Experimental study of additives on the ignition performance of a compression ignition natural gas engine is introduced, followed by results of a simulation of its working mechanism. From the experimental results, it is understood that engine ignition performance can be improved when a certain amount of Di-tertiary-butyl peroxide additive is added. If the mass fraction of Di-tertiary-butyl peroxide additive reaches as high as 14.2%, engine ignition can be realized at ambient temperatures with a glow plug temperature of about $750^{circ}C$. From the simulation results, we verify that the Di-tertiary-butyl peroxide additive, by cracking its radicals at lower temperature, can accelerate reaction rate. Therefore, the additive is able to improve the ignition performance of natural gas significantly.