Using renewable n-octanol in a non-road diesel engine with some modifications

n-Octanol is a promising biofuel synthesized from biomass with several properties closer to diesel than the more popularly researched n-butanol. This study investigates the effects of injection timing (2 degrees CA advance & retard), EGR (up to 30%) and Oct30 (30% by vol. of n-octanol in diesel) on combustion, performance, and emissions of a DI diesel engine. Results in comparison with diesel indicated Oct30 blend presented an enhanced premixed combustion phasing with higher peaks of pressure and HRR. BSFC was found to be slightly higher for Oct30 blend at all EGR rates. Further, when the injection timing is advanced, the blend produced better BSFC. Oct30 delivered better BTE at all injection timings. NOx and smoke emissions are lower for Oct30 at all conditions. Oct30 could overcome the trade-off between smoke and NOx emissions at a combination of certain EGR and injection timings. It was found that at advanced injection, the reduction in NOx and smoke density was 19.02% and 57.14%, respectively, while BTE increased by 4.6% and BSFC increased by 1.3%. At late injection, a reduction of 50.87% in NOx emissions and 15.87% in smoke density was achieved with a slight drop in BTE by 3.5% and an increase in BSFC by 9.7%.