An optical study on spray and combustion characteristics of ternary hydrogenated catalytic biodiesel/methanol/n-octanol blends; part П: Liquid length and in-flame soot

Methanol has been considered as a promising alternative fuel for combustion engines. However, it is quite challenging to use it directly in compressed ignition engines because of its ignition issues, especially for low load conditions. In this research, methanol was blended with hydrogenated catalytic biodiesel (HCB) using n-octanol as co-solvent. A fundamental study on spray and combustion characteristics of two ternary blends (68% HCB+17% octanol+ 15% methanol by volume; 58% HCB+17% octanol+ 25% methanol by volume) and the pure HCB was carried out within a constant volume combustion chamber equipped with a single-hole injector. As in Part Ⅰ, the spray morphology, ignition delay, and flame lift-off length have been studied in detail. This part focuses on liquid length and in-flame soot formation of reacting sprays, which were quantified utilizing a diffused back-illumination extinction imaging technique. There is an overlapping area between the fuel liquid phase and flame for all three fuels under all operating points. The reduction on liquid length after ignition is more noticeable for pure HCB than other blends, because of its shorter lift-off length. The results show that the liquid length increases with increasing fraction of methanol in the mixtures, which is mainly governed by the high latent heat of vaporization of methanol. Furthermore, extra methanol addition brings a considerable reduction on in-flame soot production because of the leaner fuel combustion at longer flame lift-off length, as well as the more oxygen content within the blends.