Isolation of diesel-fuel ignition inhibitors in reverse micelles

A series of experiments is described which were designed to test the following proposition: if a suitable surfactant agent, one capable of forming reverse micelles, is added to diesel fuel, the polar molecules will become localized within the micelles; then, if the micelles remain intact during the injection into the engine cylinder and through the early part of the evaporation process, the ignition delay should approach that of a fuel from which the inhibitors had been removed. The results provide reasonably strong evidence that reverse micelles are formed and are capable of disabling the naturally-present ignition inhibitors during the early stages of the combustion process. (AIAA)