Experimental and modeling study of low temperature ignition characteristics of methylcyclohexane/ethanol binary fuel

The purpose of this work is to investigate the effect of ethanol blending into methylcyclohexane during the ignition at low temperatures. The ignition delay times of the binary fuels with ethanol blending ratio varied from 0% to 100% at = 1.0, Pc = 20 bar, Tc = 680 - 890 K were measured with the rapid compression machine, and the mechanism of Bissoonauth et al. (Proc Combust Inst 2018) well predicts the experimental results. Based on the high quality of the model, the effects of ethanol blending on the pressure and heat release are studied. Both of the maximum pressure and the heat release during the ignition decrease with the ethanol blending ratio increases. The interaction of MCH and ethanol happens in the competition of active radicals like OH, and MCH dominates the ignition process as it occupies about two thirds of the OH to form the fuel radical.