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Low Temperature Combustion using compression ignition may provide high efficiency combined with low emissions of oxides of nitrogen and soot. This process is facilitated by fuels with lower cetane number than standard diesel fuel. Mixtures of gasoline and diesel (“dieseline”) may be one way of achieving this, but a practical concern is the flammability of the headspace vapours in the vehicle fuel tank. Gasoline is much more volatile than diesel so, at most ambient temperatures, the headspace vapours in the tank are too rich to burn. A gasoline/diesel mixture in a fuel tank therefore can result in a flammable headspace, particularly at cold ambient temperatures. A mathematical model is presented that predicts the flammability of the headspace vapours in a tank containing mixtures of gasoline and diesel fuel. Fourteen hydrocarbons and ethanol represent the volatile components. Heavier components are treated as non-volatile diluents in the liquid phase.

This paper presents an experimental study of the vapour space flammability of Fuel Ethanol (a high-ethanol fuel for Flexible Fuel Vehicles, commonly known as “E85”) and gasoline containing up to 10% ethanol (commonly known as “E10”). The seasonal minimum vapour pressure limits in specifications for automotive spark ignition fuels are intended, in part, to minimize the formation of flammable mixtures in the headspace of vehicle fuel tanks. This is particularly important at subzero temperatures, where the headspace mixture may not be rich enough to prevent combustion in the presence of an ignition source such as a faulty electrical fuel pump. In the current study, the upper temperature limits of flammability were measured for field samples of “E85” and “E10”, and a series of laboratory-prepared blends of denatured ethanol, Before Oxygenate Blending (BOB) gasoline, and n-butane.

Gasoline Compression Ignition (GCI) has been identified as a technology which could give both high efficiency and relatively low engine-out emissions. The introduction of any new vehicle technology requires widespread availability of appropriate fuels. It would be ideal therefore if GCI vehicles were able to operate using the standard grade of gasoline that is available at the pump. However, in spite of recent progress, operation at idle and low loads still remains a formidable challenge, given the relatively low autoignition reactivity of conventional gasoline at these conditions. One conceivable solution would be to use both diesel and gasoline, either in separate tanks or blended as a single fuel (“dieseline”). However, with this latter option, a major concern for dieseline would be whether a flammable mixture could exist in the vapour space in the fuel tank.