Energy Conversion and Management 86 (2014) 848–863

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Energy Conversion and Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enconman

Review

Applicability of dimethyl ether (DME) in a compression ignition engine

as an alternative fuel
Su Han Park a, Chang Sik Lee b,⇑
a
School of Mechanical Engineering, Chonnam National University, 77 Yongbong-ro, Buk-gu, Gwangju 500-757, Republic of Korea
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hanyang University, 222 Wangsimni-ro, Seongdong-gu, Seoul 133-791, Republic of Korea

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: From the perspectives of environmental conservation and energy security, dimethyl-ether (DME) is an
Received 23 April 2014 attractive alternative to conventional diesel fuel for compression ignition (CI) engines. This review article
Accepted 15 June 2014 deals with the application characteristics of DME in CI engines, including its fuel properties, spray and
Available online 5 July 2014
atomization characteristics, combustion performance, and exhaust emission characteristics. We also dis-
cuss the various technological problems associated with its application in actual engine systems and
Keywords: describe the field test results of developed DME-fueled vehicles. Combustion of DME fuel is associated
Dimethyl-ether (DME)
with low NOx, HC, and CO emissions. In addition, PM emission of DME combustion is very low due to
Compression ignition (CI) diesel engine
Ground transportation vehicle fueled with
its molecular structure. Moreover, DME has superior atomization and vaporization characteristics than
DME conventional diesel. A high exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) rate can be used in a DME engine to reduce
Alternative fuel NOx emission without any increase in soot emission, because DME combustion is essentially soot-free. To
Emission reduction decrease NOx emission, engine after-treatment devices, such as lean NOx traps (LNTs), urea-selective cat-
Thermodynamic properties of DME alytic reduction, and the combination of EGR and catalyst have been applied. To use DME fuel in automo-
tive vehicles, injector design, fuel feed pump, and the high-pressure injection pump have to be modified,
combustion system components, including sealing materials, have to be rigorously designed. To use DME
fuel in the diesel vehicles, more research is required to enhance its calorific value and engine durability
due to the low lubricity of DME, and methods to reduce NOx emission are also required.
Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 849
2. Fuel characteristics of DME as an automotive fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 850
2.1. Comparison of properties between DME and LPG. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 850
2.2. Applicability of DME fuel to automotive diesel engine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 851
2.2.1. Thermodynamic and combustion properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 851
2.2.2. Oxygenated fuel with high cetane number. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 851
2.2.3. Low viscosity and lubricity characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 851
2.2.4. Low heating value characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 852
2.2.5. High latent heat and low boiling point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 852
2.2.6. Compressibility characteristics of DME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 852
2.2.7. Safety and health problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 852
3. DME engine development and problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 853
3.1. DME low-pressure feed pump and high-pressure injection pump characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 853
3.1.1. Fuel pump drive power and efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 853
3.1.2. Injection rate of DME fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 853
3.2. DME fuel spray and atomization characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 853
4. Combustion and emission characteristics of DME fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 854

⇑ Corresponding author. Tel: +82 2 2220 0427; fax: +82 2 2281 5286.
E-mail address: cslee@hanyang.ac.kr (C.S. Lee).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2014.06.051
0196-8904/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 S.H. Park, C.S. Lee / Energy Conversion and Management 86 (2014) 848–863 849

4.1. Ignition delay of DME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 854

4.2. Thermodynamic characteristics and engine performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 854
4.2.1. Neat DME fuel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 854
4.2.2. DME blended fuels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 857
4.3. Emission characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 857
4.3.1. Neat DME fuel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 858
4.3.1.1. NOx emission. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 858
4.3.1.2. Soot emission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 858
4.3.1.3. HC and CO emissions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 858
4.3.2. DME blended diesel, LPG, and biodiesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 859
5. Application of DME in vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 859
5.1. Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 860
5.2. North America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 860
5.3. Asia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 860
6. Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 861
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 861
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 861

Nomenclature

CI compression ignition DP pressure difference (Pa)

CNG compressed natural gas SCR selective catalytic reduction
CO carbon monoxide T cylinder gas temperature (K)
DME dimethyl-ether VOC volatile organic compounds
EGR exhaust gas recirculation Vd pump displacement (m3)
GTL gas-to-liquid W system work
GWP global warming potentials a speed of sound (m/s)
HRR heat release rate m flow rate of pump (kg/min)
HC hydrocarbon gp overall efficiency of the pump
LPG liquefied petroleum gas gv volumetric efficiency
LHV lower heating value (MJ/kg) p cylinder pressure (bar)
LNT lean NOx trap ra/f air/fuel ratio
NOx nitrogen oxides spump pump speed (rpm)
N drive power of the pump (W) teng energizing duration (ms)
Pinj injection pressure (MPa) u flow velocity (m/s)
Pamb ambient pressure (MPa) q density (kg/m3)
PM particulate matter sid ignition delay (ms)

1. Introduction such as alternative fuels for compression ignition (CI) engines.

The precise scale of oil reserves left and the ultimate availability
of fossil fuels worldwide are hard to determine. Depletion of fuel
reserves and energy saving are important global concerns in all
industrial fields. Petroleum energy is the basic energy source in
the transportation and industrial fields. Energy supply and security
problems have become important issues as they affect industrial
development and global economic patterns of growth. Global oil
proved reserves increased from 1039.3 thousand million barrels
in 1992 to 1668.9 thousand million barrel (235.8 million tons) in
2012, and the reserves to production (R/P) ratio was 52.9 in 2012
[1]. Total world oil consumption in 2012 was 89,774 thousand bar-
rels daily [1], which is equivalent to 32.768 Gb course of a year.
Projection of primary energy consumption by sector is shown in
Fig. 1 [2]. In this diagram, the industrial sector remains the domi-
nant consumer of primary energy, and accounts for more than half
of the projected growth in energy consumption between 2012 and
2035. The next major component is energy consumed by other sec-
tors, including residential, services and agricultural sectors. The
third sector projected to contribute to the growth in energy con-
sumption is the transportation sector. Therefore, it is critical to
study various substitute energy sources for transportation engines,
Many research groups are actively investigating alternative fuels
for transportation vehicles to counteract fossil fuel depletion and
to reduce exhaust emissions from vehicle engines.
There are many alternative fuels to replace conventional
petroleum oils including diesel and gasoline, such as biofuels
(biodiesel, bioethanol, and biobutanol), hydrogen, natural gas,
gas-to-liquid (GTL), coal-to-liquid (CTL), biomass-to-liquid (BTL),
and dimethyl-ether (typically abbreviated as DME) [3,4]. Also,
the electricity energy is also in the spotlight of a next-generation
zero-emission vehicle market as a green energy source. DME is
an organic compound with the formula CH3OCH3, and is the sim-
plest ether. DME can be produced using indirect or direct synthetic
methods. Indirect synthetic methods generate DME through a
dehydration reaction after synthetic reaction of methanol, while
direct synthetic methods make DME directly from natural gas.
DME is a colorless, non-toxic, slightly narcotic, and highly flamma-
ble gas under ambient condition, but it can be handled as a liquid
phase fuel when lightly pressurized. Physical properties of DME are
similar to those of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). DME is not a
greenhouse gas and has a high cetane number (55, diesel fuel:
40–55). DME is therefore considered a clean alternative fuel to
petroleum diesel fuel [5–9]. However, the physical properties and
850 S.H. Park, C.S. Lee / Energy Conversion and Management 86 (2014) 848–863

Fig. 1. World primary energy consumption by sector according to BP energy outlook 2035 [2].

combustion characteristics of DME need to be investigated further

H H
to determine whether DME is an appropriate alternative fuel to
diesel fuel CI engines, and to determine optimal operating condi- H C O C H
tions for actual vehicle application. H H
The objective of this review is to discuss the combustion char-
acteristics and environmental effects of DME-fueled vehicles to Fig. 2. Structure of dimethyl-ether fuel.
highlight the application potential of DME fuel. We also describe
actual application problems and the various approaches developed
to use DME as a fuel in CI engines, as well as the effect of blending Pressure (Bar)
DME with LPG or biodiesel in CI diesel engines. 44

40
2. Fuel characteristics of DME as an automotive fuel Propane
36
2.1. Comparison of properties between DME and LPG 32

DME is a simple chemical compound with the chemical formula
of CH3–O–CH3 as shown in Fig. 2. DME is gaseous ether at atmo-
spheric pressure and room temperature with a low carbon-
to-hydrogen (C/H) ratio [6,10]. In general, the physical properties
of DME are similar to those of LPG, which consists mainly of pro-
pane and butane. Therefore, the storage, fuel handling, and trans-
portation requirements for DME are similar to those for LPG
because of their similar properties [11–13]. Under the atmospheric
conditions of 0.1 MPa and 298 K, DME exists as an invisible ether
compound in gaseous phase and transitions from vapor to liquid
phase when vapor phase DME is pressurized above 0.5 MPa at
standard atmospheric temperature [6,14].
Fig. 3 shows the vapor pressure curves for DME, propane, and
butane [15]. Comparison of the vapor pressure diagram of DME
and LPG shows that the vapor pressure curve for DME falls
between those of the butane and propane curves. This means that
similar fuel line and tank pressure designs to those used for LPG
engine systems can be used for DME engine system. Gaseous
DME is denser than dry air while the density of liquid DME is
668 kg/m3 at normal temperature and pressure [16]. Liquid density
of DME is two thirds that of water and DME dissolves in water up
to 6% by mass [17]. DME differs significantly from conventional
diesel in terms of its fuel density and viscosity characteristics.
Low density and viscosity of DME results in the leakage from fuel
storage tanks, and the fuel supply system from the fuel tank to
the injection system in engines. Physical and chemical properties
of DME and LPG fuels are listed in Table 1. The properties values
were extracted from Refs. [6,18–20]. DME is a liquid phase fuel
at a pressure of 530 kPa at 298 K that has no carbon-to-carbon
(C–C) direct bonds and contains about 34.8% oxygen. The absence
of C–C bonds results in smokeless combustion and high oxidation
reaction rates of particulates and combustible materials. DME is
chemically quite stable and reacts only under severe conditions.
The lower explosion limit is 3.4% by volume in air (refer to Table 4).
28
DME
24
20
16
12
8 Butane
4
0
-40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Temperature (Deg. C)
Fig. 3. Vapor pressure characteristics of various fuels [15].
For wide air/fuel ratios, the burning flame of DME is blue, similar to
that of natural gas [15]. Flame luminosity and visible flame are
very important safety indicators of a fuel. DME has low acute
and sub-chronic inhalation toxicity. In addition, DME has no toxic
effects for normal use and contact of vaporized DME with the skin
has no adverse effects.
DME has a significantly lower LHV (lower heating value)
(LHVDME: 28.3 MJ/kg) than diesel fuel (LHVdiesel: 42.5 MJ/kg) as
shown in Fig. 4, but a higher LHV than methanol (LHVmethanol:
19.5 MJ/kg) and ethanol (LHVethanol: 27.0 MJ/kg) [15,21]. Generally,
conventional diesel fuel has a cetane number of 40–55, while DME
has a cetane number greater than 55. A high cetane number has
important consequences for ignition. Disadvantages of DME are
its low viscosity and low lubricating characteristics, which cause
fuel leakage and surface wear of moving parts in fuel injection
system. Addition of proper additives to prevent leakage and surface
wear is essential. Another advantage of DME is that it is non-
corrosive to the fuel system structure and metal surfaces.
 S.H. Park, C.S. Lee / Energy Conversion and Management 86 (2014) 848–863 851

Table 1
Physical and chemical properties of various fuels [6,18–20].

Property DME Diesel LPG

Butane Propane
Chemical formula CH3OCH3 C8 to C25 C4H10 C3H8
Molecular weight 46.07 96 58.13 44.11
Vapor pressure at 20 °C (bar) 5.1 <0.01 8.4 2.1
Boiling temperature (°C) 25 150–380 0.5 42.1
Liquid density at 20 °C (kg/m3) 660 800–840 610 501
Liquid viscosity at 25 °C (kg/ms) 0.12–0.15 2–4 0.2 0.2
Gas specific gravity (vs air) 1.59 – 2.01 1.52
Lower heating value (MJ/kg) 28.43 42.5 45.74 46.36
Cetane number 55–60 40–55 – 5
Stoichiometric A/F ratio (kg/kg) 9.0 14.6 14.8 15.7
Enthalpy of vaporization at NTPa (kJ/kg) 460 (20 °C) 250a 390 426
a
Normal temperature and pressure.

700 700 of various fuels based on the reports of Park and Lee [6] and Kapus
Auto-ignition temperature (° C)
and Ofner [25]. Combustion of a DME fuel–air mixture in the com-

Lower heating value (x10 kJ/kg)

2
Auto-ignition temperature ( °C)

Lower heating value (x10 kJ/kg)

600 600 bustion chamber of a CI engine is easily achieved without spark
ignition because of the high cetane number of DME fuel. As shown
2

500 500 in this graph, the auto-ignition temperature of DME fuel is higher
than those of diesel, methanol, ethanol, and CNG (methane).
400 400

300 300 2.2.2. Oxygenated fuel with high cetane number

200
100
0 0
DME Diesel Methanol
Fuels
Fig. 4. Auto-ignition temperature and heating values of various fuels [25].
Table 2
Bond characteristics of DME and ethanol [26].
Bond type Number of bonds
DME Ethanol
C–C 0 1
C–H 6 5
C–O 2 1
O–H 0 1
2.2. Applicability of DME fuel to automotive diesel engine
2.2.1. Thermodynamic and combustion properties
The temperature above which self-ignition occurs is called the
auto-ignition temperature. Auto-ignition (or self-ignition) is a
basic operation principle in the CI engine, and auto-ignition tem-
perature is the one of the most important factors affecting combus-
tion in a CI system. In a CI diesel engine, the fuel/air mixture is
heated during the ignition delay, thus the fuel/air mixture sponta-
neously ignites after ignition delay without a spark plug or external
igniter if the fuel temperature is raised above the auto-ignition
temperature. One of the advantages of DME fuel is its lower igni-
tion temperature than diesel fuel [22,23]. Under atmospheric con-
ditions, the auto-ignition temperature of DME is higher than that
of diesel (DME: 350 °C, diesel: 250 °C). However, because the
auto-ignition temperature of DME depends on the ambient pres-
sure, the auto-ignition temperature of DME decreases with an
increase in pressure. The auto-ignition temperature of DME is
between 200 °C and 250 °C, which is lower than that of diesel
[13,24]. Fig. 4 illustrates the auto-ignition temperature and LHV
In a CI engine, the cetane number is a measure of the self-
200
ignition properties of a fuel. The cetane number of DME is higher
100
than that of conventional diesel fuel, and the value is reported as
55–60 [14,24]. The high cetane number of DME indicates that it
is suitable for use in a diesel engine, because a high cetane number
Ethanol CNG corresponds to a shortened premix burn period. For example, the
cetane number of propane and methane is about 5. This means that
propane and methane are not suitable for use as main fuels in a CI
engine. In addition, the high cetane number of DME contributes to
a short ignition delay, which affects combustion performance and
emission characteristics. The relationship between cetane number
and combustion/emission characteristics of DME-fueled diesel
engine is discussed in Section 4.
Binding energy (kJ/mol) As mentioned above, the most important properties of DME are
its auto-ignition temperature, high cetane rating, and high oxygen
357.7
content compared to diesel. The oxygen content of DME plays an
410.4 important role in promoting the combustion reaction and reducing
359.0 soot and particulate matter (PM) emissions. The absence of C–C
452.8 bonds in DME and its high oxygen content (about 34.8 wt.%) con-
tribute to near-zero smoke emission from an engine when DME
is used as a fuel. In the combustion process, the oxygen content
in the fuel decreases the auto-ignition temperature compared to
that required for conventional petroleum diesel fuel without
oxygen. As shown in Table 2, C–O bond energy is lower than the
C–H bond energy [26,27]. Therefore, C–O bonds in DME break more
easily than the C–H bonds [17]. The lower bond energy of C–O
bonds than C–H bonds results in a shorter ignition delay and
higher cetane number when DME is used as a fuel compared to
other fuel types. The bond energies of C–H and C–O in DME are
410.4 kJ/mol and 359.0 kJ/mol, respectively.
2.2.3. Low viscosity and lubricity characteristics
DME is much less viscous and lubricating than diesel. The kine-
matic viscosity of DME is between 0.185 cSt and 0.23 cSt, and
depends on the pressure and temperature [27–29]. This viscosity
range is less than the ASTM standard range (1.39–4.2 cSt at
40 °C). Low viscosity and lubricity of DME induce fuel leakage
and surface wear in the fuel delivery system, including that of
moving and rotating parts such as plungers and the fuel feed
pump. Therefore, additives need to be found to improve the
852 S.H. Park, C.S. Lee / Energy Conversion and Management 86 (2014) 848–863

viscosity and lubricity of DME. Some research institutes and Table 4

researchers have suggested the use of additives such as Lubrizol, Explosion and hazard characteristics of DME [17,19,41].

Hitec, Infineum R655, biodiesel, and other hydrocarbon fuels to
improve the viscosity and lubricity of DME [25,31–35].
2.2.4. Low heating value characteristics
Higher cetane number and lower auto-ignition temperature of
DME than diesel in a CI engine are sufficient to operate the diesel
engine cycle. However, the lower heating value (LHV) of DME is
about 28.43 MJ/kg which are about two-thirds that of diesel
(42.5 MJ/kg) as listed in Table 1. The heating value of DME
(C2H6O) can be calculated by the combustion reaction with oxy-
genated in the air. In combustion thermodynamics, the conserva-
tion of energy relationship for the chemical reacting system of
DME can be determined the air/fuel ratio on a mass basis. The
air/fuel ratio is the ratio of the amount of air in a reaction to the
amount of DME. Thus, the air/fuel ratio of DME (ra/f) is 8.98
kg-air/kg-DME. These air/fuel ratio is less than that of diesel com-
bustion given the theoretical amount of air under stoichiometric
conditions. In the case of diesel combustion, 14.6 kg-air is needed
for the combustion of 1 kg-diesel.
2.2.5. High latent heat and low boiling point
One of the advantages of DME fuel is its high latent heat with
low boiling temperature. The latent heat of DME is 460 kJ/kg at
20 °C, while that of conventional diesel fuel is about 250 kJ/kg
at normal temperature and pressure [16]. Compared to the diesel
combustion process, the higher latent heat of DME reduces the
NOx concentration because the injected liquid DME spray absorbs
a lot of heat during the evaporation process, thus the combustion
chamber experiences a larger temperature drop than the case with
diesel. In addition, the low boiling point of DME promotes quick
vaporization of liquid DME spray when liquid fuel is injected into
the combustion chamber. Fast evaporation of the liquid phase fuel
results in a temperature drop in premixed combustion in the
engine, which decreases the formation of nitrogen oxide during
combustion.
2.2.6. Compressibility characteristics of DME
The bulk modulus of liquid represents the compression charac-
teristics of a fluid. The bulk modulus of DME is considerably lower
than that of several organic fluids such as dodecane, n-heptane,
benzene, and octadecane. This indicates that DME is more
compressible than other hydrocarbons [18]. In other words, the
compressibility of DME is higher than that of conventional diesel.
The bulk modulus of DME increases with increasing pressure under
constant temperature conditions [36]. In an actual CI engine, the
compression work for DME in the high pressure injection pump
is larger than that for typical diesel fuel because DME has a higher
compressibility and lower density than diesel [18]. Sorenson et al.
[18] concluded that the bulk modulus of compressibility of typical
hydrocarbon fuels is 4–6 times higher than that of DME fuel. For all
investigated temperature conditions, the compression work of
DME is greater than that of dodecane. At a final compression
Items DME Diesel Propane Butane
Auto-ignition temperature (K) 508 523 743 638
Lower explosion limit (vol.%) 3.0–3.4 0.6 2.1 1.9
Upper explosion limit (vol.%) 17–18.6 6.5–7.5 9.4 8.4
Minimum ignition energy (mJ) 0.29 – 0.26 0.305
pressure of 25 MPa, the compression work of DME was 3.2-fold
that of dodecane at 50 °C. They also showed that DME compression
work increased significantly with an increase in temperature.
2.2.7. Safety and health problems
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are organic chemicals that
are emitted as gases from certain liquid or solids. VOCs comprise
a wide variety of chemicals, many of which are environmentally
hazardous and ozone-depleting [10]. DME is a volatile organic
compound that is non-carcinogenic, non-toxic, non-teratogenic,
and non-mutagenic. Good et al. [37] reported the lifetimes and glo-
bal warming potentials (GWPs) of dimethyl ether and fluorinated
ethers using a modeling approach. GWP can quantitatively
describe a molecule’s ability to contribute to climate change, and
it includes both the molecule’s lifetime and its ability to absorb
radiation [37]. In addition, GWP is defined as the time-integrated
warming effect caused by the instantaneous release of a unit mass
(1 kg) of a greenhouse gas into the atmosphere relative to that of
carbon dioxide [37,38]. The GWP values of greenhouse gases are
listed in Table 3. The tropospheric lifetime of DME is 0.015 years
and its GWP (time horizon) is 1.2 (for 20 years), 0.3 (for 100 years),
and 0.1 (for 500 years) [37]. Comparison of the GWP values of var-
ious hydrocarbons by Good et al. [37] revealed that DME is atmo-
spherically benign and should not contribute significantly to global
warming [37]. Table 3 also lists GWP values for greenhouse gases
(CO2, CH4, and N2O) [39,40]. As listed in Table 3, DME has a rela-
tively lower lifetime and GWP values than these gases for all time
horizons. DME also has a relatively better lower-explosive limit of
3.0–3.4% by volume compared to diesel fuel (about 0.6% in air)
[17,19,41]. Furthermore, when DME burns in air, it has visible
flame similar to that of natural gas, indicating that DME is not a
safety hazard. DME vapor is heavier than air; therefore, a good
ventilation system is required when DME is used. Explosion and
hazard characteristics of DME are listed in Table 4.
3. DME engine development and problems
3.1. DME low-pressure feed pump and high-pressure injection pump
characteristics
A DME fuel primary pump as part of a feeding system to a high-
pressure pump should be designed based on the requirements of
the fuel system given the rating power and vehicle type. Drive
powers of a DME low-pressure feed pump and high-pressure pump
are proportional to the flow rate and the difference in delivery

Table 3
Global warming potentials (GWPs).

Species and chemical formula Lifetime (years) GWP for given time horizon
20 years 100 years 500 years
Carbon dioxide (CO2) [40] 1 1 1 1
Dimethyl ether (CH3OCH3) [38] 0.015 1.2 0.3 0.1
Methane (CH4) [41] 12a 56 21 6.5
Nitrous oxide (N2O) [41] 114a 280 310 170
a
These values were specially cited from Ref. [38].
 S.H. Park, C.S. Lee / Energy Conversion and Management 86 (2014) 848–863
pressure and inlet pressure. A DME fuel supply pump and injection
pump system must take the following physical properties of DME
into consideration: its high vapor pressure, high compressibility,
low viscosity, and ability to dissolve sealing materials such as rub-
ber and certain plastic materials. Because of its low boiling point,
DME is in vapor state at normal temperature and pressure. There-
fore, it is necessary to pressurize DME above its vapor pressure of
0.5 MPa at normal temperature to maintain DME in liquid phase in
a fuel tank. In general, DME vapor pressure is dependent on tem-
perature. As shown in the vapor pressure curves in Fig. 3, the vapor
pressure of DME is in-between that of propane and butane. To liq-
uefy gaseous DME fuel, DME fuel should be pressurized to about
1.0 MPa in the storage tank [42,43]. Vapor pressure of DME is
0.51 MPa at 293 K but increases with an increase in temperature
as shown in Fig. 3. DME can be stored in a pressurized tank in a sat-
urated state; for example, the saturated pressures of DME at tem-
peratures of 15 °C and 50 °C are 0.1616 MPa and 1.196 MPa,
respectively [13].
DME viscosity is only about 1/10 that of conventional diesel
fuel. This low viscosity also means that DME has poor lubricity,
and these characteristics results in frictional wear and internal
leakage problems. One solution to address the lubricity problem
is to add additives to DME fuel [44–46]. Relative motion of parts
at the sealing surface, such as rotation of the swash plate pump,
makes it difficult to prevent internal leakage from the high-
pressure to the low-pressure chamber in the pump. A high leakage
rate caused by a low viscosity lubricant is related to severe wear of
the sealing surface [47].
3.1.1. Fuel pump drive power and efficiency
Pump speed and drive power vary with pump displacement and
the pressure difference. The drive power of a pump, N(W), can be
written as
V d DPspump gv
N¼
60gp
where Vd is the pump displacement (m3), DP is the pressure differ-
ence (Pa), spump is the pump speed (rpm), gv is the volumetric effi-
ciency, gp is the overall efficiency of the pump, and N is the drive
power (W). In Eq. (1), the flow rate of the pump is m = qVdspumpgv/
60 and the drive power is written as N = mDP/qgp. In this equation,
q is the density of fuel. To use DME fuel, injection capacities such as
the displacement volume have to modify and changes have to be
made to prevent leakage from the sealing of moving parts. To
increase the displacement of the injection pump, plunger diameter
and stroke can be increased and an anti-dissolving material should
be used for seals, and nozzle dimensions appropriate for a DME fuel
system should be used. Most of the sealing materials used in con-
ventional fuel pumps and high-pressure injection pumps dissolve
and swell when DME is used, resulting in leakage of high-pressure
DME fuel.
3.1.2. Injection rate of DME fuel
Fuel injection rate is a very important factor affecting the fuel
spray and injection characteristics of DME fuel. Injection rate can
be calculated through measurement of the injection quantity and
pressure variation in a tube filled with the test fuel. Correlation
between the measured pressure and velocity can be estimated
from application of mass conservation and momentum equations
to a control volume. Finally, the measured pressure signal can be
converted to an injection rate. Mainly, the pressure in the measur-
ing tube is maintained at 3–4 MPa, which is similar to the pressure
at the end of the compression stroke. Continuous injection profiles
for more than 200 injections are measured to obtain pressure data,
and are averaged. Measurements of the pressure wave to calculate
853
the injection rate is based on the pressure–velocity wave in a sta-
tionary flow. Assuming one-dimensional flow, the pressure P(t) in
the transient flow is given by
PðtÞ ¼ qau ð2Þ
where q is the density of fuel, a is the speed of sound in fluid, and u
is flow velocity. By combining this equation with the continuity
equation, the governing equation of injection rate (dQD/dt) in the
Bosch method [48] is derived as follows [49]
dQ D PðtÞ
¼A ð3Þ
dt aq
where dQD/dt is the volumetric injection rate of fuel, A is the cross-
sectional area of the tube.
As indicated in Table 1, DME has a lower LHV and density than
diesel fuel. Kim et al. [50] revealed that 48% more DME fuel mass
than diesel fuel mass should be injected to produce the same heat
as diesel fuel. In their study, the width (actual injection duration)
of the injection rate of DME was 37% greater than that of diesel.
Ikeda et al. [51] revealed that the injection rate and injection per-
iod increased with an increase in back pressure due to changes in
needle behavior. Bang and Lee [52] investigated the injection rate
characteristics of DME blended biodiesel fuels at various blending
ratio. They reported that the increase of biodiesel contents in DME-
biodiesel blended fuels showed longer injection period and lower
peak of injection rate at the same injection conditions such as
injection pressure, energizing duration, and ambient pressure. In
addition, they revealed that DME with much biodiesel portion
had a low effective injection velocity near nozzle exit. These dis-
tinctive injection rate characteristics of DME, which are different
from those of diesel, highlight the importance of designing an opti-
mal injector nozzle (including orifice) and combustion chamber
with the appropriate geometry, and determining the optimal injec-
tion strategy.
ð1Þ
3.2. DME fuel spray and atomization characteristics
Injection technology for CI engines is improving and injection
pressures of up to 300 MPa have been achieved [53,54]. The com-
bination of ultra-high injection pressure and multi-injection strat-
egies has decreased injection duration. Exact control of injection
factors such as injection quantity and injection duration is very
important because these factors have a significant influence on
spray behavior in the combustion chamber. Although ultra-high
injection pressure such as that used for diesel injection does not
apply to DME injection technology because of the superior atom-
ization and vaporization characteristics of DME, in-depth study
of DME spray and injection characteristics is needed. High-
pressure DME injection in particular requires investigations
because DME has a 2.3-fold lower bulk modulus than diesel fuel
[3]. In addition, the distinctive fuel properties of DME result in dif-
ferent spray behavior and spray development than those of diesel
and DME droplets have different microscopic characteristics to
those of diesel fuel [55].
Fig. 5 shows the macroscopic spray penetrations of conven-
tional diesel and DME fuel at 1 MPa ambient pressure and an injec-
tion pressure of 70 MPa as reported by Park et al. [56]. These
authors compared the experimental results for DME and diesel
fuels to the predicted results obtained by KIVA-3V for a constant
energizing duration of 1.0 ms. DME spray had a shorter spray tip
penetration than conventional diesel fuel. This is because DME fuel
had a faster vaporization rate than diesel fuel due to a lower boil-
ing point and more rapid dissipation of droplet mass. Spray tip
penetration of DME decreased with an increase in ambient gas
pressure because of suppression of spray evolution by the high
854 S.H. Park, C.S. Lee / Energy Conversion and Management 86 (2014) 848–863
Fig. 5. Comparison of spray tip penetration of diesel and DME fuels [56].
density of ambient gas. Furthermore, DME spray in the bottom
view had a narrower spray shape than diesel spray.
Spray tip penetration of DME and diesel fuel is compared in
Fig. 6. Values, which were excerpted from Refs. [46,57], are based
on an injection pressure of 60 MPa and ambient pressure of
2 MPa. Furthermore, spray penetration of DME fuel was compared
with that of diesel fuel at 60 MPa of injection pressure and 2.5 MPa
of ambient pressure in Ref. [58]. In Ref. [59], spray tip penetration
was investigated at an injection pressure of 16 MPa at the time of
ignition start. All DME spray penetration values shown in Fig. 6 are
lower than those of conventional diesel fuel. These results can be
explained by the lower density and excellent evaporation charac-
teristics of DME fuel, which induce deceleration of the droplet
momentum of the fuel spray. The high evaporation characteristics
of DME prevent full development of DME spray when DME injec-
tion occurs. Comparison of the spray cone angle for DME and diesel
fuel revealed that DME had a slightly larger spray cone angle than
diesel fuel.
Investigation of the droplet size distribution of DME revealed
that DME or DME-blended diesel fuel had a smaller droplet size
than undiluted or conventional diesel fuel because of the low vis-
cosity and surface tension of DME [60–62].
120
110
100
Spray tip penetration (mm)
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0 8 mg/cycle [44]. The peak pressure of diesel fuel was higher than
Ref. 57 Ref. 47 Ref. 58
Fig. 6. Comparison of spray tip penetration between DME and diesel fuels (Ref.
[57]: Pinj = 60 MPa, Pamb = 2 MPa, Ref. [47]: Pinj = 60 MPa, Ref. [58]: Pinj = 60 MPa,
Pamb = 2.5 MPa, Ref. [59]: Pinj = 16 MPa, Pamb = 4 MPa).
4. Combustion and emission characteristics of DME fuel
4.1. Ignition delay of DME
DME has a higher evaporation rate than conventional diesel
fuel. As can be seen in Table 1, the boiling point of DME is
25 °C, which is much lower than that of diesel (150–380 °C).
Therefore, if the lower explosive concentration of DME in the envi-
ronment is exceeded (3.4 vol.% DME), it would immediately evap-
orate and form an explosive mixture with air. The latent heat of
DME is about 154% that of diesel fuel. When DME fuel is injected
into a combustion chamber, it vaporizes rapidly because of its
low boiling temperature. A lower boiling temperature enhances
rapid mixing of fuel vapor and decreases ignition delay. Ignition
delay of fuel plays an important role in combustion characteristics
and the determination of exhaust emissions.
Fig. 7(a) shows the effect of injection timing on ignition delay
for DME and diesel fuel. In this figure, the ignition delay of DME
fuel is shorter than that of conventional diesel fuel [50]. Based on
the experimental data reported by Yao et al. [63], the ignition delay
of DME can be written as
4206Þ
sid ¼ 0:022p0:316 eð T ð4Þ
where sid is the ignition delay (ms), p is cylinder pressure (bar), and
T is cylinder gas temperature (K). These authors showed that igni-
tion delay is strong dependent on temperature. Furthermore, above
about 973 K, the effects of initial temperature and pressure were no
longer significant [63].
When using DME as a fuel, a higher pressure causes a shorter
ignition delay, while a lower temperature increases ignition delay.
Calculated and experimental results for ignition delay when using
DME as a fuel, based on the results of Yao et al. [63], are shown in
Fig. 7(b). As illustrated in these figures, experimental results for die-
sel and DME were differed by 1.3–2.3° in the experimental range.
4.2. Thermodynamic characteristics and engine performance
4.2.1. Neat DME fuel
Maximum flame temperature can be achieved if heat and work
is not transferred to the surroundings during complete combustion
process of DME fuel. This temperature is called the adiabatic flame
temperature, and can be determined from the reactive equation of
DME fuel by assuming no work transfer, no heat loss, and no
changes in kinetic or potential energy. Chen et al. [64] investigated
the thermal and chemical kinetic effects of DME flames at different
dilution ratios on laminar flame speeds and adiabatic flame tem-
peratures. In their study, experiments were conducted in a con-
DME
stant volume chamber at an initial pressure of 0.1 MPa and initial
Diesel
temperature of 298 K. When the equivalence ratio is 1.0, the adia-
batic flame temperature of DME–air combustion and experimental
laminar flame speed were 2295 K and 47.2 cm/s, respectively.
Fig. 8 and Table 5 show the adiabatic flame temperature of DME
[64] and other major fuels investigated by Torii et al. [65]. Com-
pared to the adiabatic flame temperature for various fuels in
Table 5, the adiabatic flame temperature of DME fuel is higher than
all other fuels except for ethylene, propylene, and acetylene. This
indicates that the combustion characteristics of DME are excellent.
Fig. 9 shows the combustion pressure and rate of heat release of
DME and diesel fuel at an engine speed of 1500 rpm, injection pres-
sure of 50 MPa, start of energizing of 6° BTDC, and injection mass of
Ref. 59 that of DME at the same injection quantity because of the higher
LHV of diesel (about 42.5 MJ/kg) than that of DME (about
28.43 MJ/kg). As illustrated in this figure, the amount of DME fuel
injected should be increased up to amount that matches the same
 S.H. Park, C.S. Lee / Energy Conversion and Management 86 (2014) 848–863 855

Table 5
Adiabatic flame temperatures of various fuels.

Fuel Adiabatic flame Equivalence Reference

temperature (K) ratio
Dimethyl ether 2295.0 1.0 [133]
(C2H6O)
Methanol (CH3OH) 2221.05 1.0 [134]
Ethanol (C2H5OH) 2236.29 1.0 [134]
Methane (CH4) 2225.43 1.0 [134]
Ethane (C2H6) 2258.88 1.0 [134]
Propane (C3H8) 2266.54 1.0 [134]
Butane (n-C4H10) 2269.20 1.0 [134]
Hexane (n-C6H14) 2273.74 1.1 [134]
Octane (C8H18) 2276.09 1.1 [134]
Decane (C10H22) 2278.06 1.1 [134]
Ethylene (C2H4) 2392.01 1.1 [134]
(a) Comparison of ignition delay Propylene (C3H6) 2473.37 1.1 [134]
Acetylene (C2H2) 2607.57 1.3 [134]
between DME and diesel

(b) Comparison of ignition delay for experimental

and calculated value of DME
Fig. 9. Comparison of combustion pressure and heat release characteristics of DME
Fig. 7. Ignition delays of DME and diesel fuels [50,63]. and diesel fuels [44].

energy input of diesel to improve the combustion characteristics

such as combustion pressure and heat release. Youn et al. [5] inves-
tigated the combustion characteristics of a DME passenger car
engine with 1.582 l of displacement at 1500 rpm, a constant engine
load of 20%, an injection pressure of 50 MPa, and injection timing
between BTDC 18° and TDC. The maximum pressure of DME was
higher than that of diesel fuel and increased with an advance of
2350
Adiabatic flame temperature ( °C)
injection timing. They indicated that the ignition delay of DME
was shorter than that of diesel due to differences in the vaporiza-
tion characteristics and higher cetane number. The higher oxygen
content of DME fuel promoted the combustion reaction. Advanced
ignition of DME fuel brought about the fast burning of fuel and an
early increasing of accumulated heat release. In DME combustion,
the most dominant factor for the cumulative heat release is a
homogeneous mixture of fuel and air in the premixed zone,
because heat release of thermal cycle is affected by premixed com-
bustion. For the same energy input of fuel and an engine speed of
1500 rpm, the heat release of DME is higher than that of conven-

tional diesel fuel at the same injection timing [5]. In order to

2300
reduce the exhaust emission, Sato et al. [66] investigated that the
effects of combustion pressure and heat release of DME fueled
2250 engines, and found that these are higher than when diesel fuel is
used. Furthermore, they reported that DME fuel had a higher indi-
cated mean effective pressure (IMEP) and lower ignition delay than
2200 conventional diesel fuel. Most of studies of DME-fueled engine
systems have focused on spray atomization [67,68], emission
reduction, and the combustion characteristics of DME fuel
2150 [69–71] in a compression ignition diesel engine. Major studies
and their findings regarding the combustion and emission charac-
teristics of DME engines are summarized in Table 6.
2100
DME Methanol Ethanol Methane Propane Butane Octane Decane

Fuels 4.2.2. DME blended fuels

The major issue that needs to be addressed to use DME fuel in
Fig. 8. Adiabatic flame temperatures of various fuels [64,65]. an automotive engine is to design an injection system that will
856 S.H. Park, C.S. Lee / Energy Conversion and Management 86 (2014) 848–863

Table 6
Summaries of major studies of combustion and emission characteristics of DME engines.

Year Author Contents of study Results and comments Ref.

1991 Karpuk et al. Ignition enhancer for methanol diesel engine Combustion and emissions of diesel and methanol–DME engines [72]
1992 Murayama Ignition improver for methanol CI engine Effect of DME on combustion and emissions characteristics, ignition [73]
et al. enhancer effect
1994 Guo et al. Performance and emission in a methanol engine with DME dQ/dh, DME effects on emission and performance characteristics [74]
1995 Fleisch et al. Engine test of DME blended fuel in a diesel engine DME effects on NOx, HC, PM, and CO. emissions. Combustion pressure [15]
effect and reduction in emissions
1995 Sorenson and Performance and emissions of a DI diesel engine with DME Injection pump wear, thermal efficiency, HC, CO, NOx emission effects [19]
Mikkelsen
1995 Kapus and Passenger car engine test with DME fuel DME combustion behavior, combustion noise, NOx and BSFC effects [75]
Cartellleri
1997 McCandless Development of a fuel injection system for DME Design and simulation of injection pump, injection characteristics [76]
and Li
1998 Ofner et al. Environmental effects of DME CI engine ECE test results of DME and various fuels, CO2 emissions [77]
1998 Sorenson DME in diesel fuel injection system Injection pressure and property relationships, fuel compressibility [18]
et al. analysis, DME photography of DME spray
1999 Kono et al. NO emission characteristics of a CI engine with DME Heat release and comparison of DME and diesel fuel [78]
1999 Wakai et al. Ignition delay of DME, and diesel and DME injector Ignition delay analysis when using DME fuel, ignition process [41]
visualization
1999 Huang et al. Combustion characteristics of DME engine Pressure and heat release, heat release comparison between DME and [23]
diesel
2000 McCandless DME pump development and analysis of pump Pump capacity analysis, pump torque and drive power characteristics [47]
et al. performance
2000 Sato et al. Performance and emission of a diesel engine with DME fuel Emission reduction and increased engine characteristics of combustion, [66]
emissions characteristics
2000 Hansen et al. City bus application, storage and filling system, engine Application factors, storage system, DME supply system, vehicle [79]
application installation
2001 Teng et al. Analysis of thermochemical properties of DME Combustion thermodynamic analysis, thermochemical properties [36]
2002 Oguma et al. DME spray, effect of compression ratio and emissions Spray, compression ratio effects, evaluation of emission reductions [80]
2003 Bhide et al. Viscosity of DME blend, viscosity measurements, viscosity Viscosity measurements and variation, relation between viscosity and [30]
variation with pressure variation pressure variations
2003 Kajitani and DME engine combustion and emission investigation DME– DME engine emissions, combustion characteristics, DME–diesel blending [81]
Chen diesel blend effect fuel effect
2003 Teng et al. Ignition delay and evaporation of DME Evaluation of ignition delay of DME, evaporation characteristics, cetane [24]
number and compression ratio
2004 Wu et al. DME vapor pressure measurements Vapor pressure and data analysis, vapor pressure and viscosity relation [82]
2004 Teng et al. Thermodynamic properties of DME, exhaust emission Thermodynamic properties analysis, P-v-T relation of DME, emission, [13]
analysis excess air coefficient analysis
2005 Yasumoto Critical property analysis, of DME, vapor pressure Vapor pressure calculation, Wagner equation, critical parameters of a [83]
et al. binary mixture of DME
2004 Song et al. Controllable premixed combustion of DME Effect of DME on performance and emission characteristics [84]
2005 Kamfer and Thermodynamic properties, saturated vapor pressure, DME Saturation pressure, latent heat of vaporization, heat capacity analysis [85]
Ryzhnkin basic properties
2006 Semelsberger DME production and application, well-to-wheel analysis DME production analysis and well-to-wheel efficiency evaluation, [10]
et al. greenhouse and fuel economy problems
2006 Teng and Heavy-duty diesel engine fueled with DME Emission analysis of DME engine, NOx reduction, after treatment system [86]
McCandless for DME
2007 Sivebaek and DME viscosity measurements Viscosity measurement system, viscosity correction, viscosity [87]
Jakobsen measurement theory
2007 Arcoumanis Review article, potential of DME, spray, combustion, and Potential analysis of DME, production and vehicle application problems, [17]
et al. emissions characteristics emission analysis and energy efficiency
2007 Kim et al. Spray and combustion of DME, low temperature reaction DME spray and combustion investigation, LTR and HTR analysis, [44]
and high temperature reaction (LTR and THR), emission emissions from DME fueled engine
effects
2007 Kim et al. Multiple injection effects of a DME CI engine Split injection effect, combustion and emission reduction, IMEP [70]
comparison of injection strategies
2008 Kim et al. Combustion and NOx emission from a DME CI engine Engine configuration effect, IMEP evaluation, cylinder pressure analysis [88]
2008 Ying et al. Application of DME/diesel blend in a diesel engine Vapor pressure, vapor pressure relationships, evaluation of DME spray, [89]
power performance
2008 Kim et al. DME engine combustion and emission characteristics Injection rate analysis, combustion and heat release analysis, emission [50]
effects
2009 Kim et al. Atomization and evaporation of biodiesel and DME Axial distance from the nozzle, SMD analysis of DME, SMD distribution [46]
2010 Park et al. DME spray and emission from a diesel engine Spray configuration of piston head shape, combustion and emission [90]
effects
2010 Yoon et al. Spray angle and injection strategies for DME combustion Spray angle and injection strategies, emissions and nano-particle [22]
distribution
2010 Kim et al. Effect of ambient pressure on atomization of biodiesel and Evolution of DME and biodiesel, spray macroscopic visualization and [68]
DME penetration
2010 Kim et al. Spray behavior and atomization of DME Visualization assessment, intensity of spray images [91]
2010 Suh et al. Multiple injection effects on atomization and emissions Effect of multiple injection of DME, relation between multiple injections [57]
and emissions
2011 Sezer Thermodynamic analysis of DME, performance and Thermodynamic model, combustion pressure and brake torque, [16]
emission in a diesel engine thermodynamic parameter analysis
2011 Youn et al. Spray and emission reduction for a DME fueled multi- DME spray and visualization, Pmax and heat release analysis, ISNOx, [5]
cylinder diesel engine ISHC, ISCO, ISsoot experimental analysis
 S.H. Park, C.S. Lee / Energy Conversion and Management 86 (2014) 848–863
Table 6 (continued)
Year Author Contents of study
2011 Kim et al. Spray strategies for DME fuel and emission effects in a DME
engine
2012 Fleisch et al. Status of DME in China
2013 Yoon et al. EGR effects in a DME engine
2013 Park and Lee Review article, combustion and emission reduction of a
DME engine
2014 Thomas et al. Review article, combustion of DME, numerical model,
emission reduction
2014 El-Asrag and Numerical simulation of NOx emission using a DME/air
Ju mixture
overcome the poor lubricity, viscosity, low LHV, and low elasticity
of DME. In order to improve lubricity, lubricating additives can be
added. However, materials to improve lubricity and the heating
value of DME fuel have yet to be developed. One of the character-
istics of DME is its solubility in hydrocarbon fuels. In this view
point, blending of fuels is indispensable in DME engine application
to automotive vehicle in order to overcome these disadvantages of
DME fuel. There are many studies of DME blended with diesel
[89,95–97], propane [98], and other fuels [99–103]. Blending
DME with propane improved the lower heating value of DME,
and blending DME with biodiesel enabled the operation of a
DME fueled engine without a lubrication additive because of the
high lubricity and viscosity of biodiesel.
Ying et al. [96] studied the combustion and engine performance
characteristics of DME/diesel blended fuels with the emissions
characteristics. They reported that the addition of DME to diesel
induced the improvement of fuel and energy consumption at high
engine speed of full engine load. In addition, it was revealed by
them that the power output at high engine speed of full load in
DME blended fuels is lower than that in neat diesel fuel due to
its lower calorific value. Okamoto et al. [104] reported the relation-
ship between the brake specific energy consumption (BSEC) of
palm methyl ester (PME) 50, PME25, and Palm25 operations and
the brake mean effective pressure (BMEP). PME25 and Palm25
refer to the volume fraction of PME and palm oil in the DME blend-
ing fuels, respectively. They reported that consumption of PME/
DME and palm/DME fuels was almost equal to that of diesel fuel,
PME, and DME under same BMEP conditions. By comparing the
rate of heat release (ROHR) of PME, PME50, PME25, Palm25, DME
and diesel fuel cycles operating at a constant brake mean effective
pressure (BMEP), they found that the ignition timing for DME was
earlier than those for other fuels [104]. When DME was blended
with biodiesel, premixed combustion decreased because DME
decreased the ignition delay. As the DME blending ratio increased,
the smoke concentration decreased, and the maximum smoke
emission for PME was 50% lower than that for diesel fuel [104].
This is because biodiesel and DME fuel both contain oxygen, and
the amount of oxygen in a fuel influences ignition timing and the
rate of heat release. Wang and Zhou [105] conducted the investiga-
tions for the power and torque outputs for different fuels at various
speeds and full load. They showed that the power and torque per-
formance of their test engine increased with an increase in rape-
seed oil mass fraction in fuel blends. The lower heating value of
DME fuel is about 71% (27,600 kJ/kg) that of rapeseed oil, therefore
the heating value of a rapeseed oil/DME blends decreased from
38,900 kJ/kg (undiluted rapeseed oil 100%) to 27,826 kJ/kg (98%
DME, rapeseed oil 2%). The lower heating value of this blend com-
pared to diesel fuel indicates that more blended fuel per cycle was
required to match the power output of the corresponding diesel
fuel. They also reported that maximum pressure increased with
857
Results and comments Ref.
Cylinder location and spray impingement, spray visualization, injection [69]
angle effects
DME markets, LPG/DME blends, application sectors of DME, [92]
manufacturing technologies, DME industry and its economics
EGR effect on combustion and emissions in a diesel engine, soot and NOx [93]
emission reduction, effect of EGR rate on nano-particle emissions
Properties analysis, spray and atomization, visualization, emission [6]
characteristics and reduction effects, DME applications for the
automotive vehicle
Potential analysis, NOx, HC, CO, PM reduction effect, exhaust emissions [14]
and combustion method, NOx emission and soot relationship
EGR effect on auto-ignition, simulation of stratified ignition, ignition [94]
frame front
an increase in the amount of rapeseed oil. The main reason for this
is the increase in pressure in the cylinder because of reduced heat
generation due to a reduction in the amount of DME in the blend.
In addition, the longer ignition delay of rapeseed oil increased the
accumulated amount of fuel injected during the delayed period
prior to combustion, which resulted in a higher peak cylinder
pressure.
As mentioned above, DME is an excellent alternative fuel for
diesel engines, and offers almost smoke-free combustion com-
pared to diesel fuel. It is clear from Table 1 that DME and butane
have similar fuel properties, but the LHV of DME is only 62% that
of butane. This property means that a larger amount of fuel per
cycle is required to generate the same engine output when conven-
tional diesel is used. The LHV of butane is 45,740 kJ/kg, while that
of DME is 28,430 kJ/kg. Therefore, DME-LPG blended fuel in a CI
engine has a higher LHV than DME fuel. Lee et al. [97] investigated
the performance and emissions characteristics of a CI engine oper-
ated with n-butane blended DME fuel. A single cylinder CI engine
with 498 cc displacement was operated at an engine speed of
1500 rpm and various engine loads. The blending ratio of n-butane
by mass was varied from 0% to 40%. A higher n-butane content in
the blended fuel resulted in a higher indicated mean effect pres-
sure (IMEP) due to the high LHV of n-butane. CO emissions were
higher at low load conditions, and increased under high load con-
ditions. At low load range, CO emissions increased with an increase
in the n-butane blended fraction. They concluded that at n-butane
contents of over 30%, the start of combustion was delayed and THC
was emitted in the low load range. In the case of low loads, NOx
emissions increased with an increase in engine load. Smoke con-
centration was relatively low but increased under higher IMEP
condition.
4.3. Emission characteristics
Several studies have compared DME emissions with those of
conventional diesel fuel. Oguma et al. [80] showed that CO and
THC emissions from a DME-fueled engine were much lower than
those from diesel combustion. CO and HC emissions remained at
a constant, very low level regardless of the compression ratio when
DME fuel was combusted, while CO and HC emissions gradually
increased with a decrease in the compression ratio when diesel
was combusted. On the other hand, NOx emissions when DME fuel
was combusted increased with an increase in compression ratio,
and combustion of DME fuel resulted in greater NOx emission than
that of diesel fuel for the compression ratios of 12.36–17.7. In addi-
tion, brake thermal efficiency of an engine fueled with diesel fuel
decreased with a decrease in compression ratio, but brake thermal
efficiency of DME was comparable to the original compression
ratio regardless of the compression ratio [80]. Brake thermal
efficiency was calculated as the product of theoretical thermal
858 S.H. Park, C.S. Lee / Energy Conversion and Management 86 (2014) 848–863
efficiency, degree of constant volume, combustion efficiency, cool-
ing loss, and mechanical efficiency.
4.3.1. Neat DME fuel
4.3.1.1. NOx emission. Emission characteristics of DME-fueled
engine systems depend significantly on the engine specifications,
fuel supply system, and engine operating conditions including injec-
tion strategy (single or multiple injections, low or high injection
pressure) [106,107]. It is particularly difficult to directly compare
NOx emission characteristics of DME and diesel fuels because these
fuels have significantly different physical properties such as density,
viscosity, energy capacity, and oxygen content. NOx emissions are
highly affected by the combustion temperature, equivalence ratio,
oxygen content, and combustion duration [108,109]. Some studies
have found that NOx emission characteristics of DME engines lower
than those of diesel engines, while others have reported the oppo-
site. These two types of studies are discussed separately below.
1) Lower NOx emission
Some researchers have reported that DME combustion
results in lower NOx emissions than diesel combustion
because DME has lower heating value, high cetane number,
and higher latent heat capacity than diesel [110,111].
Another reason for low NOx emissions is the short ignition
delay, resulting in a small amount of premixed burned
DME and a low peak combustion temperature. Teng et al.
[36] and Egnell [112] explained the low NOx emission results
using chemical kinetic calculations and reaction enthalpy
analysis, respectively. Based on DME chemical kinetics
[31], Teng et al. [36] reported that the effect of oxygen on
NOx emissions during DME combustion can be neglected
because release of free oxygen from DME is limited. Egnell
[112] reported that the reaction rates of DME and diesel
are not significantly different and that the local equivalence
ratio of DME is higher than that of diesel during initial burn-
ing. This means that the local oxygen concentration of DME
is lower than that of diesel fuel. Egnell [112] compared the
emission characteristics of DME and diesel under the same
injection quantity conditions. Konno et al. [78] said that
DME combustion is able to have a lower NOx emission than
diesel combustion under the same diffusion time condition
although DME emit higher NOx emission under the same
rate of heat release condition.
2) Higher NOx emission
Numerous studies have reported higher NOx emissions from
DME combustion than diesel combustion due to the short
ignition delay under the same energy input conditions
[45,50,80,113]. Kajitani et al. [45] and Kim et al. [50] stated
that the high NOx emission from DME combustion resulted
from fast ignition and combustion due to the short ignition
delay. The high cetane number, superior atomization perfor-
mance, and excellent vaporization characteristics of DME
resulted in a rapid DME combustion reaction within a short
period of time. In addition, heat release rate (HRR) increased
suddenly and the peak value of the HRR for DME was higher
than that of diesel based on heat release curves. This means
that the energy of DME is emitted rapidly after ignition. In
addition, the oxygen in DME acts as oxidizer during the com-
bustion process, promoting the combustion reaction and
increasing combustion temperature. Therefore, the NOx
emission from DME combustion increases. Jeon et al. [114]
compared NOx emission characteristics of DME and diesel
by visualizing the combustion process in a single cylinder
engine. They reported that DME combustion resulted in
higher NOx emission than diesel combustion because of
the higher DME combustion temperature and HRR peak
value. Youn et al. [5] reported that NOx emissions from
DME combustion were higher than those of diesel regardless
of engine speed due to rapid ignition and a high combustion
temperature.
High NOx emission from DME combustion can be easily
reduced to a similar or lower level than that produced by
diesel combustion using various advanced combustion tech-
nologies. A method widely used to reduce NOx emissions is
exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). In EGR, some portion of
the exhaust gas is re-circulated to the combustion chamber
through the inlet system [115]. Although this can signifi-
cantly reduce NOx emissions, there are some drawbacks,
such as deterioration of fuel consumption and an increase
in soot and particulate matter in general [116]. However,
these are not significant problems in DME combustion
because DME has a higher oxygen contents than diesel fuel
and no direct carbon-to-carbon bonds. DME combustion is
therefore is theoretically soot-free, thus a high EGR rate
can be used to reduce NOx emissions without any deteriora-
tion of soot emission [24,117–119]. Besides the EGR method
to reduce NOx emissions, after-treatment devices, such as
lean NOx traps (LNT) [120], urea-selective catalytic reduction
(SCR), HC-SCR, and the combination of EGR and catalyst
[107] have been investigated.
4.3.1.2. Soot emission. Soot emission is generally formed in the
region with a high equivalence ratio and temperature between
1500 K and 2500 K [121,122]. In the fuel rich region (high equiva-
lence ratio region), acetylene is formed by decomposition of long
chain alkanes of diesel fuel [110]. Acetylene is one of the precur-
sors of soot formation. Soot precursors are unsaturated hydrocar-
bons such as acetylene (C2H2), ethylene (C2H4), and propargyl
(C3H3) [123]. These soot precursors decrease with an increase in
oxygen content and a decrease in direct carbon-to-carbon bonds
[123,124]. Therefore, soot precursors do not form easily during
DME combustion because DME has an oxygen content of 34.8%
and no direct carbon-to-carbon bonds [36,24,125]. In addition,
the oxygen content in DME has been shown to suppress the forma-
tion of soot in DME combustion in both experimental [126] and
analytical [127] studies. However, very small amounts of soot
emission are sometimes detected in DME fuels from fuel additives
used to improve lubrication, impurities in the fuel, or from lubrica-
tion oil using in the fuel pump and oil pump [128,129]. Therefore,
DME combustion has almost zero-soot emission characteristics.
4.3.1.3. HC and CO emissions. HC emissions are generally resulting
from partial or unburned fuel under fuel-rich conditions or incom-
plete fuel–air mixing. HC emissions from DME combustion are
usually lower than or equal to those from diesel combustion
[15,34,112]. As previously mentioned, DME has good evaporation,
atomization, and mixing characteristics as well as a high cetane
number. Thus, the ignition delay of DME is shorter than that of die-
sel. This characteristic of DME makes the formation of over-rich or
over-lean regions hard due to an insufficient mixing period [36]. In
addition, the oxygen content of DME results in relatively less fuel-
rich regions than diesel. Therefore, DME combustion results in
lower HC emissions than diesel combustion. HC emission during
combustion can also be caused by quenching due to impingement
of the injected fuel spray on the cold engine-cylinder wall. HC
emission due to wall-wetting is reduced during DME combustion
because DME spray has a shorter spray tip penetration, and faster
evaporation characteristics than diesel spray [50,56].
CO emission is also due to incomplete combustion, and occurs
under too rich or too lean mixture conditions [108]. CO emission
from DME combustion is usually less than that from diesel
 S.H. Park, C.S. Lee / Energy Conversion and Management 86 (2014) 848–863
combustion because DME has a low C/H ratio, lacks of C–C bonds,
and has a high oxygen content, characteristics that facilitate good
mixing and fast oxidation of intermediate species [50,63,77,84,
110,112,130,131]. However, CO emission from DME combustion
is sometimes higher than that from diesel combustion because of
the characteristics of the engine operating system and/or test con-
ditions. Because a long injection duration and large spray hole are
required when using DME as fuel to match the energy provided by
diesel, and the relatively injection pressure of DME is less than that
of diesel because of the compression work characteristic of DME,
DME combustion can result in higher CO emission that diesel com-
bustion [77]. Formaldehyde (CH2O), which is formed by b-scission
of methoxy-methyl radicals during the DME combustion process
[132], also contributes to higher CO emission from DME combus-
tion than diesel combustion. Although DME combustion has a
short ignition delay due to better mixing and the superior atomiza-
tion characteristics of DME, over-lean regions can be formed in the
DME mixture if the local equivalence ratio is too low. CO emission
may increase due to the presence of this over-lean region.
4.3.2. DME blended diesel, LPG, and biodiesel
In order to reduce exhaust emissions from DME fueled engines,
dual-fuel injection, multiple-injection, and blended fuel techniques
have been evaluated. Among these techniques, blending of two or
more fuels is the easiest way to use DME in an engine system
because no modification of the system is generally required. Diesel,
biodiesel, LPG, butane, and ethanol can be blended with DME with-
out solubility problems. Ying et al. [89,96] investigated exhaust
emissions characteristics of DME/diesel blended fuels in a diesel
engine. They blended small portion of DME (10–30%) with diesel.
Smoke was reduced using DME/diesel blends due to the increase
in oxygen content and decrease in C/H ratio and aromatic fraction.
NOx emissions from DME/diesel blends are generally lower than
those of diesel because of the decrease in in-cylinder temperature
by the premixed combustion amount. HC and CO emissions are
higher from combustion of DME/diesel blends than diesel alone.
In particular, an increase in the DME fraction in DME/diesel blends
caused an increase in HC emission because the high latent heat of
vaporization and high oxygen content of DME created an over-lean
mixture region, where HC formed [133]. However, Chen et al. [134]
reported that DME/diesel blends with less than 10% DME did not
have significantly different HC emission characteristics to those
of diesel alone, while Ikeda et al. [95] reported an increase in HC
emissions and a decrease in smoke emission when using DME/die-
sel blends with 40% DME.
Liquid petroleum gas (LPG), which consists mainly of n-butane
and propane, has similar physical–chemical properties to DME.
Therefore, DME can be stored and handled in a similar manner to
LPG. In addition, LPG infrastructure can be used to supply DME
for DME-fueled vehicles [11,100]. Blending of DME and LPG has
some advantages, such as compensation for the low cetane number
of LPG and the low energy density of DME. Accordingly, fuel con-
sumption in DME-fueled engines can be improved by LPG blend-
ing. Under medium and high engine load conditions, application
of DME/LPG blends reduced HC emissions due to fast evaporation
and good mixing of air/fuel. However, the use of LPG blends under
low load conditions increased HC emissions because of an increase
in ignition delay [97]. CO emission in DME/LPG blends increased
with an increase in the LPG fraction due to incomplete combustion.
Overall, DME/LPG blends showed lower NOx, smoke, and CO emis-
sion than conventional diesel. However, excessive blending of LPG
can deteriorate the combustion stability and the emission charac-
teristics including HC and CO. Therefore, it is very important to
determine the optimal blending ratio and engine operating condi-
tions for DME/LPG fuel mixture.
859
Table 7
Comparison of engine bench test and vehicle test results for a DME-fueled engine and
vehicle [79].
Engine test Vehicle test Euro-IV standard
Emission
NOx 2.99 g/kW h 3.30 g/kW h 3.5 g/kW h
HC 0.25 g/kW h 0.25 g/kW h 0.46 g/kW h
CO 0.12 g/kW h 0.03 g/kW h 1.5 g/kW h
PM <0.02 g/kW h N/A 0.02 g/kW h
Engine performance
Power 186 kW 109 kW @2000 rpm
Torque 1050 N m 727 N m @1450 rpm
Blending of biodiesel with DME improves lubrication, because
the high viscosity and lubrication characteristics of biodiesel can
compensate for the low viscosity and lubrication characteristics
of DME. Okamoto et al. [104] investigated the emission character-
istics of DME/biodiesel blends using two biodiesels (PME, UFO).
The two DME/biodiesel blends showed lower smoke emission than
diesel because both biodiesel and DME have a high oxygen content
as 35 wt.% NOx emission was at the same level or slightly lower
when DME/biodiesel blends were combusted than when diesel
was combusted. Wang and Zhou [105] studied engine performance
and emissions characteristics using DME/biodiesel blends. Their
biodiesel fuel was derived from rapeseed oil, and contained up to
10% rapeseed oil. They reported that NOx emission was decreased
under all engine load conditions when DME/biodiesel was used
compared with diesel, and an increase in the biodiesel fraction
caused a slight increase in NOx emissions. HC emissions from the
DME/biodiesel blends were similar to those from diesel under
low- and medium-engine load conditions. However, HC emissions
from DME/biodiesel blends were lower than those of diesel at high
engine loads regardless of blending ratio. CO emission from DME/
biodiesel blend was higher than that of diesel, but tended to
decrease with an increase in the biodiesel fraction due to the
increase in oxygen content.
Nowadays, many new combustion technologies for the
improvement of engine performance and the reduction of exhaust
emissions have actively developed such as low temperature com-
bustion (LTC), premixed compression ignition (PCI), and exhaust
gas recirculation (EGR). Some of these technologies are introduced
in other review paper [6] by authors in detail.
5. Application of DME in vehicle
Despite the low LHV, low viscosity, and poor lubrication charac-
teristics of DME fuel, research and development of DME fueled
engines and vehicles is necessary due to soot-free combustion
and the potential of a high EGR to reduce NOx emissions. In
addition, development and application of DME for transportation
vehicles can address the shortage of resources including fossil fuel
because DME is a synthetic fuel. Therefore, institutes and car-
making companies around the world are extending their research
from bench-level engine testing to modification and development
of DME-fueled vehicles.
5.1. Europe
In Europe, the first DME-fueled vehicles were developed in
Haldor Topsoe (Denmak) in 1996. Engines that met the EURO-4
emission standards were produced in 1998, and Volvo (Sweden)
developed the first DME-fueled bus in 1999. This first generation
DME bus had a fuel consumption of 1.17 km/l. Additionally, it
showed good performance and emission characteristics as
reflected in Table 7 [79]. Volvo started a project called the
860 S.H. Park, C.S. Lee / Energy Conversion and Management 86 (2014) 848–863
Table 8
Japanese diesel 13-mode emission test results [34].
Unit: g/kW h
Japanese 2003 limits
Diesel fuel operation
DME operation (compared to Japanese 2003 regulation)
‘Alternative Fuel for Heavy Duty’ project to develop a heavy-duty
DME vehicle in 2002. They developed a second generation DME
vehicle with 224 kW and a D9A engine in 2005. Recently, Volvo
reported a third generation DME truck (displacement: 13 l) with
343 kW (max.) engine power and 2732.56 N m of torque, and pro-
duction plans are scheduled for release in 2015.
5.2. North America
Between 1999 and 2001, a consortium comprising Pennsylvania
State University, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., the Department
of Energy (DOE), Navistar International, and Caterpillar in the USA
developed a project to convert diesel buses to DME-fueled buses.
They used a shuttle bus with 7.1 l of displacement and a turbo-
charged intake system. In order to avoid problems associated with
the low viscosity and lubrication of DME, they used DME-diesel
blended fuels (14% DME and 25% DME) in the modified DME fueled
shuttle buses [135]. Based on emission tests of four types of driving
cycles (P20, P40, Orange County, and Manhattan Cycle), they
reported that the DME-fueled bus emitted 80% less PM (using the
25% DME blended fuel) [135]. However, NOx, CO, and HC emissions
from the DME-fueled vehicle were higher than those from the die-
sel fueled vehicle. They suggested optimization of the injection
strategy and engine control logic for DME blended diesel fuels,
and emphasized the need for an oxidation catalyst [135].
5.3. Asia
Japan is the country for most actively involved in the develop-
ment of DME fueled vehicles. Between 1998 and 2001, a consor-
tium led by the National Traffic Safety and Environment
Laboratory (NTSEL) developed a heavy-duty DME bus operated
by a mechanical injection device with Nissan diesel motors and
Bosch Japan. The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science
and Technology (AIST) have been developing medium and heavy-
duty DME-fueled vehicles through collaboration with motor
companies and oil supply companies since 2003. They modified a
4-cylinder diesel engine for DME fuel, and successfully installed
this engine in a truck and mini-bus in 2003 [117]. In 2005, AIST
developed a medium-duty DME fueled truck with 7.1 l of displace-
ment in collaboration with Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Cor-
poration (JOGMEC); this truck had very low emission levels, as
shown in Table 8 [34]. Field testing of this truck revealed that its
average fuel consumption was 2.61 km/l (*diesel equivalent fuel
consumption: 4.93 km/l). Nissan diesel motors developed an
in-line, 6-cylinder truck operated by DME fuel with NTSEL. This
truck has a turbocharger with an intercooler, EGR, oxidation cata-
lyst, and NOx storage reduction catalyst [136]. Isuzu Motors is also
developing light- and medium-duty DME engines with a common-
rail injection system. In the middle stage of development of DME
fueled vehicle, they reported that light-duty and medium-duty
DME-fueled vehicles had fuel consumption rates of 2.83 km/l and
3.81 km/l, respectively, based on field test [137].
In China, a consortium of the Shanghai Motor Company, Shang-
hai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), Shanghai Coking & Chemical
Corporation developed 10 DME-fueled buses with a mechanical
fuel supply system and filling station in 2005. These were first gen-
eration DME engines and vehicles produced as a result of the
CO HC NOx PM
2.22 0.87 3.38 0.18
3.17 0.89 4.26 0.17
0.117 (95%) 0.222 (74%) 2.479 (27%) 0.0102 (94%)
Table 9
Evaluation results of a DME vehicle in NEDC mode [139].
Unit: g/km THC + NOx CO NOx PM
Euro-5 emission regulations 0.350 0.730 0.280 0.005
Diesel base (Euro-4) 0.366 0.147 0.324 0.023
DME developed vehicle test 0.343 0.061 0.181 0.003
National Clean Vehicle Action Program. These vehicles were
successfully tested in a commercial operation for more than
220,000 km. Since then, second- and third-generation DME vehi-
cles with a common-rail injection system and after-treatment
devices to satisfy the Euro-5 emission standards have been devel-
oped. In particular, SJTU have been investigating new technologies
for DME-fueled vehicles through the ‘‘863 project’’ funded by the
Chinese government [138]. ENN group has participated in
the development of a DME station, and Shanghai has examined
the extension of DME as vehicle fuel for trucks, taxis, and buses
in order to reduce PM2.5 pollution in the city.
Korea joined the development trend for DME-fueled vehicles
somewhat late. Development and investigation of DME fueled
engines and vehicles have been led by universities and institutes.
The Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER) started a DME engine
research project in 2000. They manufactured a proto-type DME
truck with 3.0 l of displacement in 2003. In addition, KIER started
a project to convert diesel bus with 8.071 l of displacement to a
DME-fueled bus in 2005, and they successfully developed a
proto-type DME bus for 33 passengers. This developed bus was
successfully driven on the road in 2010.
Hanyang University (HYU) developed a DME engine for
passenger car with 1.582 l of displacement based on a common-
rail injection system. They reported the spray and atomization
characteristics of DME and its blends, as well as the combustion
and emission characteristics in engine test benches using DME.
The DME-fueled passenger car of HYU has been successfully driven
on the road.
Korea Automotive Technology Institute (KATEC) modified a
sports utility vehicle (SUV) with 1.991 l of displacement to a
DME-fueled vehicle in 2009, and they studied a 2.9 l DME-fueled
light-duty truck with a common-rail injection system in 2012.
KATECH tested the emission performance of this truck in New
European Driving Cycle (NEDC) mode as shown in Table 9 [139].
Emission levels of this truck satisfy the Euro-5 emission standard.
6. Summary
In this review article, we described the thermodynamic fuel
properties, spray/atomization characteristics, and combustion/
emission characteristics of DME fuel and its blends with reference
to its application as a fuel in CI engines and vehicles. Although DME
has lower viscosity, lower lubrication, and a lower LHV than com-
pared to conventional diesel fuel, these characteristics have been
improved through a wealth of research by institutes, universities,
and companies around the world. In addition, DME blends with
other petroleum fuels have also been developed to address the dis-
advantages of DME and improve DME combustion and emission
characteristics.
 S.H. Park, C.S. Lee / Energy Conversion and Management 86 (2014) 848–863
Due to the high oxygen content of DME and the lack of direct
carbon–carbon bonds, soot-free combustion is possible using
DME. This means that a high EGR can be used to reduce NOx emis-
sions without an increase in PM and soot emission. In engine tests,
HC emissions from DME combustion have been shown to be lower
than those from diesel combustion under almost all engines oper-
ating condition. CO emission from DME combustion is somewhat
higher than that from diesel combustion. However, this can be
reduced by application of an oxidation catalyst and optimization
of the injection strategy. Because a diesel particulate filter (DPF)
is not required in DME-fueled engines due to soot-free combustion,
installation and application of oxidation catalysts are possible in
terms of economy and vehicle space.
Based on the accumulation of data concerning fuel properties,
spray-atomization characteristics, and combustion-emission char-
acteristics of DME, development of DME fueled vehicles has been
actively progressing for about two decades. Several mini-buses,
medium-and heavy-duty trucks and light-duty truck have been
developed in Sweden, Denmark, Japan, China, USA, and Korea.
Those DME fueled vehicles have been tested on the road under real
driving conditions. So far, field-testing of DME vehicles has been
successful. If infra-structure for the delivery and supply of DME
is developed, DME fueled vehicles have the potential to become
the most environmental friendly alternative energy cars available.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Ministry of Science, ICT and
Future Planning of Korea (MSIP No. 2012007015).
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