Performances and emissions of a 2-stroke diesel engine fueled with biofuel blends

Diesel engines are worldwide used as a primary power source not only in motor vehicles, but also in off-road engine applications. Two-stroke Diesel engine is most commonly seen in applications demanding a large power output, such as ships and electric generation plants. The use of biofuels has increased during the last years in response to concerns about climate change and to increase security of supply. In this paper some results obtained with a 2-Stroke 6V53 Detroit Diesel (5.22L displacement, 150kW at 2800rpm) fueled with a commercial diesel fuel and biodiesel (100%RME) are discussed. CO, NO/NOx, CO2 and particulate matter (PM) have been sampled at 1 Hz in different load conditions and fuel consumption has been measured. A catalyzed Diesel particulate filter (DPF) has been also installed at the exhaust to reduce PM emissions and the influence of fuel quality on emissions and fuel consumption was analyzed. The installation of DPF has involved an average of less than 10% fuel economy penalty for both tested fuels. A passive DPF system can be easily installed at the exhaust of in-use engine and it permits to reduce more than 90% PM emissions.