Impact of Alternative Paraffinic Fuels on the Durability of a Modern Common Rail Injection System

Carmen Mata, Jakub Piaszyk, José Antonio Soriano, José Martín Herreros, Athanasios Tsolakis and Karl Dearn
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Carmen Mata: Escuela de Ingeniería Minera e Industrial de Almadén, Campus de Excelencia Internacional en Energía y Medioambiente, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Plaza Manuel Meca s/n, 13400 Almadén, Spain
Jakub Piaszyk: School of Engineering, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
José Antonio Soriano: Escuela de Ingeniería Industrial de Toledo, Campus de Excelencia Internacional en Energía y Medioambiente, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Real Fábrica de Armas. Edif. Sabatini. Av. Carlos III, s/n, 45071 Toledo, Spain
José Martín Herreros: School of Engineering, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
Athanasios Tsolakis: School of Engineering, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
Karl Dearn: School of Engineering, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 16, 1-14

Abstract: Common rail (CR) diesel fuel injection systems are very sensitive to variations in fuel properties, thus the impact of alternative fuels on the durability of the injection system should be investigated when considering the use of alternative fuels. This work studies a high-pressure CR (HPCR) diesel fuel injection system operating for 400 h in an injection test bench, using a fuel blend composed of an alternative paraffinic fuel and conventional diesel (50PF50D). The alternative fuel does not have aromatic components and has lower density than conventional diesel fuel. The injection system durability study was carried out under typical injection pressure and fuel temperature for the fuel pump, the common rail and the injector. The results show that the HPCR fuel injection system and its components (e.g., piston, spring, cylinder, driveshaft and cam) have no indication of damage, wear or change in surface roughness. The absence of internal wear to the components of the injection system is supported by the approximately constant total flow rate that reaches the injector during the whole the 400 h of the experiment. However, the size of the injector nozzle holes was decreased (approximately 12%), being consistent with the increase in the return fuel flow of the injector and rail (approximately 13%) after the completion of the study. Overall, the injection system maintained its operability during the whole duration of the durability study, which encourages the use of paraffinic fuels as an alternative to conventional diesel fuel.

Keywords: alternative fuel; paraffinic fuel; injection system; common rail; durability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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