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Biofuels are attracting global attention as alternate transportation fuels due to advantages of their being produced from locally available renewable resources, lower pollution potential, and biodegradable nature. Butanol is fast emerging as one of the competitive biofuels for use in transportation engines. Homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engines have shown great potential for higher engine efficiency and ultralow NOx and particulate matter (PM) emissions. This experimental study is therefore carried out to combine the advantages of biofuels and HCCI engines, both. Detailed performance, combustion, and emission characteristics of n-butanol fueled HCCI engine are investigated experimentally. The study is conducted on a four cylinder diesel engine, whose one cylinder was modified to operate in HCCI combustion mode. Port fuel injection technique was used for homogeneous charge preparation in the intake manifold. Auto-ignition of fuel in the engine cylinder was achieved by intake air preheating. In-cylinder pressure-crank angle data acquisition with subsequent heat release analyses and exhaust emission measurements were done for combustion and emission characterization. In this paper, the effect of intake air temperature and air-fuel ratio on the combustion parameters, thermal and combustion efficiency, ringing intensity (RI), and emissions from n-butanol fueled HCCI engine were analyzed and discussed comprehensively. Empirical correlations were derived to fit the experimental data for various combustion parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alcohols (ethanol and methanol) are being widely considered as alternative fuels for automotive applications. At the same time, homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engine has attracted global attention due to its potential of providing high engine efficiency and ultralow exhaust emissions. Environmental legislation is becoming increasingly stringent, sharply focusing on particulate matter (PM) emissions. Recent emission norms consider limiting PM number concentrations in addition to PM mass. Therefore, present study is conducted to experimentally investigate the effects of engine operating parameters on the PM size-number distribution in a HCCI engine fueled with gasoline, ethanol, and methanol. The experiments were conducted on a modified four-cylinder diesel engine, with one cylinder modified to operate in HCCI mode. Port fuel injection was used for preparing homogeneous charge in the HCCI cylinder. Intake air preheating was used to enable auto-ignition of fuel-air mixture. Engine exhaust particle sizer (EEPS) was used for measuring size-number distribution of soot particles emitted by the HCCI engine cylinder under varying engine operating conditions. Experiments were conducted at 1200 and 2400 rpm by varying intake air temperature and air-fuel ratio for gasoline, ethanol, and methanol. In this paper, the effect of engine operating parameters on PM size-number distribution, count mean diameter (CMD), and total PM numbers is investigated. The experimental data show that the PM number emissions from gasoline, ethanol, and methanol in HCCI cannot be neglected and particle numbers increase for relatively richer mixtures and higher intake air temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]