Characteristics of performance and emissions in a directinjection diesel engine fuelled with kerosene/diesel blends

An experimental investigation has been carried out to evaluate the effect of kerosene as an additive to diesel fuel on the combustion, performance and emission characteristics of a direct-injection diesel engine, typically used in gensets and agricultural pumps over the entire load range. The engine tests were carried out as per the ISO 8178-D2 fivemode test cycle procedure for baseline diesel fuel and three blend fuels at different engine loads. In this study, 5%, 10% and 15% kerosene (by volume) were blended into diesel and denoted as K5D, K10D and K15D, respectively. Laboratory fuels tests showed that beyond 15% kerosene blend, the viscosity and density of the blended fuel reduces compared with the acceptable limits, which can further reduce lubricity and create potential wear problems in sensitive fuel-injection pumps and fuel-injector designs. The experimental test results showed that theK5D blend had low smoke, low NOx, high brake thermal efficiency and low brake specific fuel consumption compared with K10D and K15D blend. An overview of the results show that the K5D blend is the most favourable blend compared with K10D and K15Don the basis of performance and emission characteristics.