Comparative investigation of ignition behavior of butanol isomers using constant volume combustion chamber under diesel-engine like conditions

•Butanol/diesel blends show premixed-dominant combustion while diesel shows two combustion regimes.•Unlike neat n-butanol, both low and high temperature heat release are observed for butanol/diesel blends.•The ignition delay of butanol isomers/diesel blends follows an order of iso-butanol > n-butanol > tert-butanol.•Tert-butanol/diesel blends present the fastest low temperature heat release, thereafter, the shortest ignition delay.•At 80% blend ratio, a higher chamber pressure can improve the reactivity and ignition. Butanol is a sustainable carbon–neutral fuel that can be derived from a variety of biomass resources. It can be potentially be used as an alternative fuel to blend with diesel to decrease greenhouse gas and pollutant emissions. In this paper, three butanol isomers (n-butanol, tert-butanol, and iso-butanol) are blended with diesel in various volume ratios. The combustion characteristics of butanol isomers are experimentally determined in a constant volume vessel under engine-like conditions. The effects of blend ratio, chamber temperature, and chamber pressure on ignition delay and combustion process are investigated. It is shown that the ignition delay decreases at high temperature and at low butanol blend ratio regardless of the isomer type. The combustion characteristics of butanol/diesel blends differ from neat butanol. Both low temperature heat release (LTHR) and high temperature heat release (HTHR) are observed for the three butanol isomers/diesel blends. Under current operating conditions, the ignition delay of three butanol isomer/diesel blends is ordered according to iso-butanol > n-butanol > tert-butanol. Notwithstanding its higher octane number, tert-butanol/diesel blends show the fastest LTHR and thereafter the shortest ignition delay. This is because of the absence of H atom on the alpha carbon of tert-butanol, which contributes to consumption of OH radicals. Consequently, oxidation of diesel is less suppressed. However, the HTHR of tert-butanol/diesel blends is much slower than that of n-butanol/diesel. At 80% blend ratio, a higher chamber pressure is required to improve the reactivity and ignition. Overall, the low reactivity of butanol is beneficial to be applied in diesel engines to increase the fuel/air mixing time so as to attenuate soot emissions.