Study on the Simplified Chemical Kinetic Combustion Mechanism of Mixed Methanol/PODE Fuel for Marine Diesel Engines

As a clean alternative fuel oil for marine engines, methanol has received increasing attention, but its low cetane number requires diesel ignition, which increases the difficulty of retrofitting existing engine fuel injection systems. Polymethoxy dimethyl ether (PODEn) is an ether fuel mixture whose chemical structural formula can be expressed as CH3O(CH2O)nCH3 (n≥2). PODE3 is the predominant component in the blend, and its properties are representative of the blend. PODE is a low-carbon fuel with a high cetane number and is easy to compression ignite, and, as such, can be used to ignite methanol in a marine diesel engine. This article explores the combustion mechanism of mixed methanol–PODE fuel using the characteristics of PODE that can be easily mixed with methanol for combustion. Taking methanol and PODE3 as representative fuels, the detailed combustion mechanism of PODE3 and the detailed combustion mechanism of methanol are simplified using a DRGEPSA (direct relationship graph with error propagation (DRGEP) and sensitivity analysis (SA)) method. Based on the target engine cylinder combustion environment, a simplified mechanism for mixed methanol–PODE fuel is obtained, and the new mechanism is validated in terms of the ignition delay period and laminar flame speed. The results indicate that the newly constructed simplified mechanism is basically consistent with the ignition delay data and flame propagation speed data measured by a rapid compression machine (RCM), laying the foundation for the application of alternative methanol fuels in marine engines.