Effect of advanced injection timing on the performance of natural gas in diesel engines

Concern over the environment and/or the increasing demand for conventional fossil fuel has promoted interest in the development of alternative sources of fuel energy for internal combustion (IC) engines. The effect of advanced injection timing on the performance of natural gas used as primary fuel in dual-fuel combustion has been examined. Satisfactory diesel engine combustion demands self-ignition of the fuel as it is injected near the top dead centre (TDC) into the hot swirling compressed cylinder gas. Longer delays between injection and ignition lead to unacceptable rates of pressure rise (diesel knock) because too much fuel is ready to burn when combustion eventually occurs. Natural gas has been noted to exhibit longer ignition delays and slower burning rates especially at low load levels hence resulting in late combustion in the expansion stroke. Advanced injection timing is expected to compensate for these effects. The engine has standard injection timing of 30° before TDC (BTDC). The injection was first advanced by 5.5° given injection timing of 35.5° BTDC. The engine ran for about 5 minutes at this timing and stopped. The engine failed to start upon subsequent attempts. The injection was then advanced by 3.5° (i.e. 33.5° BTDC). The engine ran smoothly on this timing but seemed to incur penalty on fuel consumption especially at high load levels.