Effects of Dimethyl Ether and Propane Blends on Knocking Behavior in a Boosted SI Engine

Dimethyl ether (DME) is an alternative fuel that, blended with propane, could be an excellent alternative for exploring the use of fuels from renewable sources. DME–propane blends are feasible for their comparable physicochemical properties; these fuels may be pressured as liquids using moderate pressure at ambient temperature. Adding a proportion of DME with a low octane number to a less reactive fuel like propane can improve the combustion process. However, the increased reactivity of the mixture induced by the DME could lead to the early appearance of knocking, and this tendency may even be pronounced in boosted SI engines. Hence, this study experimentally analyzes the effect of E10 gasoline (baseline) and DME–propane blends, with varying proportions of DME in propane ranging from 0% to 30% by weight, in increments of 5% on knocking tendency, combustion characteristics, gaseous emissions, and particle number concentration, under different intake pressure conditions (0.8, 0.9, 1.0, and 1.1 bar) in an SI engine. The results show that as the proportion of DME in the propane blend rises, the knocking tendency becomes more pronounced. That behavior intensifies with increasing intake pressure, but with 20% DME in the propane blend, reaching the maximum brake torque (MBT) without knocking in the four boosted conditions is feasible. The presence of knock limited the advance of combustion phasing and decreased the gross indicated thermal efficiency (ITEg) with E10 gasoline and 25% and 30% DME in propane blends under 1.0 and 1.1 bar boosted conditions. In these knock-limited circumstances, the NOx emissions decreased due to the retarded phasing, and THC and PN emissions increased due to the lower combustion stability, considerably raising the concentration of accumulation mode particles in the particle size distribution (PSD) compared to the other fuel blends tested.