Investigating the Influence of Fuel Volatility on Particle Emissions Phenomena in a Production Gasoline Direct Injection Engine

Due to both potential climate and health concerns, research interest in the formation of particulate matter in GDI engines remains strong. However, the processes driving the emissions are still not fully understood. This experimental study investigated the influence of fuel volatility on the particulate matter emissions, using both commercial and specifically targeted and controlled surrogate fuel blends to isolate the influence of fuel volatility from traditionally considered causative effects of fuel chemistry and properties. In non-ethanol containing fuels, high measured volatility fuels resulted in increased PM emissions in comparison to low volatility fuels, while also generating increased nitric oxide emissions. The effect of 10\% ethanol match blended in these fuels varied with volatility level, with E10 fuels always presenting high PM emissions, unlike their ethanol-free counterparts. A fuel injector deposit driven change in PM emissions was noted in the dataset, which appeared to show dependence on fuel volatility as well.M.A.S