Combustion Characteristics and Emissions of a Direct-Injection Diesel Engine Fueled with GTL Fuel Blends

Abstract

Gas to Liquids (GTL) is one of clean alternative fuels which loosely defined terms that is generally used to describe the chemical conversion of natural gas to some type of liquid products. As such, it excludes the production of liquefied natural gas (LNG), but includes the conversion of gas to methanol, liquid fuels, and petrochemicals, being the most common applications. In other words, Gas to liquids (GTL) technology is used to convert a carbon containing feedstock such as natural gas, to synthetic diesel fuels and further developed by oil companies. Fewer studies investigated the use of GTL diesel with the existing diesel engines to study the effect of using this new alternative fuel on the efficiency and emissions in these engines. Hence, the objectives of this study are to investigate the behavior of the GTL - diesel fuel blends in context of different combustion characteristics, engine performance and emissions. It is expected that the outcomes of this study will shed further light on GTL diesel fuel as a clean alternative fuel.