• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
• /
• v.11 no.3
• /
• pp.58-64
• /
• 2003

Dimethyl Ether(DME) has been considered as one of the most attractive alternative fuels for compression ignition engine. Its main advantage in diesel engine application is high efficiency of diesel cycle with soot free combustion though conventional fuel injection system has to be modified due to the physical properties of DME. Experimental study of DME and conventional diesel spray employing a common-rail type fuel injection system with a 5-hole sac type injector was performed in a constant volume vessel pressurized by nitrogen gas. Spray cone angles and penetrations of the DME spray were characterized and compared with those of diesel. For evaluation of the evaporating characteristics of the DME, shadowgraphy technique employing an Ar-ion laser and an ICCD camera was adopted. Tip of the DME spray was formed in mushroom-like shape at atmospheric chamber pressure, which disappeared in higher chamber pressure. Spray tip penetration and spray cone angle of the DME became similar to those of diesel under 3MPa of chamber pressure. Higher injection pressure provided wider vapor phase area while it decreased with higher chamber pressure condition.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
• /
• v.12 no.6
• /
• pp.16-22
• /
• 2004

Dimethyl Ether (DME) has been considered as one of the most attractive alternative fuels for a compression ignition engine. The major advantage of DME-fuelled engine is a great potential for soot-free combustion without sacrificing an inherent high thermal efficiency of diesel engine, despite a necessity for modification of the conventional fuel injection system. An experimental study on DME and conventional diesel sprays was conducted by employing a common-rail type fuel injection system with a 5-holes sac type nozzle, including a constant volume vessel pressurized with nitrogen gas. The injection rates of DME and diesel fuel were recorded with the Bosch type injection rate meter. The injection delay of DME was shorter than that of diesel fuel. The measured injection rates of DME and diesel fuel were correlated with spray penetrations. The prediction method of spray penetration was established using the injection rates, which was verified with the Dent's penetration model and found to agree well for DME case.

• Tribology and Lubricants
• /
• v.29 no.2
• /
• pp.117-123
• /
• 2013

Dimethyl ether (DME) has a high cetane number that is suitable for diesel fuel. DME does not contain sulfur or nitrogen, and is an oxygenated fuel so it produces no particulate matter when combusted and is environmentally friendly. DME fuel for diesel engines show excellent material properties such as a lower volumetric heating value, lower boiling point, lower lubricity, and stronger solvent effect than light oil. This study experimentally examined a lubricity improver (LI) for dimethyl ether. A diesel LI based on biodiesel and fatty acid methyl ester was tested among DME LI candidates. The long-term storage stability and physical properties of the optimum LI for DME were determined.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
• /
• v.11 no.5
• /
• pp.83-88
• /
• 2003

Measurements on the combustion characteristics of dimethyl ether(DME:$CH_3$O$CH_3$) as compared with LPC in constant volume combustion chamber have been conducted. The DME is a good alternative fuel having oxygen component in fuel. To elucidate the combustion characteristics of dimethyl ether as a fuel, the combustion pressures, combustion durations, and pollutants(NOx, $CO_2$, CO) are measured with equivalence ratios(Ø), and initial Pressures of fuel-air mixture. In the case of DME, the NOx concentration peaks in leu flame Ø = 0.85~0.9, and $CO_2$ concentration peaks at Ø=1.1, while the CO concentration abruptly rises at the condition of fuel-rich mixtures.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
• /
• v.12 no.6
• /
• pp.30-37
• /
• 2004

The combustion and emission characteristics of a direct injection CI engine fuelled with DME(Dimethyl Ether) and diesel fuel were compared at idle engine speed(800 rpm) with various injection parameters. An optical single cylinder diesel engine equipped with a common-rail fuel injection system was constructed to investigate combustion processes of DME and diesel fuel. The combustion images were recorded with a high-speed video camera system. The results demonstrated that the DME-fuelled engine was superior to the conventional diesel engine in terms of engine performance and emissions. The optimal injection timing of DME was located around IDC(Top Dead Center), which was roughly same as that of diesel fuel. As the injection timing was advanced much earlier than TDC, NOx (Nitric Oxides) level increased considerably. NOx emission of DME was equal or a little higher than that for diesel fuel at the same injection pressure and timing because of higher evaporation characteristics of DME. Throughout all experimental conditions, DME did not produce any measurable smoke level.

• Journal of ILASS-Korea
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.31-37
• /
• 2010

The aim of this work is to investigate the spray and combustion characteristics of dimethyl-ether (DME) at various injection conditions. The spray characteristics such as spray tip penetration and spray cone angle were experimentally studied from the spray images which obtained from the spray visualization system. Combustion and emissions characteristics were numerically investigated by using KIVA-3V code coupled with Chemkin chemistry solver. From these results, it revealed that DME spray had a shorter spray tip penetration and wider spray cone angle than that of diesel spray due to the low density, low surface tension, and fast evaporation characteristics. At the constant heating value condition, DME fuel showed higher peak combustion pressure and earlier ignition timing, because of high cetane number and superior evaporation characteristics. In addition, the combustion of DME exhausted more $NO_x$ emission and lower HC emission due to the active combustion reaction in the combustion chamber. The result shows that DME had a little soot emission due to its molecular structure characteristics with no direct connection between carbons.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.89-94
• /
• 2006

Nafion/poly(ether(amino sulfone)) acid-base blend polymer electrolyte membranes were prepared and their proton conductivity and dimethyl ether permeability were investigated. Characteristics of direct dimethyl ether fuel cell (DDMEFC) performance using prepared blend membrane were studied. The increase of amine groups in the base polymer in composite membranes resulted in the decrease in dimethyl ether permeability. The proton conductivity of the blend membranes gradually increased as increasing temperature. The conductivity of Nafion/PEAS-0.6 (85:15) blend membranes was measured to be $1.42\times10^{-2}S/cm\;at\;120^{\circ}C$ which was higher than that of the recast Nafion. The performance of direct dimethyl ether fuel cell (DDMEFC) using the Nafion/PEAS blend membranes was higher than that using $Nafion^(R)115$ membrane. Enhanced performance of direct dimethyl ether fuel cells using Nafion/PEAS blend membrane was explained by reducing dimethyl ether (DME) crossover through the electrolyte membrane and maintenance of the proton conductivity at high temperature.

• Journal of ILASS-Korea
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.65-72
• /
• 2008

It is recognized that alternative fuel such as dimethyl ether (DME) has better combustion polluting characteristics than diesel fuel, even though the cetane number of DME is almost the same as that of diesel. Characteristics of DME spray were observed experimentally under various ambient conditions using a constant volume chamber and a common-rail injection system. N-dodecane and LPG fuel sprays were also observed under same conditions of DME spray. Using spray images from backlight scattering and Mie scattering, characteristics of fuel sprays such as penetration and spray volume were visualized and quantitatively measured. The measurements showed that the penetration of early period decreased remarkably, because evaporation of alternative fuels became prosperous by the influence of flash boiling phenomenon under the condition of the low temperature and pressure compared with n-dodecane. The penetration of DME and LPG spray received the influence of temperature more largely in comparison with low density, because the specific surface area increased by atomizing in high density.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
• /
• v.15 no.5
• /
• pp.30-37
• /
• 2007

Dimethyl Ether(DME) is an alternative fuel for diesel engine, it is renewable and offers potential reductions in emissions. This work was conducted to figure out the macroscopic behavior and the atomization characteristics of DME using a common-rail injection system. The macroscopic behavior was visualized with the spray visualization system composed of a Nd;YAG laser and an ICCD camera. The atomization characteristics were investigated in terms of axial mean velocity, Sauter mean diameter(SMD) and droplet distributions obtained from a phase Doppler particle analyzer(PDPA) system. In this study, it was revealed that the macroscopic behavior and the atomization characteristics of DME are similar compared with commercial diesel fuel. However, DME fuel has a shorter spray tip penetration and a small SMD due to the effect of evaporation characteristics.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.47 no.4
• /
• pp.446-452
• /
• 2009

The behavior of a one-step fixed bed reactor which directly synthesizes dimethyl ether(DME) from Natural Gas was simulated. In the reactor, the prevention of the occurrence of hot spots which can cause deactivation of catalysts is pivotal, since methanol synthesis and dehydration reaction involved in the synthesis of DME are highly exothermic. Therefore, we simulated and compared performance of the reactor with counter-current cooling and pool boiling system that can be applied to a commercial plant. As a result, we found that counter-current cooling system is more effective in terms of CO conversion and DME productivity. However, pool boiling system can operate in a small temperature gradient that can decrease problems caused by hot spot. And, the system can operate in a safer range.