Undiluted Measurement of the Particle Size Distribution of Different Oxygenated Biofuels in a Gasoline-Optimised DISI Engine

• Published in: Atmosphere 2021-11, Vol.12 (11), p.1493
• Main Authors: Larsson, Tara, Olofsson, Ulf, Christiansen Erlandsson, Anders
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alcohols; Biodiesel fuels; Biofuels; butanol; Emission measurements; Engines; Ethanol; Exhaust emissions; Flux density; Gasoline; High temperature; Hydrocarbons; Internal combustion engines; Laboratories; methanol; MTBE; Oxygen; Oxygen content; Oxygenation; particle emissions; Particle formation; Particle size; Particle size distribution; renewable fuels; Size distribution; Spark ignition; Steel pipes; Urban areas
• ISSN: 2073-4433; 2073-4433
• DOI: 10.3390/atmos12111493

The utilisation of internal combustion engines is one of the main causes of particle emissions in urban areas. As the interest for the utilisation of biofuels increases, it is important to understand their effect on particle number emissions. In this paper, the particle size distribution and the particle number emissions from a gasoline-optimised direct-injected spark-ignited (DISI) engine are investigated. The effects of five different biofuel alternatives on these emissions were evaluated and compared to gasoline. The utilisation of the high-resolution, high-temperature ELPI+ enabled undiluted measurements of the particle size distribution down to 6 nm, without extensive cooling of the engine exhaust. Contrary to other studies, the results show that the particle number emissions for the three measured cut-off sizes (23, 10 and 7 nm) increased with the utilisation of oxygenated biofuels. The results indicate that the decreased volatility and energy density of the alcohols has a more significant impact on the particle formation in a DISI engine than the increased oxygen content of these fuels.