Impact of biodiesel fuel on cold starting of automotive direct injection diesel engines

The use of biodiesel fuels in diesel engines is gaining attention as a promising solution to control CO2 emissions. Great research efforts have been carried out to identify the impact of biodiesel physical and chemical properties on engine systems and processes. Most of these investigations were performed in warm conditions, but the suitability of biodiesel for starting the engine at under-zero ambient temperatures has not widely evaluated. The surface tension and the viscosity of biodiesel fuels are higher compared to those of standard diesel and, in cold conditions, these differences become critical since the injection fuel rate is largely affected and consequently the combustion process can be deteriorated. In order to improve its flow characteristics at cold temperatures and make them more suitable for low temperatures operation, additives are used in biodiesel fuels. In this paper the suitability of different biodiesel fuels, with and without additives, for cold starting of DI (direct injection) diesel engines has been evaluated. The results have shown that the engine start-ability with pure biodiesel fuels can be largely deteriorated. However, using diesel/biodiesel blends the start-ability of the engine can be recovered with the additional benefit of reducing the opacity peak of the exhaust gases.