Engine combustion, performance and emission characteristics of gas to liquid (GTL) fuels and its blends with diesel and bio-diesel

Crude oil price hikes, energy security concerns and environmental drivers have turned the focus to alternative fuels. Gas to liquid (GTL) diesel is regarded as a promising alternative diesel fuel, considering the adeptness to use directly as a diesel fuel or in blends with petroleum-derived diesel or bio-diesel. GTL fuel derived from Fischer–Tropsch synthesis is of distinctly different characteristics than fossil diesel fuel due to its paraffinic nature, virtually zero sulfur, low aromatic contents and very high cetane number. GTL fuel is referred to as a “clean fuel” for its inherent ability to reduce engine exhaust emission even with blends of diesel and bio-diesel.