A study on the characteristics of combustion with butane and propane in a retrofitted diesel engine

Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of combustion and exhaust-gas temperature of a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) engine when using butane and propane as fuel. A conventional diesel engine was modified into a LPG engine that utilized an LPG fuel system instead of a diesel fuel injection pump. The study was performed with different compositions of butane and propane, such as 100 per cent butane, 100 per cent propane, 50 per cent butane—50 per cent propane, 70 per cent butane—30 per cent propane, and 30 per cent butane—70 per cent propane. The major conclusions of this work are as follows: MBT spark ignition timing was similar with different butane/propane fuel blends, except at the 100 per cent butane, 1200 r/min condition; engine torque and power were not influenced by varying butane/propane fuel blends; and exhaust gas temperature was increased at higher engine speeds, and it was decreased by a maximum of 15 with different butane/propane fuel blends.