Effects of port fuel injection (PFI) of n-butanol and EGR on combustion and emissions of a direct injection diesel engine

• A DI diesel engine with PFI of n-butanol in combination with EGR is investigated.
• Butanol concentration and EGR have a coupled impact on combustion process.
• A combination of butanol PFI and EGR can break through tradeoff between NOx and soot.
• DI diesel with butanol PFI has lower ITE than DI of diesel–butanol blends.

An experimental investigation was conducted on a direct injection (DI) diesel engine with exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), coupled with port fuel injection (PFI) of n-butanol. Effects of butanol concentration and EGR rate on combustion, efficiency, and emissions of the tested engine were evaluated, and also compared to a DI mode of diesel–butanol blended fuel. The results show butanol concentration and EGR rate have a coupled impact on combustion process. Under low EGR rate condition, both the peak cylinder pressure and the peak heat release rate increase with increased butanol concentration, but no visible influence was found on the ignition delay. Under high EGR rate condition, however, the peak cylinder pressure and the peak heat release rate both decrease with increased butanol concentration, accompanied by longer ignition delay and longer combustion duration. As regard to the regulated emissions, HC and CO emissions increase with increased butanol concentration, causing higher indicated specific fuel consumption (ISFC) and lower indicated thermal efficiency (ITE). It is also noted that butanol PFI in combination with EGR can change the trade-off relationship between NOx and soot, and simultaneously reduce both into a very low level. Compared with the DI mode of diesel–butanol blended fuel, however, the DI diesel engine with butanol PFI has higher HC and CO emissions and lower ITE. Therefore, future research should be focused on overcoming the identified shortcomings by an improved injection strategy of butanol PFI.