Use of Different Fuels in the Low-Temperature Combustion Engines and their Effects on Combustion and Emission Properties - A Review

Abstract

The trend in the exploration and development of alternative fuels have been growing especially over the past few decades. The limited availability of conventional fuels like gasoline and diesel, their harmful effects on the environment and human health due to unwanted engine exhaust emissions and continuously increasing fuel prices have led the research into the use of alternative fuels and fuel blends. More advantages can be gained if these fuels are used with advanced combustion techniques instead of conventional approaches in internal combustion engines (ICEs). In this direction, the low temperature combustion (LTC) techniques play an important role as it can use conventional fuels such as gasoline and diesel or unconventional/alternative fuels such as alcohol fuels and fuels blend as a main fuel. LTC is also one of the advanced combustion techniques which has the potential to overcome the harmful pollutants coming from diesel engines and gasoline engines. In LTC approach the combustion of homogeneous charge happens at low temperature which provides better ground to reduce the harmful NOx emission and simultaneously reduces the soot/particulate matter (PM) emissions to ultra-low level. Higher thermal efficiency can also be achieved using LTC technique as it has no throttling devices. This review paper describes the use of different fuels (conventional/ unconventional/blends) and their effects on the ignition and emission of LTC engines.