Impact of alkylbenzenes in formulated surrogate fuel on characteristics of compression ignition engine

Aromatic contents in the fuel significantly affect the exhaust pollutant emissions and performance of compression ignition engines. Alkylbenzenes are dominating aromatics in diesel fuel and have attractive properties as the component of diesel fuel. Therefore, different alkylbenzenes were experimentally investigated using single-cylinder direct-injection compression ignition engine at two different loads and constant speed. Different Alkylbenzenes were blended with low aromatic diesel fuel in three percentages i.e. 5, 10 and 15% by mass. The results showed a slight improvement in brake specific fuel consumption and brake thermal efficiency with high calorific value alkylbenzenes. Moreover, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and smoke emissions were significantly influenced with the aromatic content and their types. The effect on performance and emissions differed from one alkylbenzene to another due to the variation in physicochemical properties of aromatics such as density, hydrogen-to-carbon ratio, etc. Ethylbenzene shows better results in terms of performance and lower pollutant emissions.