Influence of fuel additives on performance of direct-injection Diesel engine and exhaust emissions when operating on shale oil

The article presents the comparative bench testing results of a naturally aspirated four stroke, four cylinder, water cooled, direct injection Diesel engine when running on shale oil that has been treated with multi-functional fuel additives. The purpose of the research is to evaluate the effectiveness of the fuel additives Marisol FT (Sweden) and SO-2E (Estonia) as well as to verify their ability to increase energy conversion and reduce brake specific fuel consumption, contamination and smoke opacity of the exhausts when fuelling the Diesel engine with shale oil.Test results show that application of these additives could be a very efficient means to improve Diesel engine performance on shale oil, especially when operating at the light load range. The brake specific fuel consumption at light loads and speeds of 1400–2000 min⁻¹ reduces by 18.3–11.0% due to the application of the Marisol FT. The additive SO-2E proves to produce nearly the same effect.The total NO_x emission from the fully loaded Diesel engine fuelled with the treated shale oil reduces by 29.1% (SO-2E) and 23.0% (Marisol FT). It is important that the lower NO_x is obtained due to reducing both harmful pollutants, NO and NO₂. The CO emission at rated power increases by 16.3% (SO-2E) and 48.0% (Marisol FT), whereas the smoke opacity of the exhausts increases by 35% and over 2 times, respectively. The effect of the fuel additives on the HC emission seems to be complicated and ambiguous.     

Performance of rapeseed oil blends in a diesel engine

The concept that 100% vegetable oil cannot be used safely in a direct-injection diesel engine for long periods of time has been stressed by many researchers. Short-term engine tests indicate good potential for vegetable oil fuels. Long-term endurance tests may show serious problems in injector coking, ring sticking, gum formation, and thickening of lubricating oil. These problems are related to the high viscosity and nonvolatility of vegetable oils, which cause inadequate fuel atomization and incomplete combustion. Fuel blending is one method of reducing viscosity. This paper presents the results of an engine test on three fuel blends. Test runs were also made on neat rapeseed oil and diesel fuel as bases for comparison. There were no significant problems with engine operation using these alternative fuels. The test results showed increases in brake thermal efficiency as the amount of rapeseed oil in the blends increases. Reduction of power-output was also noted with increased amount of rapeseed oil in the blends. Test results include data on performance and gaseous emissions. Crankcase oil analyses showed a reduction in viscosity. Friction power was noted to increase as the amount of diesel fuel in the blend increases.     

Influence of fuel oxygen content on diesel engine exhaust emissions

The aim of this work was to investigate: the intersolubility of mixtures of rapeseed oil methyl esters, diesel fuel and ethanol; to determine the dependence of solubility upon temperature and finally to evaluate emissions of exhaust gases of these stable fuel mixtures.Bearing in mind that the cloud point is an important parameter of diesel fuel, the variation of solubility of a tri-component rapeseed oil methyl ester–diesel fuel–ethanol (RME–D–E) system at temperature (20; 0; −10 °C) was also investigated. It was found that temperature decrease causes the RME–D–E system solubility limits to become narrow. Solubility investigations allowed to determine the optimal solubility limits and select mixtures containing 6.9–25.7% of oxygen for engine tests. The highest oxygen content in biodiesel fuel permitting the engine to work normally at 2000 and 1200 min⁻¹ was 19.5%. The lowest concentration of PAH and smoke index of exhaust gases were determined when fuel mixtures contained 19.5% of oxygen. The CO concentration depended on the rotational speed and varied from 10.7% to 16.8%. Apparently, optimal diesel fuel on this basis will contain from 15% to 19% of oxygen.     

中速柴油机燃用重质燃料油的试验及数值模拟研究

以某型号大功率中速柴油机为研究对象,以燃烧性能试验和数值模拟方法研究了重质燃料油在该机上的燃烧性能、动力性能和燃油经济性。研究表明:与燃用轻柴油相比,在燃用重质燃料油时,柴油机保持了原有的动力性能;燃油消耗率有所上升,但考虑重质燃料油的低成本因素,其经济性有较大程度改善。为了进一步改善燃油经济性并保证燃用重质燃料油时柴油机的可靠性,对喷油嘴等燃油系统关键部件进行改进设计是必要的。     

Study on noise of rapeseed oil blends in a single-cylinder diesel engine

This study was undertaken to obtain the knowledge necessary for reducing noise of mixed oil composed of rapeseed oil and conventional diesel oil and for improving the performance of engine fuelled by the mixture. A S195 (8.8 kW) type single-cylinder diesel engine was used to determine the effect of four adjustable working parameters, i.e. intake-valve-closing angle (α), exhaust-valve-opening angle (β), fuel delivery angle (θ) and injection pressure (P, in 10⁴ Pa) on noise when an oil mixture of 30% rapeseed oil and 70% diesel oil was used. Single-factor and multi-factor quadratic regressive orthogonal design test method were adopted in the experiments to find the relationship between noise and four adjustable working parameters. Relationship between these parameters and noise was analysed under two typical operating conditions and mathematical equations characterizing the relationship were formulated. The equation of noise from the regressive test under each operating condition was set as the objective function and the ranges for the four adjustable working parameters were the given constraint condition. Models of nonlinear programming were then constructed. Computer-aided optimization of the working parameters for 30:70 rapeseed oil/diesel oil mixed fuel was achieved. Field test verified that the engine (in use) working condition was found to be bad at maladjustment. The optimum working parameters for two working conditions of the engine were used to adjust the four working parameters. Test results showed that optimum adjustment could achieve noise reduction between 2 and 4 dB and that the power could be increased by 0.6–1.8 kW. The experimental results also provided useful reference material for selection of the most preferable combination of working parameters.     

Advantages of the direct injection of both diesel and hydrogen in dual fuel H2ICE

The turbocharged Diesel engine is the most efficient engine now in production for transport applications with full load brake engine thermal efficiencies up to 40-45% and reduced penalties in brake engine thermal efficiencies reducing the load. The secrets of the turbocharged Diesel engine performances are the high compression ratio and the lean bulk combustion mostly diffusion controlled in addition to the better use of the exhaust energy. Despite these advantages and the further complications of hydrogen in terms of abnormal combustion phenomena and displacement effect, the most part of the dual fuel Diesel-hydrogen engines has been developed so far injecting hydrogen in the intake manifold or in the intake port, and then injecting the Diesel fuel in the cylinder to ignite there a homogeneous mixture. This paper shows how a latest production common-rail Diesel engine could be modified replacing the Diesel injector by a double injector as those proposed by Westport since more than two decades for CNG first and then for CNG and hydrogen to provide much better performances. A model is first developed and validated versus extensive high quality dynamometer data for the Diesel engine only covering with almost 200 points the load and speed range. This model replaces the multiple injection strategy with a single equivalent injection for the purposes of the brake efficiency results still providing satisfactory accuracy. The model is then used to simulate the dual fuel operation with a pilot Diesel followed by a main hydrogen injection replacing the Diesel fuel with the hydrogen fuel and using the same parameters for start and duration of the equivalent injection at same percentage load and speed. While the top load air-to-fuel ratio of the Diesel is a lean 1.55, the top air-to-fuel ratio of the hydrogen is assumed to be a stoichiometric 1. Within the validity of these assumptions it is shown that the novel engine has better than Diesel fuel conversion efficiencies and higher than Diesel power outputs. These results clearly indicate the development of the direct injection system as the key factor where to focus research and development for this kind of engines.     

Performance of a stationary diesel engine using vapourized ethanol as supplementary fuel

The modification and testing of a compression ignition engine using diesel and vapourized ethanol as fuel has been carried out. Tests on the engine fuelled with diesel only were made, and the performance evaluated to form a basis for comparison for those of ethanol–diesel dual fuelling.

Modifications were made in the introduction of the ethanol and air. A carburettor was used to vapourize aqueous ethanol into the engine. The effect of preheating the intake ethanol–air mixture was also investigated. Performance was evaluated in terms of engine horsepower, brake specific fuel consumption, brake thermal efficiency, the exhaust gas temperature, lubricating oil temperature and exhaust emissions. The vapourized ethanol partially reduced diesel fuel consumption but also increased total fuel delivery. Vapourization increased power output, thermal efficiency and exhaust emissions but lowered exhaust temperature and lubricating oil temperatures.     

Slow, fast and flash pyrolysis of rapeseed

Pyrolysis experiments have been conducted on a sample of rapeseed to determine particularly the effects of pyrolysis temperature, heating rate, particle size and sweep gas flow rate on the pyrolysis product yields and their chemical compositions. The maximum oil yield of 73% was obtained at the final pyrolysis temperature of 550–600 °C, particle size range of +0.6–1.25 mm, and sweep gas flow rate of 100 cm³min⁻¹ (N₂) at flash pyrolysis conditions in tubular transport reactor. Chromatographic and spectroscopic studies on the pyrolytic oil showed that the oil obtained from rapeseed can be used as a renewable fuel and chemical feedstock.     

Study on rapeseed oil as alternative fuel for a single-cylinder diesel engine

This study was undertaken to provide knowledge necessary for raising the thermal efficiency of mixed oil composed of rapeseed oil and conventional diesel oil and for improving the performance of an engine fuelled by the mixture. The experimental results obtained showed that a mixing ratio of 30% rapeseed oil and 70% diesel oil was practically optimal in ensuring relatively high thermal efficiency of engine as well as homogeneity and stability of the oil mixture. Method of quadratic regressive orthogonal design test method was adopted in experiment designed to examine the dependence of specific fuel consumption on four adjustable working parameters when the above –mentioned oil mixture was used. These parameters were: intake-valve-closing angle (α), exhaust-valve-opening angle (β), fuel-delivering angle (θ) and injection pressure (P, in 10⁴ Pa). Relationship between these parameters and specific fuel consumption was analyzed under two typical operating conditions and mathematical equations characterizing the relationship were formulated. The equation of specific fuel consumption derived from the regressive test under each operating condition was set as the objective function and the ranges for the four adjustable working parameters were the given constraint condition. Models of non-linear programming were then constructed. Computer aided optimization of the working parameters for 30:70 rapeseed oil/diesel oil mixed fuel was achieved. It was concluded that the predominant factor affecting the specific fuel consumption was fuel-delivering angle θ, the approximate optimal value of which, in this specific case, was 2–3 degrees in advance of that for engine fuelled by pure diesel oil. The experimental results also provided useful reference material for selection of the most preferable combination of working parameters.     

Parametric studies for improving the performance of a Jatropha oil-fuelled compression ignition engine

A single cylinder, constant speed, direct injection diesel engine was operated on neat Jatropha oil. Injection timing, injector opening pressure, injection rate and air swirl level were changed to study their influence on performance, emissions and combustion. Results have been compared with neat diesel operation. The injection timing was varied by changing the position of the fuel injection pump with respect to the cam and injection rate was varied by changing the diameter of the plunger of the fuel injection pump. A properly oriented masked inlet valve was employed to enhance the air swirl level. Advancing the injection timing from the base diesel value and increasing the injector opening pressure increase the brake thermal efficiency and reduce HC and smoke emissions significantly. Enhancing the swirl has only a small effect on emissions. The ignition delay with Jatropha oil is always higher than that of diesel under similar conditions. Improved premixed heat release rates were observed with Jatropha oil when the injector opening pressure is enhanced. When the injection timing is retarded with enhanced injection rate, a significant improvement in performance and emissions was noticed. In this case emissions with Jatropha oil are even lower than diesel. At full output, the HC emission level is 532 ppm with Jatropha oil as against 798 ppm with diesel. NO level and smoke with Jatropha oil are, respectively 1162.5 ppm and 2 BSU while they are 1760 ppm and 2.7 BSU with diesel.     

A renewable pathway towards increased utilization of hydrogen in diesel engines

In the present work, dual fuel operation of a diesel engine has been experimentally investigated using biodiesel and hydrogen as the test fuels. Jatropha Curcas biodiesel is used as the pilot fuel, which is directly injected in the combustion chamber using conventional diesel injector. The main fuel (hydrogen) is injected in the intake manifold using a hydrogen injector and electronic control unit. In dual fuel mode, engine operations are studied at varying engine loads at the maximum pilot fuel substitution conditions. The engine performance parameters such as maximum pilot fuel substitution, brake thermal efficiency and brake specific energy consumption are investigated. On emission side, oxides of nitrogen, hydrocarbon, carbon monoxide and smoke emissions are analysed. Based on the results, it is found that biodiesel-hydrogen dual fuel engine could utilize up to 80.7% and 24.5% hydrogen (by energy share) at low and high loads respectively along with improved brake thermal efficiency. Furthermore, hydrocarbon, carbon monoxide and smoke emissions are significantly reduced compared to single fuel diesel engine operation. Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) has also been studied with biodiesel-hydrogen dual fuel engine operations. It is found that EGR could improve the utilization of hydrogen in dual fuel engine, especially at the high loads. The effect of EGR is also found to reduce high nitrogen oxide emissions from the dual fuel engine and brake thermal efficiency is not significantly affected.     

Use of HOT EGR for NOx control in a compression ignition engine fuelled with bio-diesel from Jatropha oil

Environmental degradation and depleting oil reserves are matters of great concern round the globe. Developing countries like India depend heavily on oil import. Diesel being the main transport fuel in India, finding a suitable alternative to diesel is an urgent need. Jatropha based bio-diesel (JBD) is a non-edible, renewable fuel suitable for diesel engines and is receiving increasing attention in India because of its potential to generate large-scale employment and relatively low environmental degradation. Diesel engines running on JBD are found to emit higher oxides of nitrogen, NO_x. HOT EGR, a low cost technique of exhaust gas recirculation, is effectively used in this work to overcome this environmental penalty. Practical problems faced while using a COOLED EGR system are avoided with HOT EGR. Results indicated higher nitric oxide (NO) emissions when a single cylinder diesel engine was fuelled with JBD, without EGR. NO emissions were reduced when the engine was operated under HOT EGR levels of 5–25%. However, EGR level was optimized as 15% based on adequate reduction in NO emissions, minimum possible smoke, CO, HC emissions and reasonable brake thermal efficiency. Smoke emissions of JBD in the higher load region were lower than diesel, irrespective of the EGR levels. However, smoke emission was higher in the lower load region. CO and HC emissions were found to be lower for JBD irrespective of EGR levels. Combustion parameters were found to be comparable for both fuels.     

The effects of injection timing on NOx emissions of a low heat rejection indirect diesel injection engine

Higher NO_x is one of the major problems to be overcomed in a low heat rejection (LHR) diesel engine as insulation leads to an increase in combustion temperature about 200–250 °C compared to an identical standard (STD) diesel engine. High combustion temperatures alter optimum injection timing of a LHR engine. With the proper adjustment of the injection timing, it is possible to partially offset the adverse effect of insulation on heat release rate and hence to obtain improved performance and lower NO_x. However, the injection timing and brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) trade-off must be considered together in performance and NO_x emission point of view. In this study, optimum injection timing was found with 4 crank angle (34° CA) retarded before top dead centre (BTDC) in LHR diesel engine in comparison to that of STD diesel engine (38° CA BTDC). When the LHR engine was operated with the injection timing of the 38 crank angle, which is the optimum value of the STD engine, it was shown that NO_x emission increased about 15%. However, when the injection timing was retarded to 34° CA in the LHR case, it was observed a decrease on the NO_x emissions with about 40% and the brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) with about 6% compared to that of the STD case. Thus, by retarding the injection timing, an additional 1.5% saving in fuel consumption was obtained.     

The effects of turbocharger on the performance and exhaust emissions of a diesel engine fuelled with biodiesel

This paper investigates the effects of turbocharger on the performance of a diesel engine using diesel fuel and biodiesel in terms of brake power, torque, brake specific consumption and thermal efficiency, as well as CO and NO_x emissions. For this aim, a naturally aspirated four-stroke direct injection diesel engine was tested with diesel fuel and neat biodiesel, which is rapeseed oil methyl ester, at full load conditions at the speeds between 1200 and 2400 rpm with intervals of 200 rpm. Then, a turbocharger system was installed on the engine and the tests were repeated for both fuel cases. The evaluation of experimental data showed that the brake thermal efficiency of biodiesel was slightly higher than that of diesel fuel in both naturally aspirated and turbocharged conditions, while biodiesel yielded slightly lower brake power and torque along with higher fuel consumption values. It was also observed that emissions of CO in the operations with biodiesel were lower than those in the operations with diesel fuel, whereas NO_x emission in biodiesel operation was higher. This study reveals that the use of biodiesel improves the performance parameters and decreases CO emissions of the turbocharged engine compared to diesel fuel.     

Performance and emission study of preheated Jatropha oil on medium capacity diesel engine

Diesel engines have proved its utility in transport, agriculture and power sector. Environmental norms and scared fossil fuel have attracted the attention to switch the energy demand to alternative energy source. Oil derived from Jatropha curcas plant has been considered as a sustainable substitute to diesel fuel. However, use of straight vegetable oil has encountered problem due to its high viscosity. The aim of present work is to reduce the viscosity of oil by heating from exhaust gases before fed to the engine, the study of effects of FIT (fuel inlet temperature) on engine performance and emissions using a dual fuel engine test rig with an appropriately designed shell and tube heat exchanger (with exhaust bypass arrangement). Heat exchanger was operated in such a way that it could give desired FIT. Results show that BTE (brake thermal efficiency) of engine was lower and BSEC (brake specific energy consumption) was higher when the engine was fueled with Jatropha oil as compared to diesel fuel. Increase in fuel inlet temperature resulted in increase of BTE and reduction in BSEC. Emissions of NO_x from Jatropha oil during the experimental range were lower than diesel fuel and it increases with increase in FIT. CO (carbon monoxide), HC (hydrocarbon), CO₂ (carbon dioxide) emissions from Jatropha oil were found higher than diesel fuel. However, with increase in FIT, a downward trend was observed. Thus, by using heat exchanger preheated Jatropha oil can be a good substitute fuel for diesel engine in the near future. Optimal fuel inlet temperature was found to be 80 °C considering the BTE, BSEC and gaseous emissions.     

The use of Koroch seed oil methyl ester blends as fuel in a diesel engine

An experimental investigation was carried out on a small direct injection (DI) diesel engine, fuelling the engine with 10% (B10), 20% (B20), 30% (B30) and 40% (B40) blending of Koroch seed oil methyl ester (KSOME) with diesel. The performance and combustion characteristics of the engine at various loads are compared and analyzed. The results showed higher brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) and lower brake thermal efficiency (BTE) for the KSOME blends. The engine indicated power (IP) was more for the blends up to B30, but found to be reduced for the blend B40 when compared to that of diesel. The engine combustion parameters such as pressure crank angle diagram, peak pressure, time of occurrence of peak pressure, net heat-release rate, cumulative heat release, ignition delay and combustion duration were computed. The KSOME blends exhibited similar combustion trend with diesel. However, the blends showed an early start of combustion with shorter ignition delay period. The study reveals the suitability of KSOME blends up to B30 as fuel for a diesel engine mainly used in generating sets and the agricultural applications in India without any significant drop in engine performance.     

Experimental investigations of a four-stroke single cylinder direct injection diesel engine operated on dual fuel mode with producer gas as inducted fuel and Honge oil and its methyl ester (HOME) as injected fuels

In order to meet the energy requirements, there has been growing interest in alternative fuels like biodiesels, methyl alcohol, ethyl alcohol, biogas, hydrogen and producer gas to provide a suitable diesel oil substitute for internal combustion engines. Vegetable oils present a very promising alternative to diesel oil since they are renewable and have similar properties. Vegetable oils offer almost the same power output with slightly lower thermal efficiency when used in diesel engine [Srivastava A, Prasad R. Triglycerides-based diesel fuels. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 2000;4:111–33. [1]; Vellguth G. Performance of vegetable oils and their monoesters as fuels for diesel engines. SAE 831358, 1983. [2]; Demirbas A. Biodiesel production from vegetable oils via catalytic and non-catalytic supercritical methanol transesterification methods. Int J Prog Energy Combust Sci 2005;31:466–87. [3]; Jajoo BN, Keoti RS. Evaluation of vegetable oils as supplementary fuels for diesel engines. In: Proceedings of the XV national conference on IC engines and combustion, Anna University Chennai, 1997. [4]; Altin R, Cetinkaya S, Yucesu HS. The potential of using vegetable oil fuels as fuel for diesel engines. Int J Energy Convers Manage 2000;42:529–38, 248. [5]; Gajendra Babu MK, Chandan Kumar Das LM. Experimental investigations on a Karanja oil methyl ester fuelled DI diesel engine. SAE 2006-01-0238, 2006. [6]; Agarwal D, Kumar Agarwal A. Performance and emission characteristics of a Jatropha oil (preheated and blends) in a direct injection compression ignition engine. Int J Appl Therm Eng 2007;27:2314–23. [7]]. Research in this direction with edible oils have yielded encouraging results, but their use as fuel for diesel engine has limited applications due to higher domestic requirement [Scholl Kyle W, Sorenson Spencer C. Combustion Analysis of soyabean oil methyl ester in a direct injection diesel engine. SAE 930934, 1993. [8]; Nwafor OMI. Effect of advanced injection timing on the performance of rapeseed oil in diesel engines. Int J Renew Energy 2000;21:433–44. [9]; Nwafor OMI. The effect of elevated fuel inlet temperature on performance of diesel engine running on neat vegetable oil at constant speed conditions. Renew Energy 2003;28:171–81. [10]]. In view of this, Honge oil (Pongamia Pinnata Linn) being non-edible oil could be regarded as an alternative fuel for CI engine applications. The viscosity of Honge oil is reduced by transesterification process to obtain Honge oil methyl ester (HOME).Gasification is a process in which solid biomass is converted into a mixture of combustible gases, which complete their combustion in an IC engine. Hence, producer gas can act as a promising alternative fuel, especially for diesel engines by substituting considerable amount of diesel fuels. Downdraft moving bed gasifiers coupled with IC engine are a good choice for moderate quantities of available biomass, up to 500 kW of electric power. Hence, bioderived gas and vegetable liquids appear more attractive in view of their friendly environmental nature. Since vegetable oils produce higher smoke emissions, dual fuel operation could be adopted for improving their performance.     

Biodiesel/mineral diesel fuel mixtures: Spray evolution and engine performance and emissions characterization

The interest in energy from biomass, in particular for transportation, is related to the need to differentiate the energy sources to improve environment and protect human health. Objective of this study is a comparative evaluation of performance and exhaust emissions of an automotive diesel engine fuelled by mixtures of rapeseed and soybean methyl ester with reference to mineral diesel fuel. The spatial and temporal jet evolutions have been characterized injecting the fuel in a quiescent vessel by a standing alone common rail apparatus at diesel-like gas density conditions. The injection strategies have been chosen as representative of different engine working conditions for several speeds and loads, injecting the fuel in a non-evaporating high-density vessel. Fuel injection rate measurements, spatial and temporal fuel distribution have been carried out processing jet images captured by a CCD camera. Engine tests have been performed on a 4-cylinder DI Diesel engine for automotive applications equipped with a common rail 7-hole nozzle electro-injector system. Engine performance, gas emissions and smoke have been measured at the engine speeds of 1500 and 2500 RPM for different loads. Two different fuel blends, RME50 and SME50, have been tested comparing their performance and emissions with the diesel ones.     

Study on cottonseed oil as a partial substitute for diesel oil in fuel for single-cylinder diesel engine

The experiments were undertaken to obtain the knowledge necessary for raising the thermal efficiency of mixed oil composed of cottonseed oil and conventional diesel oil and for improving the performance of engine fuelled by the mixture. The experimental results obtained showed that a mixing ratio of 30% cottonseed oil and 70% diesel oil was practically optimal in ensuring relatively high thermal efficiency of engine, as well as homogeneity and stability of the oil mixture. A quadratic regressive orthogonal design test method was adopted in the experiment designed to examine the relationship between specific fuel consumption and four adjustable working parameters (intake-valve-closing angle (α), exhaust-valve-opening angle (β), fuel-delivery angle (θ) and injection pressure (P, in 10⁴ Pa)) when the above-mentioned oil mixture was used. The mathematical equations characterizing the relationship were formulated. The equation of specific fuel consumption derived from the regressive test under each operating condition was set as the objective function and the ranges for the four adjustable working parameters were the given constraint condition. Models of non-linear programming were then constructed. Computer-aided optimization of the working parameters for 30:70 cottonseed oil/diesel oil mixed fuel was achieved. It was concluded that the predominant factor affecting the specific fuel consumption was fuel-delivery angle θ, the approximate optimal value of which, in this specific case, was 3–5° in advance of that for engine fuelled by pure diesel oil. The experimental results also provided useful reference material for selection of the most preferable combination of working parameters.