Numerical optimization and experimental investigation of renewable diethyl ether-fueled off-road CI engines for sustainable transportation

Abstract

Cleaner energy generation on light-duty off-road diesel engines is one of the objectives of this study, which utilizes renewable diethyl ether (DEE) as a replacement for diesel to minimize the reliance on fossil diesel fuel. In an air-cooled single-cylinder diesel engine, various DEE mixes of 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25% were attempted and evaluated under varying loads (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100%) in an effort to enhance the performance and emission characteristics of agriculture diesel engines and lower the environmental effect of harmful emissions. The injection pressure was optimized using computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and performance and emission outcomes were optimized through response surface methodology (RSM) techniques. The experimental results found that brake thermal efficiency and specific fuel consumption were enhanced for a higher proportion of DEE blends under increasing loads. In addition, increasing the engine load decreased CO emissions while increasing carbon dioxide (CO2), hydrocarbon (HC), and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions. Reduced CO, NOx, and HC emissions and increased CO2 were realized in the blended fuel samples compared to those of pure diesel fuel at increasing DEE percentages. In summary, the utilization of a 15% DEE blend and the optimization of the injection pressure to 210 bar resulted in a notable improvement of 10% in thermal efficiency and a decrease in emissions by 5% when compared to other parameters.