The Effect of Fuel Quality on Cavitation Phenomena in Common-Rail Diesel Injector—A Numerical Study

Abstract

Plastic is one of the most widely used materials worldwide. The problem with plastic arises when it becomes waste, which needs to be treated. One option is to transform plastic waste into synthetic fuels, which can be used as replacements or additives for conventional fossil fuels and can contribute to more sustainable plastic waste treatment compared with landfilling and other traditional waste management processes. Thermal and catalytic pyrolysis are common processes in which synthetic fuels can be produced from plastic waste. The properties of pyrolytic oil are similar to those of fossil fuels, but different additives and plastic stabilizers can affect the quality of these synthetic fuels. The quality of fuels and the permissible particle sizes and number density are regulated by fuel standards. Particle size in fuels is also regulated by fuel filters in vehicles, which are usually designed to capture particles larger than 4 μm. Problems can arise with the number density (quantity) of particles in synthetic fuels compared to that in fossil fuels. The present work is a numerical study of how particle size and number density (quantity) influence cavitation phenomena and cavitation erosion (abrasion) in common-rail diesel injectors. The results provide more information on whether pyrolysis oil (synthetic fuel) from plastic waste can be used as a substitute for fossil fuels and whether their use can contribute to more sustainable plastic waste treatments. The results indicate that the particle size and number density slightly influence cavitation phenomena in diesel injectors and significantly influence abrasion.