The combustion and emission characteristics of diesel and isopropanol blended fuel were investigated on a common rail diesel engine. The results indicate that at different engine loads and EGR rates, compared with diesel, the ignition delay of diesel and isopropanol blended fuel prolongs, the peak heat release rate of preinjection injection increases, the peak heat release rate of main injection slightly decreases, the diffusion combustion intensity significantly increases at medium and high loads, and the peak in-cylinder average temperature increases. In addition, NO_x emission increases slightly, and soot emissions, particle number concentration and volume concentration decrease significantly. Compared with diesel fuel, diesel and isopropanol blended fuel combined with EGR can reduce both NO_x and particulate matter emissions.