Research and Assessment of Applying Dimethyl Ether “DME” Extracted from Natural Gas “Ng”, on Diesel Engine as a Clean Fuel (TECHNICAL NOTE)

Abstract

Due to the shortage of liquid hydrocarbon fuels for compression ignition engines, researchers have constantly been looking for alternative fuels. Recently, dim ethyl ether (DME) with its interesting properties, such as high cetane number and low exhaust emission has drawn a lot of interst as a suitable fuel for diesel engines. The main objective of this study was to assess the potentials and feasibility of using DME in a diesel engine by designing a suitable fuel injection system that would generate a basis for future optimizations and developments. For one model of diesel engines, a new fuel injection pump was designed and manufactured. A series of performance tests based on ISO procedure were performed, and the results showed that DME used in the newly designed fuel injection pump can compete fairly well with the conventional diesel fuel system as far as power and torque output is concerned. Proposals for future development are also presented.