Effects of Methanol–Ammonia Blending Ratio on Performance and Emission Characteristics of a Compression Ignition Engine

Abstract

Sustainable ammonia is one of the leading candidates in the search for alternative clean fuels for marine applications. This paper aims to build a simulation model of a six-cylinder, four-stroke diesel engine to investigate the effects of increasing the ammonia proportion in methanol–ammonia fuel blends on engine performance and emissions. In the present study, the conditions of different speeds and different proportions of ammonia in fuel blends are investigated. The results show that the average effective pressure, brake power, and brake torque increase by about 5% with an increased ammonia substitution ratio. In terms of economic performance, the changes under medium and low speed conditions are not obvious. However, the change in high speed conditions is significant. The brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) is reduced by 6.6%, and the brake thermal efficiency (BTE) is increased by 4%. It is found that the performance of the engine is best at medium speed. The best performance is achieved with higher efficiency and lower emissions. The present results can provide guidance for the optimization of ammonia–methanol blends and their applications in engines.