This work introduces a new methodology to design transportation fuels offering improved efficiency and reduced emissions, aimed to complement both traditional and emerging engine technologies. Many of these emerging technologies are centered around exploiting low temperature combustion (LTC) strategies that offer improved efficiency and reduced emissions. However, a standardized fuel...
Liquid transportation fuels require costly and time-consuming tests to characterize metrics, such as Research Octane Number (RON) for gasoline. If fuel sale restrictions requiring use of standard Cooperative Fuel Research (CFR) testing procedures do not apply, these tests may be avoided by using multivariate statistical models to predict RON and...
Broadband absorption spectroscopy, by way of FTIR, was used to investigate the vapor cloud of a single millimeter sized liquid droplet suspended by a syringe as it evaporates at standard conditions. Single beam data were collected every 8 seconds resulting in a time-resolved record. Species concentrations were tracked using their...
Low-temperature combustion (LTC) engine concepts such as homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) offer the potential of improved efficiency and reduced emissions of NOₓ and particulates. However, engines can only successfully operate in HCCI mode for limited operating ranges that vary depending on the fuel composition. Unfortunately, traditional ratings such as...
A new metric for ranking the suitability of fuels in LTC engines was recently introduced, based on the fraction of potential fuel savings achieved in the FTP-75 light-duty vehicle driving cycle. In the current study, this LTC fuel performance index was calculated computationally and analyzed for a number of fuel...