Dual-Fuel Combustion in Compression Ignition Engines
Summary
Dual-fuel combustion in compression ignition engines combines a high‐reactivity pilot fuel, typically diesel, with a lower‐reactivity secondary fuel such as natural gas, methane, ethanol or hydrogen. The pilot fuel auto‐ignites under high compression, initiating combustion of the premixed charge of the secondary fuel. This approach can deliver high thermal efficiency and reduced carbon dioxide output while leveraging existing diesel engine architecture. By varying the energy share of the secondary fuel and adjusting injection timing, researchers optimise ignition delay, heat release characteristics and emissions of nitrogen oxides, particulates, hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide. Recent advances have elucidated the interplay between mixture stratification, combustion phasing and in‐cylinder flow dynamics, highlighting the potential for cleaner heavy‐duty transport and stationary power generation with minimal hardware modification.
Research from Nature Portfolio
No recent Nature Portfolio content available.
Dual-Fuel Combustion in Compression Ignition Engines publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in dual-fuel combustion in compression ignition engines across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Dual‐fuel combustion: A combustion mode in which two fuels of different reactivity are co‐introduced, with one acting as the auto‐ignition pilot and the other as the main premixed charge.
Compression ignition: Ignition of the fuel–air mixture by the heat of compression alone, without an external spark.
Ignition delay: The interval between the start of fuel injection and the onset of rapid heat release.
Equivalence ratio (φ): The ratio of actual fuel–air ratio to the stoichiometric fuel–air ratio; φ < 1 indicates a lean mixture.
Heat release rate (HRR): The rate at which chemical energy is converted to thermal energy during combustion, often inferred from pressure data.
Brake mean effective pressure (BMEP): A measure of engine load defined as the average pressure that, if acted upon the piston during the power stroke, would produce the measured brake torque.
References
- Experimental and computational fluid dynamics-based numerical simulation of using natural gas in a dual-fueled diesel engine. Engineering Applications of Computational Fluid Mechanics (2018).
- Effects of the substitution rate of natural gas on the combustion and emission characteristics in a dual-fuel engine under full load. Advances in Mechanical Engineering (2017).
- A parametric investigation of diesel/methane dual-fuel combustion progression/stages in a heavy-duty optical engine. Applied Energy (2019).
- Experimental Assessment on Exploiting Low Carbon Ethanol Fuel in a Light-Duty Dual-Fuel Compression Ignition Engine. Applied Sciences (2020).
About these summaries
This Nature Research Intelligence Topic summary is created with the cited references and a large language model. We take care to ground generated text with facts, and have systems in place to gain human feedback on the overall quality of the process in line with our AI principles. We strive to create accurate and useful summaries for people unfamiliar with the research topic and that supports this goal. These pages are a beta release and will be updated as we learn how best to help people gain value from a research topic summary.
Turn complex research questions into confident strategic decisions
When you're under pressure to set direction, justify investment, or understand your competitive position, you need more than raw data — you need trusted insights you can act on.
Benchmark your performance against global peers using robust, methodologically sound analysis.
Combine quantitative metrics with qualitative expert insight to uncover strengths, gaps and emerging opportunities.
Gain tailored, decision-ready recommendations aligned to your strategic priorities.
Talk to us to learn more about our data dashboards and bespoke strategy reports.
Grow research skills, confidence and careers with training built for every stage of the research lifecycle.
Developed with Nature Portfolio journal Editors and internationally renowned experts. Discover three ways to learn:
Self-paced, online courses in convenient bite-sized units, covering key skills across scientific writing, publishing, grant writing, data analysis, and more.
Expert trainer-led workshops with hands-on exercises and real-time feedback across core research skills, delivered via interactive group sessions.
Editor-led workshops combining core principles in writing and publishing, personalised 1:1 feedback from Nature Portfolio Editors and hands-on exercises.
Explore course catalogues and workshop agendas, enquire about the options or request institutional pricing.