Effects of a 70% biodiesel blend on the fuel injection system operation during steady-state and transient performance of a common rail diesel engine

Highlights: ► We demonstrate how the fuel injection system responds to different fuel properties. ► Improvements to the ECU maps of the engine are suggested. ► These allow operation at high biodiesel blends without loss in engine performance. ► Continued operation with high biodiesel fuel blend, resulted in fuel pump failure. - Abstract: The results of steady state and transient engine bench tests of a 2.0l common-rail passenger car diesel engine fuelled by B70 biodiesel blend are compared with the corresponding results of baseline tests with standard EN 590 diesel fuel. The macroscopic steady-state performance and emissions of the same engine has already been presented elsewhere. The current study demonstrates how the engine management system responds to different fuel properties, with focus to the fuel system dynamics and the engine's transient response. A set of characteristic transient operation points was selected for the tests. Data acquisition of engine ECU variables was made by means of INCA software/ETAS Mac2 interface. Additional data acquisition regarding engine performance was based on external sensors. The results indicate significant differences in fuel system dynamics and transient engine operation with the B70 blend at high fuel flow rates. Certain modifications to engine ECU maps and control parameters are proposed, aimed at improvement of transient performance of modern engines run on high percentage biodiesel blends. However, a high pressure pump failure that was observed after prolonged operation with the B70 blend, hints to the use of more conservative biodiesel blending in fuel.