character-
istics of the various PCCI engines combined with EGR have been car-
ried out. Fang et al. [19] investigated the effects of EGR on the
combustion and emissions characteristics of a HCCI-DI (direct injec-
tion) combustion engine. Results revealed that the HCCI-DI combus-
tion with a low level of EGR led to a great reduction in NOx emission
and an acceptable increase in smoke emission. The cycle-to-cycle
variations had an obvious decline when EGR was applied. Further-
more, BSFC increased slightly with a rise of EGR and pilot quantity.
Kiplimo et al. [20] studied the effects of EGR and injection parameters
on the combustion and emission characteristics of a PCCI engine. It
was found that higher EGR rates caused the simultaneous reduction in
smoke and NOx emissions but the increase in HC and CO emissions.
Furthermore, with a retarded injection timing of 2e10 BTDC (before
top dead center), the indicated mean effective pressure and indicated
thermal efficiency without EGR was superior to those cases with EGR.
However, introducing 40% EGR improved the indicated thermal
609
efficiency and indicated mean effective pressure for the injection
timing of 15e20 BTDC. Chen et al. [21] studied the effects of EGR and
port fuel injection of n-butanol on the combustion and emission of a
diesel engine. Their results showed that with an increase in EGR rate,
NOx emission decreased but smoke, HC and CO emissions increased.
HC and CO emissions increased with an increase in butanol concen-
tration, causing higher indicated specific fuel consumption and lower
indicated thermal efficiency. With high EGR rate, both NOx and smoke
emissions decreased with an increase in butanol concentration.
Although there have been many studies concerning PCCI en-
gines with EGR, there is little information about combustion and
emission characteristics of a DME-diesel dual fuel premixed charge
compression ignition engine with EGR. Therefore, the main objec-
tive of the study reported in this paper is to experimentally study
the effects of DME pre-mixing ratio and cooled external EGR rate on
the performance, combustion and emission characteristics of a
DME-diesel dual fuel PCCI engine. In this study, DME was inducted
to the intake air while diesel was injected directly into the cylinder
to realize the PCCI combustion mode.
2. Experimental apparatus
Experiments were conducted in a four-stroke, two-cylinder,
naturally aspirated diesel engine. The main engine parameters
were listed in Table 1. The main properties of DME and diesel were
shown in Table 2. An intake air system was modified to form an
approximately homogeneous mixture of DME and air. DME would
absorb much heat when it is gasified due to its high latent heat of
evaporation. Thus an intake heating system was used to maintain
the intake temperature at a constant level (about 50  C). The DME
mass flow rate was controlled through a check valve located up-
stream of the heater. The conventional diesel fuel supply system
was retained for DICI combustion process and the injection timing
was fixed at 7 CA (crank angle) BTDC.
A schematic diagram of the experimental set-up was shown in
Fig. 1. The experiment bench consisted of fuel consumption, cylin-
der pressure, EGR rate, crankshaft position and TDC (top dead
center) signals measurement system, as well as a conventional
exhaust emission sampling and analysis system. The cylinder
pressure was obtained by a water-cooled piezoelectric crystal
sensor (Kistler 7061) and a charge amplifier (Kistler 7061B). The
crank-angle position and TDC signals were measured with an op-
tical rotary encoder (Kistler 2613B). The signals of cylinder pressure
and TDC were collected by a data acquisition instrument (YOKO-
GAVA, DL750). An average of 100 consecutive cycles was used as
pressure data and then heat release rate was calculated according
to the first law of thermodynamics. Horiba MEXA-554JA was used
to measure HC and CO emissions. Horiba NOx ANSYS720 was used
to analyze NOx emission. Smoke was measured by AVL Dis-
moke4000. All the apparatus and analyzers were calibrated before
the experiments. The engine was preheated before the experiments
until cooling water temperature reached 80  C and the cooling
water temperature was kept at approximately 80  C during the
experiments.
Table 1
Main specifications of the experimental engine.
Bore, mm 105
Stroke, mm 120
Cylinder number 2
Displacement, L 2.078
Compression ratio 17
Rated speed, r/min 2300
Rated power, kW 21.9
Injection timing,  CA 7 BTDC
610 Y. Zhao et al. / Energy 72 (2014) 608e617

Table 2 3. Experimental results and discussions

Main physical and chemical property of DME and diesel.

Property DME Diesel To study the combustion and emission characteristics of a DME-
Chemical structure CH3eOeCH3 e
diesel dual fuel PCCI engine combined with EGR, comparative re-
Liquid density, g/cm3 0.668 0.84 sults and discussions were given in the following subsections at
Cetane number 55e65 40e55 different operating modes: neat diesel, dual fuel without EGR, and
Boiling point at 1 atm,  C 24.9 180e370 dual fuel with different EGR rates. With regard to the in-cylinder
Kinematic viscosity of liquid, cSt <0.1 3.0
pressure, in-cylinder mean charge temperature, pressure rise rate
Flash point,  C 41 55
Auto-ignition temperature,  C 350 z250 and heat release rate, the experiments were conducted at 0.25 MPa
Stoichiometric air/fuel mass ratio 8.9 14.3 and 0.5 MPa respectively under the speed of 1700 rpm. With regard
Lower heating value, MJ/kg 27.6 42.5 to performance and emissions, the experiments were also con-
Latent heat of evaporation, kJ/kg 461 (24.9  C) 250
ducted at 0.25 MPa and 0.5 MPa under the speed of 1700 rpm and
Carbon content, % (m) 52.2 86
Hydrogen content, % (m) 13 14
the results of the different operating modes were analyzed and
Oxygen content, % (m) 34.8 0 presented graphically for equivalent brake specific fuel consump-
tion, brake thermal efficiency, NOx concentration, smoke opacity,
HC and CO emissions.
In this study, mass consumption rate of DME and diesel were
both measured. Since the lower heating value of DME (27.6 MJ/kg) 3.1. In-cylinder pressure and mean charge temperature
was much lower than that of diesel (42.5 MJ/kg), DME pre-mixing
ratio was utilized and evaluated by formula (1): 3.1.1. In-cylinder pressure
Fig. 2 illustrated the variations of measured in-cylinder pressure.
mDME  HuDME
r¼  100% (1) Remarkable distinctions concerning with the peak value and the
mDME  HuDME þ mdiesel  Hudiesel
crank-angle position corresponding to the in-cylinder explosive
pressure were exhibited under various DME pre-mixing ratios and
where mDME represents the mass consumption rate of DME and
EGR rates. As the DME pre-mixing ratio increased, the in-cylinder
mdiesel represents the mass consumption rate of diesel. HuDME and
pressure and temperature increased due to the DME HCCI com-
Hudiesel represent the lower heating value of DME and diesel,
bustion. Thus, ignition delay period of diesel decreased and evap-
respectively. Therefore, r ¼ 0% represents the conventional DICI
oration of diesel improved, which led to a more complete
combustion.
combustion. Consequently, the peak pressure increased with an
ECM-EGR 5230 EGR/Dual Lambda/O2 Analyzer was used to
increase in DME pre-mixing ratio. For a fixed DME pre-mixing ratio,
measure EGR rate. A fraction of exhaust gas in the exhaust manifold
a fraction of cooled recycled exhaust gas containing plenty of high
was cooled by a shell-and-tube cooler and then introduced into the
specific heat capacity molecules and inert gases was introduced
intake manifold. The amount of recirculation gases was regulated
back into the cylinder by EGR, increasing specific heat capacity of
by a control valve. EGR rate (g), calculated based on the concen-
the mixture charge. Thus, by applying EGR, ignition tended to
tration of oxygen, was defined as formula (2):
initiate later in a cycle. Furthermore, as EGR rate increased, the
rair  rmixture ignition delay period prolonged due to a reduction in oxygen
gEGRO2 ¼  100% (2)
rair  rexhaust content available for combustion. Consequently, the combustion
was delayed and the in-cylinder pressure decreased with EGR.
where rair, rmixture, rexhaust respectively represents the oxygen con- However, the postponing degree in crank-angle positions corre-
tent of fresh air, the oxygen content of mixture in the intake sponding to the maximum in-cylinder pressure weakened at a high
manifold, and the oxygen content of exhaust gas. pre-mixing ratio. The reason was that a noticeable HCCI

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the experimental set-up.

 Y. Zhao et al. / Energy 72 (2014) 608e617
Fig. 2. Effects of pre-mixing ratio and EGR rate on the in-cylinder pressure.
combustion increased the in-cylinder pressure and temperature
and then inhibited the phenomenon that in-cylinder pressure
decreased with a rise of EGR rate.
3.1.2. In-cylinder mean charge temperature
In-cylinder temperature was considered to be one of the key
parameters for controlling the auto-ignition process. Fig. 3 depicted
the variations in the calculated mean charge temperature versus
the different pre-mixing ratios and EGR rates. As shown in Fig. 3,
the peak value of in-cylinder mean temperature increased with an
increase in DME pre-mixing ratio. The HCCI combustion before the
diesel diffusion combustion increased the in-cylinder pressure and
temperature, resulting in a reduced diesel ignition delay and an
earlier SOC (start of combustion). Thus, the heat release during
compression stroke increased, and then the peak value of in-
cylinder mean temperature increased.
The recycled exhaust gas contained some tri-atomic molecules
such as H2O and CO2, which increased the specific heat capacity of
the mixture. The mixture served as a thermal sink and absorbed in-
611
cylinder heat, decreasing the in-cylinder temperature. In addition,
the auto-ignition timing delayed by applying EGR, which also
reduced the peak value of the in-cylinder charge temperature. At
the condition of BMEP (brake mean effective pressure) ¼ 0.25 MPa,
when EGR varied from 0% to 27%, the peak value of in-cylinder
mean temperature decreased from 1641  C to 1591  C (3.05%
reduction) in the case of the normal diesel operation; the peak
value of in-cylinder mean temperature decreased from 1699  C to
1667  C (1.88% reduction) in the case of pre-mixing ratio ¼ 14%; the
peak value of in-cylinder mean temperature decreased from
1757  C to 1736  C (1.19% reduction) in the case of pre-mixing
ratio ¼ 30%. At the condition of BMEP ¼ 0.5 MPa, when EGR var-
ied from 0% to 27%, the peak value of in-cylinder mean temperature
decreased from 1930  C to 1865  C (3.37% reduction) in the case of
the normal diesel operation; the peak value of in-cylinder mean
temperature decreased from 2053  C to 2009  C (2.14% reduction)
in the case of pre-mixing ratio ¼ 14%; the peak value of in-cylinder
mean temperature decreased from 2089  C to 2060  C (1.38%
reduction) in the case of pre-mixing ratio ¼ 30%. The varying trend
612 Y. Zhao et al. / Energy 72 (2014) 608e617

Fig. 3. Effects of pre-mixing ratio and EGR rate on the calculated mean charge temperature.

of in-cylinder mean charge temperature in Fig. 3 suggested that
applying EGR was a useful method to reduce the in-cylinder tem-
perature for controlling NOx formation in a PCCI engine.
3.2. Heat release rate, combustion duration and pressure rise rate
3.2.1. Heat release rate
Heat release characteristics could directly exhibit the whole
combustion process and evaluate combustion rationality. The
comparisons of heat release rate versus the different pre-mixing
ratios and EGR rates were shown in Fig. 4. The heat release
process of the conventional DICI diesel engine included diesel
premixed combustion and diffusion combustion. However, in a
DME-diesel dual fuel PCCI engine, the heat release process
included the DME HCCI combustion and the diesel diffusion
combustion. At a low pre-mixing ratio (r ¼ 14%) and a low load
(BMEP ¼ 0.25 MPa), there were two peaks in the heat release
rate curve, caused respectively by DME LTR (low-temperature
reaction) combustion and diesel diffusion combustion. The entire
heat release process at a high pre-mixing ratio (r ¼ 30%) pre-
sented the three different stages: DME LTR combustion, DME
HTR (high-temperature reaction) combustion and diesel diffu-
sion combustion. The first stage HCCI LTR combustion proceeded
at about 25 CA BTDC. Then HCCI HTR combustion by the auto-
ignition of premixed mixture occurred. Finally, the diesel diffu-
sion combustion proceeded near the timing of injection
termination.
As the DME pre-mixing ratio increased, the density and
quantity of premixed mixture enhanced but those of diesel
reduced. Thus the peak value of heat release rate increased in the
HCCI combustion stage and decreased in the diesel diffusion
combustion stage. However, the crank-angle position corre-
sponding to the maximum heat release rate in HCCI LTR com-
bustion was almost kept constant (at about 24e25 CA BTDC). This
 Y. Zhao et al. / Energy 72 (2014) 608e617 613

Fig. 4. Effects of pre-mixing ratio and EGR rate on the heat release rate.

was because the appearance of low-temperature reaction was
mainly determined by temperature (reaction starting tempera-
ture was approximately 700e750 K [22]). The crank-angle posi-
tions corresponding to the maximum heat release rate in HCCI
HTR combustion and diesel diffusion combustion advanced with
an increase in pre-mixing ratio. The main reason was that the
ignition delay shortened and the SOC advanced as the amount of
DME increased.
Observing Fig. 4, it was found that EGR greatly affected the heat
release rate. The maximum heat release rate decreased and the
corresponding crank-angle position postponed with an increase in
EGR rate. When EGR was applied, the in-cylinder temperature and
pressure became lower due to the dilution effect of EGR, resulting
in a later SOC. Moreover, inert gas led to a longer ignition delay due
to its higher specific heat capacity, inhibiting the heat release. The
enhanced airefuel mixing before ignition due to the longer ignition
delay also led to a milder combustion.
3.2.2. Combustion duration
In this study, the crank angle of 10% accumulated heat release
was used to evaluate the start of PCCI combustion, and the interval
between 10% accumulated heat release and 90% accumulated heat
release was defined as the combustion duration. Fig. 5 illustrated
the variations of the calculated combustion duration versus the
different pre-mixing ratios and EGR rates. Compared with con-
ventional DICI engine, the DME-diesel dual fuel engine exhibited an
earlier SOC and extended combustion duration. At the condition of
BMEP ¼ 0.25 MPa, the SOC advanced 1.2 CA and the combustion
duration increased 1 CA in the case of pre-mixing ratio ¼ 14%; the
SOC advanced 6.2 CA and the combustion duration increased
2.2 CA in the case of pre-mixing ratio ¼ 30%. At the condition of
BMEP ¼ 0.5 MPa, the SOC advanced 2.2 CA and the combustion
duration increased 1 CA in the case of pre-mixing ratio ¼ 14%; the
SOC advanced 7 CA and the combustion duration increased 3.8 CA
in the case of pre-mixing ratio ¼ 30%. The reason was that the HCCI

Fig. 5. Effects of pre-mixing ratio and EGR rate on the combustion duration.
614 Y. Zhao et al. / Energy 72 (2014) 608e617

Fig. 6. Effects of pre-mixing ratio and EGR rate on the pressure rise rate.

combustion process occurred before the diesel injection, resulting
in an advanced SOC and extended combustion duration.
PCCI engine with EGR exhibited an obvious postponed SOC and
extended combustion duration. It can be attributed that, when EGR
was applied, the cooled recycled exhaust gas increased the specific
heat capacity of the charge and decreased the oxygen content.
3.2.3. Pressure rise rate
The comparisons of the pressure rise rate versus the different pre-
mixing ratios and EGR rates were shown in Fig. 6. There was only one
peak in a curve of pressure rise rate for the conventional DICI diesel
engine. However, in a DME-diesel dual fuel PCCI engine with a high
pre-mixing ratio (r ¼ 30%), there were three peaks in the curve of
pressure rise rate, respectively caused by HCCI LTR, HCCI HTR and
diesel diffusion combustion. With an increase in DME pre-mixing ra-
tio, the first peak during the HCCI LTR combustion process remained
almost at the same crank angle (24e25 CA BTDC), but slightly
increased in the value. The peak value of the pressure rise rate during
the HCCI HTR combustion process increased and the crank-angle po-
sition corresponding to this peak advanced. While, the peak value of
the pressure rise rate during the diffusion combustion decreased but
the crank-angle position corresponding to this peak advanced.
The maximum pressure rise rate is normally adopted to describe
combustion roughness. The researchers [23,24] reported that
combustion noise was proportional to the maximum pressure rise
rate in a diesel engine. Through an observation of pressure rise rate
traces in Fig. 6, it was noticed that the peak value of pressure rise
rate reduced with an increase in EGR rate, which indicated a
reduction in combustion noise. But at a high pre-mixing ratio, there
were almost no variations in the peak value of pressure rise rate.
That was to say, combustion noise was almost invariant with the
different EGR rates at high pre-mixing ratios.
From Figs. 2e6, the decreasing level in the value of in-cylinder
maximum pressure and temperature and the lagging degree in
crank-angle positions corresponding to the maximum heat release
rate and pressure rise rate gradually weakened with an increase of
pre-mixing ratio. The increase in in-cylinder temperature and
pressure from the HCCI combustion resulted in a shorter diesel
ignition delay and alleviated the delaying effect of EGR on the
combustion process. The interaction between the pre-mixing ratio
and the EGR rate played a key role in the combustion process [20].
3.3. Equivalent brake specific fuel consumption and brake thermal
efficiency
Brake thermal efficiency indicates an ability of different com-
bustion systems to accept the fuel and an efficiency of energy in the
fuel converted to the engine output [25]. In this study, beq (equiv-
alent brake specific fuel consumption) and het (brake thermal ef-
ficiency) were used due to the large disparity between the lower
heating value of DME and diesel. The definition of beq and het were
as follows (3) and (4):
Hu;mix B
beq ¼   103 (3)
Hu;diesel Pe
3:6  103  Pe
het ¼  100% (4)
B  Hu;mix
where B (kg/h) represents the fuel consumption per hour and Pe
(kW) represents the engine power output. Hu,mix (MJ/kg) repre-
sents the low heating value of the mixture, which is calculated by
the following equation (5):
Hu;mix ¼ Hu;DME  YDME þ Hu;diesel  Ydiesel (5)
where Hu,DME and Hu,diesel represent the lower heating value of
DME and lower heating value of diesel. YDME and Ydiesel represent
the DME mass fraction and diesel mass fraction in the blend,
respectively.
Fig. 7 showed, for the two loads considered, the beq and het
under the conventional diesel DICI operation and the DME-diesel
dual fuel PCCI operation. From the definition equation of the het
and beq, it could be noted that the het was inversely proportional to
the beq. Given that the above-mentioned close interrelation be-
tween the beq and the het, the results in Fig. 7 could be explained. It
was observed that, for a constant load, the beq for dual fuel PCCI
operation was lower than the one under the normal diesel opera-
tion and decreased with an increase in DME pre-mixing ratio. At
the condition of BMEP ¼ 0.25 MPa, the beq decreased from
283 g (kW h)1 to 266 g (kW h)1 (6.0% reduction), in the case of
pre-mixing ratio ¼ 40%. At the condition of BMEP ¼ 0.5 MPa, the beq
decreased from 242 g (kW h)1 to 224 g (kW h)1 (7.44% reduction),
in the case of pre-mixing ratio ¼ 40%. Correspondingly, the het for
dual fuel PCCI operation was higher and increased with an increase
in DME pre-mixing ratio. The HCCI combustion of the premixed
homogeneous mixture increased the in-cylinder temperature and
pressure, meanwhile decreased the diesel ignition delay; hence the
total fuel conversion efficiency improved and the fuel consumption
decreased. Furthermore, as the pre-mixing ratio increased, an in-
crease in the DME HCCI combustion and a decrease in the diesel
diffusion combustion resulted in an earlier start of combustion and
a more complete combustion. This also enhanced the combustion
efficiency and the fuel conversion efficiency. In addition, it was
observed in Fig. 7 that the beq increased and the het decreased with
 Y. Zhao et al. / Energy 72 (2014) 608e617
Fig. 7. Equivalent brake specific fuel consumption and brake thermal efficiency for different operating modes.
a reduction in BMEP in a PCCI engine, which was similar to the
conventional DICI engine.
Fig. 7 also showed the equivalent brake specific fuel consump-
tion and the brake thermal efficiency as a function of EGR. The beq
increased and het decreased with an increase in EGR rate. This
variation was attributed to the fact that the amount of fuel supplied
to the cylinder increased and the oxygen available for combustion
reduced at a high EGR rate. Thus, the air/fuel ratio reduced and the
beq increased.
3.4. Exhaust emission analysis
3.4.1. NOx and smoke emission
The variations of NOx emission and smoke opacity versus the
different pre-mixing ratios and EGR rates were demonstrated in
Fig. 8. It is well known that main factors affecting NOx formation
include the local temperature, the local oxygen concentration, and
the residence time in the high-temperature zone. A high oxygen
concentration and a high in-cylinder temperature result in a high
level of NOx emission. As shown in Fig. 8, NOx emission under the
dual fuel operation was a little lower than the one under the con-
ventional diesel operation and showed a descent tendency with an
increase in DME pre-mixing ratio. In the case of dual fuel com-
bustion, the ignition delay of the diesel fuel became shorter due to a
higher in-cylinder temperature and pressure. The diesel burned
faster in the diffusion combustion stage and the local high-
temperature regions shortened. Thus, NOx formation was sup-
pressed. Furthermore, with an increase in DME pre-mixing ratio,
more homogeneous mixture was introduced into the cylinder and
Fig. 8. NOx emission and smoke opacity for different operating modes.
615
then the oxygen-rich and high-temperature regions were reduced,
which also effectively prevented the formation of NOx.
NOx emission with EGR exhibited a decreasing trend as ex-
pected. It was caused by a reduced oxygen concentration and a
decreased flame temperature in the combustible mixture.
Furthermore, it could be observed that the decreasing level in NOx
emission gradually weakened with an increase in DME pre-mixing
ratio. This was because that the DME HCCI combustion reduced the
inhibition of EGR on NOx formation. Consequently, at a high pre-
mixing ratio, a high level of EGR could be used to decrease NOx.
Smoke emission is primarily produced at a high-temperature
and fuel-rich region. In Fig. 8, smoke emission showed a clear
descent tendency with an increase in DME pre-mixing ratio.
Without EGR, the coefficient of light absorption (k) reduced from
0.24 m1 to 0.10 m1 (58% reduction) at the condition of
BMEP ¼ 0.25 MPa and from 0.39 m1 to 0.11 m1 (72% reduction) at
the condition of BMEP ¼ 0.5 MPa in the case of pre-mixing
ratio ¼ 40%. The reason for this smoke reduction was that almost
no smoke produced in the HCCI combustion stage due to an
absence of CeC bonds in the molecular structure of DME. Secondly,
an increase in the DME HCCI combustion and a decrease in the
diffusion combustion resulted in an elevated in-cylinder tempera-
ture and an accelerated gas-flow, which improved the evaporation
of diesel and led to a more complete combustion.
Conversely, smoke emission increased obviously with an in-
crease in EGR rate. EGR resulted in a reduction in oxygen concen-
tration and an increase in the number of anoxic zones in the
cylinder, finally leading to a relatively incomplete combustion and
the resultantly high smoke emissions.
616 Y. Zhao et al. / Energy 72 (2014) 608e617
Fig. 9. HC and CO emissions for different operating modes.
3.4.2. HC and CO emissions
The variations of HC and CO emissions versus the different pre-
mixing ratios and EGR rates were demonstrated in Fig. 9 under
each test condition. Unburned HC mainly comes from several areas,
including the quenching area, the ring-crevice storage shaped by
piston, piston ring and cylinder wall, and the compression clearance.
Observing Fig. 9, it was obvious that the DME-diesel dual fuel com-
bustion mode had higher HC emissions compared with the conven-
tional DICI diesel mode. It was because in the HCCI combustion stage,
more HC were generated in the regions mentioned above. It was also
observed in Fig. 9 that the application of EGR to the dual fuel com-
bustion increased HC emissions. It indicated that at the same DME
pre-mixing ratio, HC emissions rose with an increase in EGR rate
because of a decreased in-cylinder temperature. In addition,
composition of the in-cylinder mixture changed and the oxygen
concentration decreased by the imported exhaust gases from EGR.
Thus, the combustion process worsened and HC emissions increased.
CO emission is a toxic intermediate of combustion reaction.
Unlike HC, the formation of CO is much more complex because it is
controlled by chemical kinetics. Observing Fig. 9, an increase in pre-
mixing ratio and EGR rate resulted in an increase in CO emission. CO
emission of the conventional DICI diesel engine was only 0.01%.
However, in the case of pre-mixing ratio ¼ 40%, CO emission was up
to 0.11% at BMEP ¼ 0.25 MPa and 0.12% at BMEP ¼ 0.5 MPa,
respectively. This increase could be inferred from an increase in CO
emission during the HCCI combustion. The varying trend of CO
emission with EGR was similar to that of HC emission. CO could not
be oxygenized into CO2 due to a decrease in oxygen concentration
and an increase in anoxic zones.
The variation in HC and CO emissions under the dual fuel PCCI
combustion was similar to the findings of other researchers [26].
From the results it was all observed that HC and CO emissions were
still at a high level. Hence, further researches would be required to
reduce HC and CO emissions by means of post-processing tech-
niques or increasing the mass of available air through
supercharging.
4. Conclusions
In the current work, experimental investigations were con-
ducted in a diesel engine to determine the effects of DME pre-
mixing ratio and cooled external EGR rate on the PCCI combus-
tion and exhaust emission characteristics. The principal findings
were summarized as follows:
(1) HCCI combustion of the premixed gas promoted the in-
cylinder pressure and temperature, resulting in an earlier
SOC and a shortened diesel ignition delay. The decrease in
the diesel fuel during the diffusion combustion improved the
mixing uniformity between the fuel and air. Thus, the com-
bustion became more complete and the brake thermal effi-
ciency improved.
(2) The DME-diesel dual fuel PCCI combustion included the DME
HCCI combustion and the diesel diffusion combustion. The
entire heat release process at a high pre-mixing ratio
(r ¼ 30%) presented the three different stages: DME low-
temperature reaction combustion, DME high-temperature
reaction combustion and diesel diffusion combustion. The
start of DME low-temperature reaction was almost invariant
(24e25 CA BTDC). The crank-angle positions corresponding
to the maximum heat release rate in the high-temperature
reaction combustion and the diesel diffusion combustion
advanced with an increase in pre-mixing ratio. Higher DME
pre-mixing ratio led to lower smoke and NOx emissions but
higher CO and HC emission.
(3) PCCI engine with EGR exhibited an obvious postponed SOC
and prolonged combustion duration. Thus, the maximum
values of in-cylinder pressure, mean charge temperature,
heat release rate and pressure rise rate all decreased, and the
crank-angle positions corresponding to the maximum values
of the above mentioned delayed with an increase in EGR rate.
However, the decreasing level in the maximum values of in-
cylinder pressure, mean charge temperature, heat release
rate and pressure rise rate, as well as the lagging degree in
the crank-angle positions corresponding to the above-
mentioned maximum values, gradually weakened with an
increase in DME pre-mixing ratio.
(4) EGR resulted in that the equivalent brake specific fuel con-
sumption increased and the brake thermal efficiency
decreased in a DME-diesel dual fuel PCCI engine. As the EGR
rate increased, NOx emission decreased, but smoke, CO and
HC emission increased. However, at a high pre-mixing ratio,
NOx emission improved and smoke emission still kept at a
relatively low level with a higher EGR rate.
Acknowledgments
This work is supported by Project of the Fundamental Research
Funds for the Central Universities (xjj2011009) and Project of Na-
tional Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 50706038).
References
[1] Abdelaal MM, Hegab AH. Combustion and emission characteristics of a natural
gas-fueled diesel engine with EGR. Energy Convers Manag 2012;64:301e12.
 Y. Zhao et al. / Energy 72 (2014) 608e617 617

[2] Rakopoulos DC, Rakopoulos CD, Giakoumis EG, Dimaratos AM. Characteristics [20] Kiplimo R, Tomita E, Kawahara N, Yokobe S. Effects of spray impingement,
of performance and emissions in high-speed direct injection diesel engine injection parameters, and EGR on the combustion and emission characteris-
fueled with diethyl ether/diesel fuel blends. Energy 2012;43:214e24. tics of a PCCI diesel engine. Appl Therm Eng 2012;37:165e75.
[3] Kim H, Kim Y, Lee K. A study of the characteristics of mixture formation and [21] Chen Z, Liu J, Wu Z, Lee C. Effects of port fuel injection (PFI) of n-butanol and
combustion in a PCCI engine using an early multiple injection strategy. Energy EGR on combustion and emissions of a direct injection diesel engine. Energy
Fuels 2008;22:1542e8. Convers Manag 2013;76:725e31.
[4] Iwazaki K, Amagai K, Arai M. Improvement of fuel economy of an indirect in- [22] Sato S, Lida N. Analysis of DME homogeneous charge compression ignition
jection (IDI) diesel engine with two-stage injection. Energy 2005;30:447e59. combustion. SAE paper no. 2003-01-1825; 2003.
[5] Lu X, Qian Y, Yang Z, Han D, Ji J, Zhou X, et al. Experimental study on com- [23] Ogawa H, Miyamoto N, Shimizu H. Characteristics of diesel combustion in low
pound HCCI (homogenous charge compression ignition) combustion fueled oxygen mixtures with ultra-high EGR. SAE paper no. 2006-01-1147; 2006.
with gasoline and diesel blends. Energy 2014;64:707e18. [24] Torregrosa AJ, Broatch A, Novella R, Mo nico LF. Suitability analysis of
[6] Yao M, Zheng Z, Liu H. Progress and recent trends in homogeneous charge advanced diesel combustion concepts for emissions and noise control. Energy
compression ignition (HCCI) engines. Prog Energy Combust Sci 2009;35: 2011;36:825e38.
398e437. [25] Ganesh D, Nagarajan G. Homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI)
[7] Soloiu V, Duggan M, Harp S, Vlcek B, Williams D. PFI (port fuel injection) of n- combustion of diesel fuel with external mixture formation. Energy 2010;35:
butanol and direct injection of biodiesel to attain LTC (low-temperature 148e57.
combustion) for low-emissions idling in a compression engine. Energy [26] Han M, Assanis DN, Bohac SV. Sources of hydrocarbon emissions from low-
2013;52:143e54. temperature premixed compression ignition combustion from a common
[8] Mancaruso Ezio, Vaglieco Bianca Maria. UV-visible imaging of PCCI engine rail direct injection diesel engine. Combust Sci Technol 2009;181:496e517.
running with ethanol/diesel fuel. SAE paper no.2012-01-1238; 2012.
[9] Jia M, Li Y, Xie M, Wang T. Numerical evaluation of the potential of late intake
valve closing strategy for diesel PCCI (premixed charge compression ignition)
Nomenclature
engine in a wide speed and load range. Energy 2013;51:203e15.
[10] Lee CS, Lee KH, Kim DS. Experimental and numerical study on the combustion PCCI: premixed charge compression ignition
characteristics of partially premixed charge compression ignition engine with DME: dimethyl ether
dual fuel. Fuel 2003;82:553e60. EGR: exhaust gas recirculation
[11] Tsolakis A, Megaritis A. Partially premixed charge compression ignition en- HCCI: homogeneous charge compression ignition
gine with on-board H2 production by exhaust gas fuel reforming of diesel and DICI: direct injection compression ignition
biodiesel. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2005;30:731e45. DI: direct injection
[12] Laguitton O, Crua C, Cowell T, Heikal MR, Gold MR. The effect of compression TDC: top dead center
ratio on exhaust emissions from a PCCI diesel engine. Energy Convers Manag BTDC: before top dead center
2007;48:2918e24. CA: crank angle ( )
[13] Jia M, Xie M, Wang T, Peng Z. The effect of injection timing and intake valve LTR: low-temperature reaction
close timing on performance and emissions of diesel PCCI engine with a full HTR: high-temperature reaction
engine cycle CFD simulation. Appl Energy 2011;88:2967e75. SOC: start of combustion
[14] Torregrosa AJ, Broatch A, García A, Mo nico LF. Sensitivity of combustion noise SOI: start of injection
and NOx and soot emissions to pilot injection in PCCI diesel engines. Appl IVC: intake valve close
Energy 2013;104:149e57. CFD: computational fluid dynamics
[15] Kim HJ, Park SH, Lee KS, Lee CS. A study of spray strategies on improvement of BMEP: brake mean effective pressure
engine performance and emissions reduction characteristics in a DME fueled BSFC: brake specific fuel consumption
diesel engine. Energy 2011;36:1802e13. beq: equivalent brake specific fuel consumption
[16] Zhang B, Fu W, Gong J. Study of fuel consumption when introducing DME or het: brake thermal efficiency
ethanol into diesel engine. Fuel 2006;85:778e82. ppm: parts per million
[17] Wang Y, He L, Zhou L, Li W. Effects of DME pilot quantity on the performance NOx: nitrogen oxides
of a DME PCCI-DI engine. Energy Convers Manag 2010;51:648e54. PM: particulate matter
[18] Hountalas DT, Mavropoulos GC, Binder KB. Effect of exhaust gas recirculation CO2: carbon dioxide
(EGR) temperature for various EGR rates on heavy duty DI diesel engine O2: oxygen
performance and emissions. Energy 2008;33:272e83. HC: hydrocarbon
[19] Fang Q, Fang J, Zhuang J, Huang Z. Influences of pilot injection and exhaust gas CO: carbon monoxide
recirculation (EGR) on combustion and emissions in a HCCI-DI combustion k: coefficient of light absorption
engine. Appl Therm Eng 2012;48:97e104.