The combustion characteristics and emission behaviors of RP-3 jet fuel were studied and compared to commercial diesel fuel in a single-cylinder compression ignition(CI) engine.Engine operational parameters,including engine load(0.6,0.7,and 0.8 MPa indicating the mean effective pressure(IMEP)),the exhaust gas recirculation(EGR) rate(0%,10%,20%,and 30%),and the fuel injection timing(-20,-15,-10,and-5° crank angle(CA) after top dead center(ATDC)) were adjusted to evaluate the engine performances of RP-3 jet fuel under changed operation conditions.In comparison to diesel fuel,RP-3 jet fuel shows a retarded heat release and lagged combustion phase,which is more obvious under heavy EGR rate conditions.In addition,the higher premixed combustion fraction of RP-3 jet fuel leads to a higher firststage heat release peak than diesel fuel under all testing conditions.As a result,RP-3 jet fuel features a longer ignition delay(ID) time,a shorter combustion duration(CD),and an earlier CA50 than diesel fuel.The experimental results manifest that RP-3 jet fuel has a slightly lower indicated thermal efficiency(ITE) compared to diesel fuel,but the ITE difference becomes less noticeable under large EGR rate conditions.Compared with diesel fuel,the nitrogen oxides(NOx) emissions of RP-3 jet fuel are higher while its soot emissions are lower.The NOx emissions of RP-3 can be effectively reduced with the increased EGR rate and delayed injection timing.